INTERVIEW JEFF SCHMIDT

Interview with Jeff Schmidt

Conducted by Maik Reishaus for www.BassTheWorld.com 1/10
Hi Jeff. energies into finding my "next career". I
It has lately become quietly around you began pursuing post production and
as a solo bassist. What do you do at the sound design for visual media. I've found
moment? enough going on in creating video game
music and sound design to keep me
True, it has been quiet in my bass world. pretty busy.
The last solo bass gig I played was in
early 2009. It was a house concert. And I still have the radio job, but I spend
while it was a good show, I remember almost all my non-radio time creating
feeling really negative about it sound & music for video games. That
afterwards. was the time I used to spend practicing
bass.
I felt like I was putting way too much
effort into solo bass performances, and In May of this year, I played bass on the
not getting as much enjoyment back out score for an upcoming Sony video game
of it. Too much effort - too little reward. (can't disclose the title yet) .

On the car ride home that night - I told I was recently hired by Devin Townsend
my wife, I'm done. At least for now - I'm to create 2 short fretless bass solo
not doing any more coffee shop / house compositions for his new record. I think
concert type gigs until I feel like I can he's going to produce them with more
enjoy it again. There's lots of reasons instrumentation so they won't be "solo
why I stopped enjoying it, so I really just bass" on his record.
needed to stop.

I continued to play bass on and off. But I

totally abandoned the daily practice
regimen I had going for several years.
When I realized I didn't miss it, I took
that as a sign that I need to give my
music effort as much space as needed. I
would go weeks without even touching
the bass. That was totally inconceivable
I've been experimenting a lot recently
to me just 6 months prior.
with solo bass ideas that are technically
far simpler than my previous work. Not
sure when or how it will be released. But
Around that time the economy
I'm feeling the bug again. So I'm playing
collapsed. Work colleagues were loosing
more, but it's all compositional, rather
their jobs and my career in radio seemed
than the "practice" and drills like I used
to be in very real jeopardy. So I put my
to do.

Interview with Jeff Schmidt

Conducted by Maik Reishaus for www.BassTheWorld.com 2/10
Nice, I really like the idea of a note in Sept asking if he could hire me to
collaboration of Devin Townsend and play on his new record. I was like - SURE!
Jeff Schmidt. Has he made clear
guidelines to the music you had to He was looking for some transition
write? pieces. So he send me a few tracks he
wanted something to fit between. I
Bizarre right? listened, got a feel for the vibe and
I was working in the home studio one wrote 2, 1:30 pieces he could use as
night on a sound design project for transitions. His only direction was
World Of Warcraft, and I noticed an "something beautiful". So it helped me
email from Devin Townsend pop up on focus, but also left a lot to
my laptop. At first I thought it was his interpretation.
mailing list so I kept working, but when I
glanced at it again I noticed the first line I sent the pieces totally dry - no effects,
seemed too personal to be a newsletter. assuming he'd produce them to sound
So I opened it. like "Devin". I can't wait to hear what
he's done with them.
He wrote something like he was an
aspiring bassist, saw my stuff online, I actually really liked the quick
liked it, and he was a fan. Short & turnaround and the shortness of the
simple. pieces. I did it in a single evening session.
Write and record.
Well, I was blown away. To hear from
Devin Townsend personally! Doing short pieces is something I've
thought about doing before. But I always
So I emailed him back, gushed about turned away from that because there is
how flattered I was (cuz I was) and we momentum behind the idea that "real
ended up exchanging a few emails. music", "serious" music or "substantial"
music is lengthy. But I now think that's a
He said he was working on a different load.
approach for some new music and sent
me a demo. He didn't ask - but I pulled There's a lot of solo bass stuff out there
out the fretless and played some stuff on (including my own) that would have
it. Not bass lines, but more melodic been perfect at 1:30 or 2 minutes, but
flourishes. I tucked it in the background was stretched into 4 and 5 minute long
with some smokey, cloudy reverbs and pieces. Or even longer!
sent it back. He said he liked it, and that
was that. That was March 2010, I think. These days, I'm feeling like a 2-3 minute
solo bass song could be the most perfect
Then, out of nowhere he drops me a length.

Interview with Jeff Schmidt

Conducted by Maik Reishaus for www.BassTheWorld.com 3/10
Isn´t it more a question of I'm experimenting with getting out from
compositional ideas and interpretation under that kind of thinking.
than a question of length?

