What kind of music do you listen to?

This is a good question. On most of the interviews I have done, I have always talked about my influences. The thing is that most of my main influences are not bass players; of course I listen to bass players as well, like I to listen to other bass players. But the thing is that they always forget about the other names and put only bass players names as influences.

My biggest influence has probably been Miles Davis. I like the records he has made through the years, I probably own more than 100 CD`s with him and I love them all, at least most of them. I like Miles Davis not only for his trumpet playing, but for everything he has done under his carrier. The way he changes the style of music and the way he is choosing musicians for his bands! Always with good taste and the right guys for the right situation. Many times you see top guys touring with groups, where you can feel that the combination of musicians is not right for the artist. With music that is based on improvisation or have arrangements that are more open you need to pick up the right guys! Actually even with music that is almost written out, its important to choose the right guys with the right sounds that fits the sound of the group. To create your own music and lead a group, you need to have visions of your music like a painter.

Another guy I respect a lot is John McLaughlin. He is probably one of the best musicians in the whole world, thinking about knowledge of his instrument. John is also a musician that always is searching for something new, and he always finds it! He is a true artist; it’s always a joy to listen to him. Herbie Hancock is an other giant I love very much, what ever he is doing, jazz or pop it’s always good (almost). I love to listen to his piano playing; it’s so rhythmic and still melodic at the same time.

But everything I like is not jazz. King Crimson with Robert Fripp is also something I respect a lot. In the early days I was a huge fan of the progressive groups like King Crimson, Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Yes, Pink Floyd and more. With groups like Pink Floyd and some other pop artists the records were always very well produced. They new about sounds! That’s something you could not say about some of the jazz artists, of course it had something to do with money as well, but not always. Many rock artists cared more about the sounds when recording. Jazz artists cared more about a personal technique on their instrument, rather than that a record would be also produced well.

Abbey Road with the Beatles was my first album I ever owned, and to this day, I think it’s the best pop album ever recorded.

I also love to listen to Frank Sinatra’s records. Not that he would be the best singer in the world, but his voice is strong and beautiful and he is most of the time singing great songs. That is great to listen to when you drive a car or want to relax at home. It’s always good to listen to great melodies.

Michael Jackson is another guy I appreciate very much. I hope thing goes well for him in the future, he is just so talented. To me he is on the same level as John and Miles.

Do you listen to bass players at all?

Of course! I am a bass player, and I love bass players. Its just that musically there is much more, if you speak about main influences. I love all the good guys and many players round the world. Paul McCartney is someone I respect. He is a great bass player and a good songwriter; I own many of Paul’s records and listen to them from time to time. I always liked Stanley Clarke; I have all of his records. Stanley is definitely a pioneer in bass playing; his sound is outstanding, light-years beyond the others! Stanley always comes up with new ideas both playing wise and recording wise. Stanley is like Miles and John.

Marcus Miller is of course one of the biggest in bass, not only as a player but also a great producer. One of my personal favourite top ten records is Tutu with Miles Davis.

Richard Bona and Armand Sabal-Lecco are amazing. Cant wait for Armand’s solo record, I really look forward to that.

Louis Johnson is one of the biggest in bass, many people have forgotten about him but he is one of the biggest as is Jaco Pastorius. They are both great composers and producers as well.

There are so many more… so many, Victor Wooten are fun to watch, Paul Jackson, Anthony Jackson, Jeff Berlin, Hugh McDonald, Miroslav Vitous, Rhonda Smith, Victor Bailey.... so many more.

Who is playing in your group?

At present the line up is Sami Virtanen on guitar Timo Lassy on sax, Dan Antone on Keyboards and Toni Porthen on drums. I also perform as solo, from time to time. Playing upright bass, acoustic & electric bass guitars.

Do you have any favourite records you would like to mention?

Yes there are many, but lets see, if I mention only a few;

Sketches of Spain, Miles Smiles, A Man With The Horn, Tutu with Miles Davis

Heavy Weather with Weather Report, and actually their whole production.

Most of John McLaughlin records and especially the new ones like Remember Shakti.

Journey To Love and East River Drive by Stanley Clarke

Abbey Road by Beatles

Blam by Brothers Johnson

Led Zeppelin II by Led Zeppelin

Off The Wall with Michael Jackson

Duets I & II with Frank Sinatra

Jaco Pastorius first album

Band Of Gypsys with Jimi Hendrix

Vertu` with Stanley Clarke

Headhunters, Trust, Man Child, Secrets & Dis Is Da Drum with Herbie Hancock

Richard Bona albums

Marcus Miller M2 and his other albums

King Crimson records, especially the old ones

John Coltrane records from the –60`s

And many more………..

How do you record your basses, are there any secrets we should know about?

There are many ways to record the bass in the studio! The normal way is to record straight to the board, and it will sound good, but I would personally like to use a pre-amp or a tube DI box if possible.

I also record the bass on two channels when possible, one for low bass only (under 150Hz) and then one with full range, sometimes I record the other channel for highs only but mostly with full range. I like to have a big sound for the bass. I also like to have quite fresh strings on my instruments; personally I think they are at their best after one week of use! The gauge is 45-135 for my Custom shop MTD, 45-128 or 40-125 for my Alembic and Fodera 5-string basses. My fretless bass has sometimes 50-110 sometimes 45-105, it depends. I am always searching for something new and hope to improve my sound all the time.

I like the sound of Fender basses but I think that today’s 5-string basses are the standard. I love the sound of the low B; it works in all music styles, even symphony orchestras use 5-string upright basses.