Player of the Week: Interview with Robert Brian Gross

Robert is a musician, arranger, music director, whose principal instrument is the bass guitar. He has shared the stage with Barry White, Lou Rawls, Neil Diamond, Reba McIntyre, Frankie Laine, Ndugo Chancler, Franco De Vita, Freda Payne, Marty Paich, Harry Belafonte and many more. He is currently working on his first album of solo bass instrumentals.

We just did an interview with Robert and we’re proud to announce him as our newest player of the week. Congrats Robert!

Here is the transcript from the interview:

What is the model of bass you play?
“The bass is a Warwick Katana from the early 90s (I think 1995)”

Any customization or gear mods?
“The pickups are EMGs from the early 90s. The preamp I cobbled together with EMG products. There is no treble or bass control. I use a sweepable midrange, volume, pan and an EMG boost toggle-switch that I purchased through Best Bass Gear. I have the switch wired to the rear pickup only. I use it when I solo, it boosts the output to the rear pickup only. With the flick of the switch I get a louder, tighter sound.”

What inspired you to get started?
“I started playing piano at a young age and switched to trumpet in Jr. High School, but I realized that girls liked guitar players better. I bought a cheap Crown bass (a Gibson SG knockoff) and was in my first garage band the summer before my freshman year of high school. We played at three backyard parties during that school year – good times.”

Who is your current inspiration?
“I recently saw Gary Willis play and have gotten into his catalog of music. What impresses me most isn’t his technique (which is incredible) but his ability to seamlessly morph between holding down the groove and soloing – back and forth and back and forth. I feel that too many bass solos are just stand-alone parts of a song, that they aren’t anchored to the rest of the music. It’s like dropping three pages of a Dr. Suess story into the middle of novel: it doesn’t make sense with the overall story. I appreciate players that integrate into the band. It’s what I’m constantly trying to improve at, and Gary Willis does it well.”

Toughest gig you ever played?
“The toughest gig I ever played was with our local community college. I was playing with one of the three college bands, and for whatever reason, I ended up being the only bassist at one of their semi-annual concerts. I site read the music for the other two groups. Very challenging and rewarding. For me the hardest part of site reading isn’t playing the notes that are written, but being about to follow the repeats, Codas, D.S. al Codas, etc. – basically being able to bounce all over the chart and not get lost.”

Who’s your biggest fan?
“My biggest fans are my boys. They encouraged me to put some of my playing on YouTube and I’ve ended up getting several great gigs using that as a calling card. Apparently, YouTube is the new “business card”.

Would you like to be interviewed as a featured bass player? Submit your entry here.