In the abstract - certainly. Or if the point

is the composition itself, rather than
serving some other purpose such as
supporting a dominant visual.

In realty, i hear a lot of 4 minute plus

solo bass pieces, which to my ears
anyway, are really 90 seconds
of compositional ideas stretched out
to fill 4 minutes. You said that you´re creating sounds
and music for video-games. Do you play
As a composer and someone who has yourself?
also done that, I'm compelled to wonder
why. Of course! I don't think you can create
great sound for games without being a
What is it about either our internal player.
beliefs and/or the culture at But I'm not what I'd call an achievement
large that won't let us simply allow a based player. Not by any stretch. In other
solid :90 musical idea be a words - I don't play games with the
:90 idea. Why the need to make it intent to get high scores, make leader
"more"? boards, or to rack up a lot of
achievements.
I can only answer that for myself. In my
case there's an instinct Most console based games can take 20-
that a "song" is 3-5 minutes. 40 hours or longer to complete.
Between my radio, music, sound for
So if I have an idea that is completely games and film work, I really don't have
stated in only 90 seconds, I the time to game hardcore like that. But,
sense an urge to use repeat or embellish when I find a title that totally pulls me in
it to make it longer. and gets me addicted - I have lost entire
To make it conform to a generally weekends to it - for sure!
accepted definition of a "song". In
such a case, length is not Mostly I just game to blow off steam, get
compositionally driven, but driven engrossed in some really creative
instead by external expectation. From interactive storytelling, and yes - to go
the culture or the marketplace. nuts and blow shit up. :)

Interview with Jeff Schmidt

Conducted by Maik Reishaus for www.BassTheWorld.com 4/10
On your Sfx-homepage www.jeff- That was really my first exposure to
schmidt.com we can get an idea of your sound art.
work. Really nice stuff! What projects
have you worked on recently? As a musician I also became interested in
the manipulation of sound, by altering
I played bass on some tracks for an the instrument or playing through weird
upcoming Sony PlayStation 3 game - and pedals and amps. Later - I got into radio
created sound design elements for and began experimenting with tape and
World Of Warcraft: Cataclysm and Diablo then digital workstations. I love to create
3 - both from Blizzard Entertainment. and manipulate sound. I was
experimenting early on with building
music out of radically modified samples
of my bass. I still want to write and
release music like that.

The problem I'm having lately is 2 fold.

Fair amount of pro sound design work
taking my time. Not a bad problem to
have. :)

Secondly, even when I have gaps of free

time - there's so many musical ideas I
want to pursue I'm actually kind of
Where does this fascination for paralyzed. I can't seem to pick one path
sounddesign come from? and stay focused on it long enough to
get anything done. I need to break
Technically, I was a sound designer through that. I think it's easier to ignore
before I was a musician. all my musical impulses when I sense
theres no market/interest for it.
The first instrument I got as a child was a
Panasonic Cassette Tape
Player/Recorder. One of your musical projects was
„Ruiner Severhead“. Very dark
My friends and I would make tapes and electronic music with loads of sounds
perform little shows. I'd record things and atmospheres. Very different from
and make weird noises. We'd mess your solo-bass-songs. So Jeff Schmidt
around with pushing the buttons in has a dark side ?
halfway to record at a slower speed and Ha! Well - the people who know me, on
then play it back at full speed to create first hearing Outre might have said - "So,
munchkin/chipmunk voices. Jeff Schmidt has a bright side"?

Interview with Jeff Schmidt

Conducted by Maik Reishaus for www.BassTheWorld.com 5/10
The Ruiner Severhead project happened So I decided I wanted to do music of my
very organically. own in that "non-players" idiom.

