TIM COSTLEY
Bass players usually get no respect--
even though they often single-handedly hold the foundation of most
groups together, letting the guitarists and other soloists go nuts and bask
in the admiration and adulation of their fans. If rock has ever had a truly
unsung hero, it is the bass player. Without him (or her) you wouldn't and
couldn't have rock as we know it.
Bassist Tim
Costley
of ANUBIS
SPIRE
is no exception. His solid bass lines on their debut CD--
OLD LIONS (in the world of
snarling
sheep), propel the tunes relentlessly along while Lead guitarist
Bill MacKechnie and drummer Mick Loher play fast and loose with the structure
and timing and send shards of machinegun-like notes flying back and forth
on top. Though mixed into the background on most of OLD LIONS material, Tim's
unique take on the instrument and playing approach can be heard throughout
the debut CD and especially on the title cut OLD LIONS and the album opener,
SO BE
IT.
Always holding the bottom rock solid, Tim mixes it up with counterpoint notes
that compliment and often answer Bills guitar lines and Micks eccentric melody
drum patterns. Much of the pulse that is provided in other bands by the bass
drum is, in ANUBIS SPIRE, actually provided by Tims bass guitar! In this
interview Tim talks about the past, present and future of ANUBIS SPIRE, his
place in it, and his vision of the bass end of the audio
spectrum.****
RBR:---Give
us a little background on yourself, and your early work with Random Bullet
(studio design, early recordings
etc.)
TIM: I started playing bass in high school, pretty much
on a whim. A friend of mine was selling his electric bass, and asked if I
knew anyone that might be interested. I still remember the first time I picked
it up - I was hooked immediately. I bought my first Fender that day for fifty
bucks, including a now vintage Ampeg amp. The short version of the next eight
years includes garage bands, four years in college, trying to imitated John
Entwhistle, John Paul Jones, and Geddy Lee, and starting a career in TV
engineering. Then one day in 1979 I stopped in at the local Radio Shack.
Fred, a drummer friend of mine, was working there, and told me about this
incredible guitarist he had been drumming with, and that they needed a bass
player. This sounds scripted, but the truth is that Bill MacKechnie walked
in just as we were talking about him. The three of us ended up forming
"Vendetta", a group that didn't last very long. But that's when I discovered
that I liked playing MY way rather than always trying to see if I could sound
"just like the record." Some of the recordings we did as Vendetta are still
among my favorites.
Bill's first studio was the guest bedroom in his rented house. He had put
in a wall to separate the control room from the rest of the room, and it
was all very workable. But too small. So we tore out the old control room,
put it back together as a bedroom, and took the larger master bedroom for
the studio. (This was all Bill's idea. I would love to have seen the landlord's
face when he found all the construction we had done to this rental house!)
We both learned a lot about studio construction in those early days. The
acoustics in those small rooms was challenging, and getting the sound right
was an education.
RBR:---What
are your bass influences? Any favorites and
why?
TIM: My list of favorite bassists might confuse some people. I like
various players for different reasons. I remember the first time I heard
Ten Years After in a music store. They had the "Ssssh" album playing, and
it grabbed me. Leo Lyons' bass lines support Alvin Lee's frenetic guitar
beautifully. Geddy Lee is another of my all-time favorites. He showed that
the bassist can work with the guitarist in forming the lead lines. And speaking
of lead bass, let's not forget Billy Sheehan. His recordings with Talas are,
in my opinion, Billy's best work. I also like Ross Valory of Journey. Some
people think his style is overly simplistic, but they're usually only familiar
with the "late" Journey, and have never heard the first two or three Journey
albums. But with anything Ross has done, it always strikes me that the SONG
comes first, and if that means playing less, then so be it. Dream Theater's
John Myung is another favorite, and so is Les Claypool. Now, you won't hear
any Primus sound-alike bass runs in Anubis Spire. I can't get away with the
stuff Les can pull off. He can make mayhem sound like gold! Other early
influences include John Paul Jones, John Entwhistle, and Roger Waters.
RBR: ---Tell us a little
bit about your equipment, what you used on OLD LIONS and any changes you've
made for the new
CD.
TIM:
On old Lions, I used a Gibson
Victory bass, which has a nice big sound live, but I wasn't too terribly
happy with the way it came out. I've been playing a Fender Precision lately,
and I like the way it lets more of the subtleties of the bass line show through.
Most of the processing for the bass on Old Lions was done through a Korg
AX30B bass processor. So far, I've used the Fender and the Korg on all the
bass parts on "Children of a Foreign
Faith".
RBR:
---How was the bass for OLD LIONS
recorded? Your opinion on DIRECT VS MICed
sounds?
