Hello All,
We’ve got a nice little interview for you today – specifically for the bass players!
I speak with the renowned (and profound) André Bowman (funny enough he started out as a cellist)!
André is a formidable presence in the music industry’s world of bass players and his resumé speaks for itself; having worked with artists like:
- Jay-Z
- Steve Wonder
- John Legend
- Alicia Keys
- The Black Eyed Peas
- The Backstreet Boys
It’s proof that his skills are quite coveted.
Big Thank You To Wayne Jones Audio for Introducing us to Andre Bowman. Not only am I a huge fan of Wayne Jones speakers and use them as one of our mains at our studio, you’ve seen them in hundreds of our videos, but Andre is an endorsee of Wayne Jones Audio as well.
Check out Wayne Jones Speakers Here: https://www.waynejonesaudio.com/
We start off talking about André’s early experiences that led him down the “low-end” path.
One such memory that, he relates, was centered on a moment, in his 6th grade school band, hearing the iconic bassline from Henry Mancini’s “Peter Gunn” for the first time,
“That looks cool! I wanna do that…”
And how the crowd reacted to the piece,
“I never got those kind of cheers playing a Bach cello suite.”
Ha, yes, indeed!
With the help of a new band director (who happened to be a bass player), and his father deciding to buy him an electric bass, André was hooked.
All this underscores the importance of a good high school education with an emphasis on the importance of the arts therein.
It certainly worked out well for André, after all, he did go to Berklee College of Music.
Early Influences and André’s Big Break
We continue to talk about his initial connection with the bass, after being exposed to some key influences, courtesy of his father’s musical tastes, beginning with Earth Wind and Fire, Verdine White, Bootsy Collins, Parliament, and James Jamerson.
Then later on (at 12-13 years of age): Jaco Pastorius, Louis Johnson, and so many other greats.
Fast-forwarding to André’s start in “The Business” his first major opportunity came by way of his Berklee peer, Jimane Nelson. Nelson was working as the musical director for gospel star, Kim Burrell and asked André to play bass on one of her engagements…during Grammy week.
What a huge win, right out of the gate!
Starting out in gospel was helpful, from a musical development point of view because, as André points out (when speaking about gospel drummers),
“Coming out of gospel…[the drumming] really has spilled over…to R&B, pop music…some of the biggest artists in the world, have drummers that came from the gospel realm, Justin Beiber, Usher, Justin Timberlake. You hear that influence a lot.”
I had noticed this myself, after first arriving in The States – gospel veterans were everywhere. Let’s not forget that Elvis Presley himself (a man made up of several early genres) was very much influenced by, and versed in singing, gospel music.
André continued to collaborate with, and produce, various acts as he worked his way up to the big-time but, the next part of his story takes place not in LA; New York; or Nashville, but rather Atlanta – where he met the great Tricky Stewart.
Watch the video to hear the rest from his perspective.
As always, thanks for watching, liking, subscribing and commenting, and keep on working on your craft!
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Many Thanks,
Warren