Full name? Aisha Bhagat

Where are you based Aisha? Los Angeles, CA, USA

When did you first take a bass in your hands? Back in 1990

What attracted you to playing bass? I could never decide whether I was more interested in playing drums or guitar... the bass seemed like a happy medium to me.

Did you play any other instrument before you started playing bass? I studied clarinet, drums, tenor and alto saxophones and guitar. I now just play bass, guitar, and I do sequence programming in a program called Reason.

Can you remember the first song you ever learned on bass? It was probably one of my first bands original songs, which was more writing than learning something pre-written.

What was your very first public performance? It was at the age of 15 at a club called Obsessions in New Jersey.

What’s your current band? My current band is called Addicted2Fiction (www.addicted2fiction.com).

What’s your main bass? My main bass is a 1975 Fender Jazz.

Body colour/wood? The body color is black. The bass itself is made out of Maple I believe.

Neck/fingerboard? It has a maple neck & fingerboard with mother of pearl inlays.

What strings to you like best? I only use D'Addario strings.

What is your backline bass amp setup? I use a SansAmp Bass Driver Preamp with an old Peavey Mark IV bass head with a 15" Mesa Boogie cabinet in a roadcase.

Fingers, plectrum or both? Mostly pick, a little bit of finger, sometimes other objects are used for effect.

If plectrum, which ones? Jim Dunlop Tortex, the yellow ones.

What type of music do you play? I play all different kinds of music, but currently I do electronic music in my band and write cues for films and other art projects.

Who do you listen to when you’re not playing? That's tough one to condense into a sentence or two! I listen to TONS of different kinds of music. I will say that currently I'm really enjoying the Black Eyed Peas latest album as well as the latest Gorillaz album.

Have you recorded/released any CDs? Yes. I've released two EP's and a full length entitled "23" with my previous band gül. I was on the Crowns On 45 full length entitled "Insert Here, Sparks Fly". I've released one EP entitled "Zero In" with my current band Addicted2Fiction. We have a self-titled full length coming out early next year as well. There were a few other little things here and there that don't come to mind right now!

What was your best gig/venue ever? Probably at a recurring event called Rubulad in NYC. Gül used to play there every Halloween for years. That is the best party in town if you ask me!

What was your worst moment onstage? I had a gig at this club in downtown Manhattan called Kenny's Castaways where I ate half a pizza before going on stage. I had to put my bass down in the middle of a song to go throw up in the bathroom. That was pretty awful.

What’s your favourite album/CD? I don't think I can answer that question! But I will... it's a toss-up between Jane's Addiction's "Nothing's Shocking", Massive Attack's "Mezzanine" and Bob Marley's "Catch A Fire".

Do you come from a musical family? Yes. Both of my brothers are musical. In fact, we were in a band together for many, many years. One brother plays sitar and guitar,the other is a drummer.

Are your siblings and/or parents involved in music? My brothers are, my parents aren't.

If forming your ideal live band, what instruments would you have with you onstage? That's hard to say. My idea of ideal changes daily!

Do you see the bass as a solo instrument? Not really, honestly. I see it as an essential part of a song or sound, but not necessarily as a solo thing.

What other bands have you been a member of? Gül, Ballrooms of Mars, Crowns on 45, Lullabi, Soür.

Apart from your own projects, have you played recording sessions with other artistes? Sure, many.

Have you ever been to Ireland?  No, but I hear it's beautiful!

Do you favour active or passive electronics/pick-ups? Passive all the way.

What other instrument would you like to play? I'd like to learn the cello someday.

If you could be taken to a concert anywhere on earth tonight, who would you want to see live? Pink Floyd circa "Meddle" era.

What CD are you listening to most these days? The new Depeche Mode CD, "Playing the Angel".

What are your ambitions, musically and personally? My ambitions are to be good to people and try to be good to myself, both musically and personally and to never let age or finance or trend of what I do musically.

Do you have a pet? Yes, a dog named Didj and she is my life.

Do you have a day-job or do you play professionally? I work with animals. The pay isn't good, but the feeling you get from being around them is priceless.

Give one piece of “golden” advice to someone who has just bought their first bass? Take lessons. Do it right. And be open to taking more experienced players' advice without selling yourself short.

Do you own any other instruments? Way too many to list. My little basement studio is a fire hazard at this point. I will say that Apple computers have changed my life! I use them as instruments quite a bit. We have four Mac's.

Do you sing? I was a lead singer/bassist for gül and am currently a lead singer/bassist for Addicted2Fiction. I sang backups in all other endeavours.

Did you ever perform onstage without your bass? I have, but I don't like to. It's sort of like a third arm to me. I feel pretty vulnerable without it.

What’s your opinion on basses with more than 4 strings? Not a fan AT ALL. I think 5 and 6 string basses have their own thing going on, but I have to say I'm kind of a purist in this regard. I also despise basses with active electronics. It seems like cheating to me. But then again, a lot of folks see sequencing as cheating and I do it all the time... so this is just my opinion.

What do you feel is the bass-players function in a band? I think that depends on what you want to put out there creatively. I personally am not what you'd call a 'hold it down' kind of bass player. I use a lot of analog effect boxes and I love to make different sounds that you wouldn't expect out of a bass. Yet on the other hand, what attracts me most to the bass as an instrument/role is the backbone it adds to any overall sound.

Did you ever have a famous person in your audience? Well, one time AdRock from the Beastie Boys was at a Knitting Factory show I played with gül. That was pretty rad.

 

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