I was in the middle of recording Outre Around that time Bassist Jay Terrien and
and started to feel burnt out on the I were toying with the idea of creating a
sounds I was using. You know -the clean, dual bass project together called Jesus
audiophile, slightly new-age solo Fist.
musician sounds. Not only was I
recording those sounds - but I had been The first step was to for each of us to
listening to them for a few years straight. write 6 songs alone to bring to the table
and then write some stuff together.
I remember driving back from one of the
Outre sessions at OTR Studios in I got on a roll with my 6 songs. It turned
Belmont CA and I had just gotten a copy into 10 and I ended up writing an entire
of David Torn's new release – Prezens. I concept CD worth of material. I decided
had grown pretty tired of Jazz at that to release it on it's own as Ruiner
point, but I put it on for the ride home. Severhead - The Jesus Fist Tapes. Jay
followed up a few months later with his
I wasn't taken with it immediately - but own take called Demond Wilson - "The
there was something in it that touched Jesus Fist Studies".
me. It was dark and slightly mechanical.
And it had elements of things being I found the Ruiner Severhead project
broken. Those were the opposite of what very liberating.
Outre was shaping up to be.
Funny you ask about that now - because
So when I got home I went through my just this past weekend I started remixing
box of old CDs and found the ultimate in the Ruiner song Bound in 5.1 surround
dark, broken, mechanical music - Nine sound.
Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral. I think I'm going to release the first 6
Further digging revealed KMFDM, songs of The Jesus Fist Tapes as a new EP
Ministry, White Zombie, more NIN. I was re-mixed in surround sound.
like - wow! this is exactly what I want to
be hearing right now. There's so many layers in that music, it's
so dense and textural that mixing it in
These were all my CDs - but from a time surround really opens it up and puts in
when I was not playing music. Funny - the depth and dynamics that I just could
once I started playing bass again, all I not get into a stereo mix. Not sure when
wanted to hear was "players" - but when I'll finish that - probably early 2011. But
I wasn't playing any music - I had totally don't hold me to it. :)
different taste.

Interview with Jeff Schmidt

Conducted by Maik Reishaus for www.BassTheWorld.com 6/10
 The freedom of solo work allowed me to
pursue exactly my own vision. I didn't
need to sell my ideas to band mates, or
wait till the next rehearsal to find out if
the idea works, or get sidetracked by the
visions of other members.

The downside to treating myself as a

musical island like that however - is
isolation. Having to answer every
creative question for myself is actually
quite time consuming. Things take longer
than they might otherwise. And doesn't
always produce the best result.

I think both "Outre" and "The Jesus Fist

Tapes" were great exercises in working
toward executing my own vision.

I'm proud of both works.

But now, with a few years of distance

In an earlier interview you answered
from them, I can also hear how they
on the question why you´re playing solo
might have been even better had I
bass with an deep insatisfaction with
allowed the talents of others into my
band experiences. What happended?
process. At the time I just wasn't in that
head space. I was too busy trying to
Bands pursuing original music require
prove something to myself. I was trying
everyone to have the same musical goal.
to find my voice and discover my own
All members need to share in the artistic
musical language. So I had to go it alone.
vision. This is not easy. In fact, it's really
hard. It's why so many bands dissolve,
These days I'm actively searching out
and why bands that can stay together
collaboration and opportunities to work
and actually create amazing music are so
with others musically.
special.
When I said I had a deep dissatisfaction
On your homepage and your twitter-
with the band experience, it was that
account you are writing alot about the
difficulty to which I was speaking. I also
music industry. What are your thoughts
felt like I had more music to express than
on the future of the industry?
I would be able to do in a typical band
environment.

Interview with Jeff Schmidt

Conducted by Maik Reishaus for www.BassTheWorld.com 7/10
OK - that's a huge issue. I do know that fans have access to more
music than ever before for free. My
Most of my writing was in response to guess is there's probably more artists
the lament I was hearing from musicians making some money rather than nothing
about file sharing and piracy. What these days.
seemed to offend most musicians was
the idea that music was, or should be But even with all the free online tools
free. And the decline in CD sales seemed and methods of "getting the word out" I
to bring it all home. still think it's just as tough for artists to
get traction and earn a living from their
As a music consumer, file sharer and art.
musician myself, I understood and
empathized with all sides. As much as
anyone I hated the idea that the art I
poured my time and heart into creating
had almost no chance of recouping the
cost of it's production - let alone fairly
compensate my creative effort. Not that
that is new phenomena.

But I also realized that once music went

digital - there was no way to stop it from
being copied endlessly for free. That the
genie was never going back in the bottle.
So tried to urge artists to look for new
ways to create a value system around
their music - beyond selling CDs. At first
a lot of people couldn't imagine a music
career without selling CDs.

