ON TO THE INTERVIEW...

Dimin: Being a bass player, with the name "Mingus" must invite comparison to your father. How has it affected you?

Mingus: Well actually... People don't really make the comparison musically often... Mostly it's "You look like your dad." But I have never really considered myself a Bassist solely... It's very rare that I play Bass outside of my own music. I really use it as a tool to get my music and words across... When I was young I told Dannie Richmond (My fathers long time drummer) that I was going to attend a music school as a bass major... He looked at me and said... "Do you know how good your gonna have to be?!" I suppose that really stuck with me... Because I switched to a vocal major... and have made that my main focus as well as writing poetry and music... But recently I have been more driven to explore the bass and my skills more thoroughly... So as I bring my playing out more I am sure the comparisons will come... But I will never be him... I wouldn't want to be... Nor would he want me to be... He would think it a waste if I went out in the world and only attempted to emulate him...


Dimin: It seems as though you have inherited a sense of edginess and grit in you music, much like your father, yet you clearly have a musical identity that is your own. How have you stayed true to your father's tradition while finding your unique voice as bassist, composer and vocalist?

Mingus: Well my fathers tradition as I understand it is to clearly have an identity of your own... In fact what I always loved about my fathers music was that the musicians in the group could have their own musical identity within his compositions... For instance the sax solo John Handy played on Goodbye Pork Pie Hat... That's John speaking his musical voice beautifully within the framework of a Charles Mingus composition... Breaks my heart when I hear groups play that tune now and they play John's solo as if it were part of the melody instead of finding their voice within it for themselves... So I feel I am very much in the tradition of my father in that I am always trying to find where I am in all of it... My own identity... But he is very much a part of who I am.... As any father is a part of their children... For better or worse...

Dimin: Your music contains many elements from the sounds of upright bass to electronica. As a composer how do you see all these influences ?

Mingus: Growing up I was exposed to all sorts of music... But I wasn't exposed to categories of music... So I listened to the music of my father... Stravinsky... Earth Wind and Fire... The Beatles... Parliament Funkadelic... Elvis... Coltrane.... Andy Williams... Hank Williams... Taj Mahal ... Just about any record that crossed my path I listened to... I never gave a thought as to what it was called... It all was music... It was only later when I got my own money and started buying records for myself that I had to learn genre... So I have no problem utilizing any sound that I feel suits my needs as a composer... I feel that writing for a particular genre can limit your compositional options... When you are writing for a genre you are limited as to what that genre is defined by... So write what you feel categorize it after... Or better yet leave that for the record companies to figure out...


Dimin: You don't mince words in your lyrics. For those not familiar with your music, what issues, feelings, etc are you speaking too?

Mingus: I write about the world as I have seen it... About love and it highs and lows... I deal with the racial tensions I have witnessed being a man composed of many races... Written poems in honer of people who have influenced me... Tried to untangle the relationship of father and son... Did a cover version of a Who tune... solo voice\bass.... Get a little political... And even wrote a tune about a dog named Butchie...


Dimin: Give us some history of Eric Mingus, musician.

Mingus: Let's see... Was a music major in High School... Mostly Choral work... Oh yeah I played Tuba in the band... I think about taking that up again... But never do... After High School was a stage manager at a hotel resort upstate New York in the Catskills. Got a real good education from the fellahs in the house band... Studied Music at college in Boston for a semester and a day... Got a job at a conservatory as a cook and learned more musically by questioning the faculty and students there than I did attending classes at the other place... Met Carla Bley and she got me in her daughter Karen's band My Cat Arnold... Recorded three records and did quite a bit of touring... I also got to perform with Carla Bley's Very Big Band on some of those tours... Not long after that I moved to London England and did some duet poetry gigs with trumpeter Jim Dvorak.. We also taught a improvisation class at a great school founded by Drummer John Stevens called Community Music House... Jim and I recorded a CD... This isn't sex on Slam records... But do to immigration difficulties I moved back to New York City... When I returned I got offered a tour with Bobby McFerin... But not really my kind of gig and if I didn't need the money I would have said no... On that project (circle songs) you were basically a human tape loop... Got a bit tedious... But an incredible group of singers.... I began doing duet work with Jazz multi instrumentalist Howard Johnson utilizing upright bass and my poetry... I really enjoyed those gigs as howard brought so much to the pieces... That led to my first CD Um... ER... Uh... on Some records... I brought in some good friends to record on that one... Drummer Ethan Winogrand, Jeff Friedman Guitarist and Berklee professor and Mocean Worker to bring a bit of electronics to the fold... Also brought in Donnie McCaslin and kenny Rampton for the horns... The recording did fairly well... Especially in Europe... Did quite a bit of touring... On my second CD (Too Many Bullets... Not Enough Soul ) I brought in Elliot Sharp to produce... We had met performing at a Harry Smith tribute organized by Hal Willner (in support of the Harry Smith Archives) in London as part of the Melt Down Festival... I also am the vocalist for Elliot Sharp's Terraplane... We have recorded three CD's so far... And this brought me the opportunity to sing with the great blues legend Hubert Sumlin... Thru-out all this time I scored a few documentaries... Two for the classic sports channel directed by Ron Yassen... The first is the history of Black boxers from Jack Johnson to Muhammad Ali... The other was the story of boxer Carmen Basilio and his battle against mafia control of the sport... Having been an amateur boxer myself I really enjoyed these projects... I did some voice over work... Recited Langston Hughes' A dream Differed... For another sports documentary... Basketball this time... Currently I am working on my next CD... Hopefully out by the fall... And I still can be found doing carpentry and house renovations... My other love... Well I am sure I missed a few people, places and things... But you did say "some History"...


