Entrevista - Carlos Bica

First of all would you tell us which equipment do you use to make the cool sound that you have?
I have 3 nice double basses (between 100-150 years old): a French, a German and a Italian one. Altough they used to have quite diferent sound personalities, after playing them for several years they got a very similar sound. That may happen if the instrument is good. I have a H.R. Pfretzschner bow. For amplyfing my instrument on stage I use either the Walter Woods amp or the Elin amp combined with a 4x10" Hartke or Glockenklang cabinet. My pickup is a FWF (a French version of the Underwood pickup). I prefer to combine the pickup sound with the sound of a good microphone (Neumann KM 100- 45 is my favorite). For studio recordings my favorite microphone is the Neumann U 89 wich I normaly combine with other microphones. Even in a studio situation I always like to combine pickup and microphone to get a good pizzicato sound. I also use a Lexikon reverb unit on stage, especially when I play with the bow.

Where do you find your inspiration for composing?
Inspiration is everywhere, you just need to get in the state of being able to capture it.

Who is your biggest influence?
I don't have any major influences of somebody or any specific style of music. I like all kinds of music. But if you want to know who my favorite bass players are, although I don't listen that much to bass players, they are: Scott LaFaro, Miroslav Vitous, Marc Johnson, Charlie haden and Gary Peacock.

Which project did you enjoy the most?
My favorite project is always the one I'm working on at the moment. The trio AZUL with Frank Möbus on guitar and Jim Black on drums is the band with who I had my first chance to realize my own music, for this reason it became special. Ten years after the release of the first "Azul" CD, we will release soon our fourth album which is entitled "Believer". It's very rare in Jazz to have a band with 4 CDs released in the same constellation. That's something that you can easily find in rock bands (...when they are successful). It's a great feeling for a musician to play in a band where everybody knows each other very well and as a listener you can listen and feel the intimacy that exists between the musicians.

How did you decide to move to Germany and how did this affect your work?
I didn't decide anything, it just happened that I caught a scholarship to study classical music. That's the reason why I went to Germany and after my studies I decided to keep a foot outside Portugal . It was very difficult those days as a Portuguese citizen living in Portugal to be in contact with Europe (and with the rest of the world), I took that chance.

Do you prefer to work with German or Portuguese musicians?
Music doesn't have anything to do with nationalities. Germans have a big sense for responsibility and that's good to have, especially if you are a musician. When you are on stage you have to be conscious that you are playing for an audience that paid money to listen to you playing...that's a great honor!

Which experience abroad would you say was most interesting for you?
To play with good musicians is always a great experience because they don't behave like if they were the biggest cats, they are in general very humble persons. I enjoyed a lot my musical experience with the trombone player Ray Anderson.

How did you decide to make a solo bass album?
Well, it was on the air and then I caught this invitation to record this CD in those beautiful studios at the Berlin radio. Before I recorded this album I did the music for a few theater pieces where I used partially the double bass solo. Things can easily happen if you are already on the path.

What would you advise to all the wannabe double-bass players?
Any tricks you want to share with your fans? Passion and work, those are my passwords!

http://www.carlosbica.com/

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