Now, just a few years later - most indie

musicians I know fully embrace and
understand the digital reality. And
they're working it. CDs are still part of it -
but it's a much broader approach.
That said - I don't know if the digital The amount of music available now is
revolution has increased or decreased enormous and people's attention is
the number of musicians earning a living finite. The noise level of self promotion
from their music. Not sure there's any is ratcheted up considerably.
way to tell beyond anecdotally. Cutting through that noise by getting

Interview with Jeff Schmidt

Conducted by Maik Reishaus for www.BassTheWorld.com 8/10
louder won't work for indie artists pedulla but also sound nice, open and
because getting louder means spending organically sonorous.
loads of money on promo and marketing
Do you have written some material on
So - the big meme among independent the 6 string ?
artist is to "connect" with their audience
using social media. To come down off I had a few solo pieces written for 6
the "artist" pedestal and mingle with the string I recorded for Outre.
hoi polloi in the hopes the bond will When it came time to pick the final
make it more likely for fans to support tracks for the album those 6 string pieces
your work and spread the word. were the weakest in my opinion, and in
the opinion of my producer Cookie
It depends on who is doing it - but it has Marenco. So I left them off.
sometimes appeared to me as artists I think Outre is stronger because of it.
seeking charity from their own fans. It
kind of comes off as -hey look, we know I still have the pre-mastered recordings
you can get our music for free - but since on 2 inch tape!
you know we're cool peeps cuz we hang
out on Facebook - please consider These days I have a midi pickup installed
paying for it. I know this works for a on the 6 string and pretty much use it for
some artists. I just have a slight gag composing and midi tracking rather than
reflex on it. solo material.

It's hard enough finding people that like

my music. But if my livelihood depends
on all those people ALSO liking ME
personally? Oh boy. ;)

Ok, now we come to the inevitable

bassplayer-questions. What basses do
you use at the moment?

I'm still using the same basses:

You are using loads of different tunings
-Pedulla PentaBuzz for fretless on your basses. Do you experiment with
-MTD535 fretted them or do you fit them to the song?
-American Fender P 4 banger
-Carvin 6 string Icon bass I change the tuning of the bass to
All are lefty. I'm looking for an acoustic capture the vibe, or color I'm going for.
fretless that will play and sing like my

Interview with Jeff Schmidt

Conducted by Maik Reishaus for www.BassTheWorld.com 9/10
These days I don't even think of other Composing this way can be really painful
tunings as deviations FROM standard. for me.
They simply are. Kind of like getting But that sense of "I don't know what I'm
comfortable with various time doing" can really force me into creative
signatures. At first everything is problem solving. And that has resulted in
understood by relating it TO 4/4 - but in some of my favorite compositions.
time you're able to understand any time
signature as it's own world. Same is true The trick is to understand that while the
with different tunings. intervalic relationship between the
strings is altered - they are always the
I enjoy altered tunings because I'm same ON each string - 12 fret spaces is
almost always trying to generate still and octave - for example regardless
interesting voicings and polyphony I can if your string is tuned to E or C#.
play alone without having to develop a
lot of crazy playing techniques or do a lot So ultimately it's a creative tool with the
of tapping. Altered tunings is an goal of making music that I enjoy
exceptional technique for that. playing.
It also keeps me on my ears from
slacking off. What FX´s do you use in the studio and
live?
I've heard people say altered tuning is a
way to make your habitual patterns I'm still using the Boss GT series (6 and
sound different. And of course they will 10) foot pedals for live. I've increasingly
sound different - mostly bad. used USB out of the GT10 running into a
laptop running Ableton Live - so I can
I'd submit that many "normal" players add more DSP based plugin effects if
internalize standard tuning as a series of needed. In studio I'm mostly recording
connected muscle memory based direct through a Millennia TD-1 preamp
patterns. And once they have that down and then doing tone shaping/processing
they shut their ears off and play muscle in the box. I still have a collection of
memory. With altered tunings - you weird boutique pedals like the
really have to listen and feel all the Metasonix Scrotum Smasher and Butt
intervals. Probe that just make horrible noise.
Essential for any Ruiner Severhead
That might require the development project. :0
new fingerings and chord shapes - but it
also requires you to listen more. It's like Jeff, thanks for the interview and much
becoming a beginner all over again. success for all your projects!
Some people are terrified by that. And I
understand the frustration - I really do.

Interview with Jeff Schmidt

Conducted by Maik Reishaus for www.BassTheWorld.com
10/10