Dimin: You do solo bass/voice shows. Please give us an idea of your set up and how you pull off such a demanding show.

Mingus: There really isn't much of a set up... I just need a mic and my iAmp 800 combo... I don't use any effects as I haven't found any I like for this bass... My NS5 sounds so good on it's own just plugged straight into the amp... Though lately I added some guitar as well so I use an A/B switch... I don't mess with the EQ on the amp for that I use the tone controls on the guitar to sort out the sound... But as the bass is the dominant instrument on the amp the setting stay for it... For the solo shows there is a bit of improvising... I have a basic sketch of the show and work around that... Each live gig has it's own vibe... I try and work that...

Dimin: How does EA gear fit into your playing?

Mingus: For years I toured and the Amps were supplied by the clubs... So I got what I got... Sometimes it would take an entire sound check to find EQ settings that worked only to have to change them halfway through the gig... But mostly I would set the amp flat and adjust from the instrument... Great tone controls on the NS5US... Actually it's still that way on my European tours... Although the iAmp 800 combo travels well... I'm not taking it on a plane... I already got my hands full with the flight case for my bass...

For me it's all about the tone shaping... Provided I have enough time I can suit the sound to the room or to the set up I am playing in... Sometimes you can tweak certain tones to be heard more clearly in an ensemble without having to turn up the volume... I have found this most useful when playing along side a B3 as many of the lower notes can knock each other out and create mud... By tweaking the tone controls a bit you can clear most of it up... ( I like a bit of mud now and then though) But sometimes I got to get on stage and play immediately upon arrival... So it's those times I use one or two of the presets... I also use the built in DI on stage as well to lesson stage volume... It's good that the DI has post and pre EQ... But I have found that a good sound engineer knows what best in the house... Sometimes what sounds right on the stage as far as EQ... Might not be working in the house... So I tend to send it pre... Though I do make the sound engineer hear what I envision as the sound I want.

Dimin: You recently moved to upstate NY, a place filled with amazing musicians and artisans. I understand you trying your hand at building basses. Why are you taking this path?

Mingus: Ever since I was young I have worked with wood... Mostly from a builders perspective... House framing... Finish carpentry... Cabinet work... As a bass player it became necessary at times to repair my instruments... I had only one upright... If it broke... I couldn't do the gig... Most repair shops have a bit of a long turn around... A rental at the time was not feasible... So I would repair my own instruments... Though my repairs may not have been what a traditional luthier might have done... The basses made the gigs... My friends also began to bring me their broken instruments as well... Also put together a few parts basses... But I really wanted to learn more about bass guitars in particular... Mainly because I never found one that I feel comfortable with physically or sound wise... Upright players tend to play very hard when they get their hands on an a electric bass... It's OK when you switch from upright to bass guitar fairly regularly, you can find your feel... But my gigs are upright dominant and it could be months before I got my hands on my bass guitar... It was ugly... I stopped playing bass guitar altogether about 10 years ago... But recently I began to miss it... I would say that just about every bass guitar I ever owned I bought without plugging in... If I like the sound it makes acoustically... The way it resonated in my hands... How it feels in my gut vibrating against me... It's that bass I am drawn too... I found that if it don't sound good unplugged I don't like it plugged in... But bass players argue about this all the time... I'm just saying what I dig about bass that's all... I was on a session with bassist Melvin Gibbs he owns a few of Michael Tobias made basses... During some down time Melvin was kind enough to let me play one... It wasn't plugged in... I was struck by it's sound... And it's feel... Though my touch was a bit heavy and it really showed in the clunky sounds my fingers made, the bass sounded great... The next day Melvin brought in yet another bass made by Michael... Different woods... Different sound but really clear tones... A low B crisp and clear... I was intrigued... This was an acoustic instrument as far as I could tell... In fact I took it and leaned it on an upright in the room and it sung beautifully... But there's more to a Michael Tobias bass than just that... I was taken by the contours... The finish... The feel of the neck... I wanted to learn how he made these basses... I had always been aware of Michael's work for years... But had never had the opportunity to meet him... It turns out that Michael and I share a lawyer in common... So I gave Michael a call... And after about a year of keeping in touch.. I now work in his shop part time... learning how to build his basses... It is intense work and there is so much to learn... I keep detailed notes... And constantly review them when I am not in the shop... Will I one day go on to build my own Mingus Bass? Too soon to tell... I have many things to learn before I would even think of doing that... Right now I am very much enjoying the education I am getting at MTD...


Dimin: How could we hear more of your music and get some more info about Eric Mingus?

Mingus: For now www.some.com is the best place... I hope to have my own website up and running soon...