TIM: There was a time I insisted on miking my bass amp. After
enough times of fighting with the control room engineer about the bass sound
("That's not right!! Stand out here in the studio and listen to my amp!!!),
I became a disciple of direct recording. Digital effects can accomplish amazing
things, and whatever I gave up in amp miking, I gained ten times that in
versatility. I feel much more in control of my sound when I'm going into
the board direct.
RBR:
---Where you surprised by the
success of OLD LIONS, a mostly instrumental
offering?
TIM:
I must admit, I've been quite
surprised at how well Old Lions has been doing. Considering the hurried way
we recorded it, the incredibly small amount of capital we had to work with
and the way the cover graphics turned out, I think it's phenomonal! I've
always been a huge fan of Bill's music, and I expected we'd do well with
this CD, but I didn't expect
UNDERNEATH THE ROSWELL SUN
to hit number one repeatedly on
the MP3.com progressive charts or our consistantly high showing on the
guitar-rock charts. I didn't expect to have the number one position on some
web music sites for so many weeks in a row that they asked us to withdraw
our songs to give other musicians a chance. I didn't expect the incredible
number of web site hits we've had, the amount of independent radio airplay
or the great reviews. The truth is, while Old Lions is a pretty good debut,
it really doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of what this band is
capable of doing. The new material is closer to Bills original vision. And
this time we'll be taking our time and making no compromises with performance
or recording quality. We've had thousands of downloads of our MP3's and our
CD is selling great around the globe and indie labels are offering us deals
and tour packages. Things are really looking good for Anubis Spire. Even
better than I expected.
RBR: ---Tell us about
your many electronic designs and secret weapons you've designed for Random
Bullet and ANUBIS
SPIRE.
TIM: I've always enjoyed tinkering with electronic circuits,
and Bill has tolerated my hobby quite well. He'll want to buy a piece of
equipment, and I'll tell him "Wait! I can build that!! In fact, I have some
circuit ideas on paper around here somewhere!!" So eventually, either he
gets tired of waiting for me and buys it anyway, or another piece of Costley
Electronics gets built. I've built the studio's main headphone distribution
system, multi-channel EQs, envelope followers, stereo synthesizers, mini-mixers,
and countless guitar distortion boxes.
The console that served us as our main mixing board for many years was a
Kustom 24 by 4 board built in the mid 70's. When we fired it up and listened
to it, Bill knew exactly what sonic changes needed to be made to make it
sound right. He told me what he wanted it to do, and I figured out how to
get it done. We made so many changes to that board that it seemed like half
the modules were always pulled out for modification work. It ended up as
a 24 by 8 by 2, and now that I've got the board pretty much the way I want
it, we're starting to migrate to digital.
(FOR MORE INFO ON TIMS' DESIGNS AND A
PICTURE OF THE CONSOLE CLICK
HERE--
Anubis Spire - The
Gear )
RBR: ----How has the
overall sound of ANUBIS SPIRE evolved since the debut
CD?
TIM: Overall, I think Anubis Spire is more focused now. I know
that Bill had a plan for Old Lions, but I also know that the plan wasn't
always followed. That goes for the SOUND of the band, as well as the material.
Now, you'll have to talk to Bill about the overall sound of the band, since
he's the creative genius here, but I can tell you that I like the bass much
better on the new album. I've opened up the low end a bit, which allows for
better articulation.
RBR: ----What can we
expect on CHILDREN OF A FOREIGN FAITH? Any bass
solos????
TIM: I sure hope so. Nothing written in stone yet, but I've
got some ideas kicking around in my head, and a few bits stored in the zip
disks.
RBR: ---Any advice for
beginning bassists, psychotic drummers or Big dumb guitar players?
TIM: Sit up straight. Don't pick your nose in church. Stop that or
you'll go blind. And, play what you enjoy. That's what I've enjoyed most
about being in Anubis Spire. That and the free coffee in Bill's kitchen.
Earl, an old friend of the band, once said that even if our instruments were
painted green, he'd still be able to find Oslo in the fog. None of us were
sure what he meant by that, but it was the only thing he had said in weeks,
so we wrote it down. And that's how I approach music. I don't necessarily
want it to make sense. But I want you to take note of it.
******
CHECK OUT ANUBIS SPIRE'S HOMEPAGE HERE> ANUBIS SPIRE
***NEW!***
Visit THE ANUBIS SPIRE
STORE! for
OFFICIAL ANUBIS SPIRE LOGO T-shirts, Mugs and MORE!
And EVEN MORE at The
MORE Anubis Spire stuff store!
Also check out
Bill MacKechnie
T-shirts!
At the Bill store!