Like electronic music?
Like live electronic music?
Like live electronic music being made by nothing more than a single bass player, a drummer and a dizzying slew of effect pedals and stomp boxes?
If you said yes to any of the above, you’ll fall in love with the work of Ukrainian bassist and composer, Sergey Danilevych.
Live electronic music is novelty these days and I mean really live electronic music.
While most people will turn to using a software like Ableton Live or Native Instrument’s Maschine and a laptop to produce and perform their music, incorporating live instrumentation and musicians to recreate programmed music or build out entirely original music is a bit or a rarity but certainly gaining more traction with the increasing popularity of the genre.
But still – most musicians you encounter performing live instrument electronic music you aren’t bass players.
Except for a few, of course.
Squarepusher and Thundercat have made names for themselves incorporating live bass playing into a pre-programmed electronic music set and even re-arranging their programmed music into a performance with all live musician.
Nathan Navarro who was recently featured here on Smart Bass is another bass player pushing musical limits in electronica with live instrumentation and certainly making a splash in the process.
And then came Sergey who after hearing his solo composition, Staying Forever, made me instantly think of Nathan’s work and the small club of bass players doing big things with live electronic music on bass guitar.
I promptly reached out to Sergey to see if he would like to share a bit about himself as part of the How I Play series. He replied back within a day, ready and raring to do the piece.
So here it is: here’s how Sergey Danilevych’s plays.
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Where are you currently located? I am based out of NYC/Ukraine. I’m pretty much commuting between countries at the moment.
What is your current gig? My main focus right now is on a project with my wife Stefanie Fournier. She has her own website and can be found at www.stefaniefournier.com. She is a fantastic arial performer.
Eventually, all the music that you sow will include her doing silks, lyra and floor and me producing it live on the spot. The idea is to create a beautiful marriage of two arts. I am working on the final song for our act at the moment. Very exited about it!
What is one word that describes your playing? I would describe my playing by saying – me 🙂 (that’s what I am sort of speak)
Describe your current setup and what is favorite piece of gear at the moment? My rig is very complicated and I am still at the point of constantly tweeting it and keep changing things for a convenience sake.
Follow the link to my web site and you will see the list of equipment I use and a little pic ( sorry not the best quality… I’ll make sure to update it when I am back in NYC )
- EBS Microbass 2 Bass PreAmp
- EBS MultiComp
- EBS BassIQ
- Aguilar Tone Hammer 350
- TC Electronics FlashBack Delay Hall of Fame Reverb
- MONO M80 Pedalboard Cases
- MONO M80 DUAL BASS CASE
- BOSS Boss OC2
- Pedaltrain
- PJPS BI-12 Bass Instrument Cable
- Evidence Audio
- XOTIC Bass RC Booster
- ESP MusicCord-PRO
- D’Addario Bass Strings
- Source Audio Soundblox® 2
- MOTU
- BBE BBE Sonic Stomp
- Eventide H9
What is one thing you could not live without? One thing I couldn’t live without…well not the thing I guess 😉
I say can not see myself without my wife! She really changed my life for better and I cannot imagine my life without her. I know it’s cheesy hehe 😉
What is your practice space like? My practice space changes constantly and I think it is a great thing.
Playing music is like living a life so I look at my practice not like a mechanical thing but more like spending a quality time with someone you love.
And I love playing my bass with passion ! At list I work on it everyday to make it that.
What album are you currently listening to? Recently I got into Gretchen Parlato’s work. Sorry do not remember the name of it. As well as a A Tribe Called Quest and Heernt and etc. I’m trying to stay open minded.
What book are you currently reading? I have to admit that I have been quite lazy and haven’t been reading for about two month now but the last book I read was by Tony Robbins, The Giant Within.
I am very interested in studying success of famous people, so I read an autobiographies of people who inspire me 🙂
I’d love to see ____ answer these questions. Interesting… I do not have an answer to this one … Have to think about it I guess 🙂
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received? The best advice would be – be yourself!
Buckle your seatbelts – get ready for Sergey’s performance of his original composition called, “Greatness”. The video speaks for itself – this performance is 100% live. Anyone whose a fan or dubstep NEEDS to watch this:
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How I Play is a new segment for Smart Bass Guitar where we ask bass players to introduce themselves, share their practice tips, rig setups, favorite music and more. Want to be featured as part of “How I Play”, send an email to [email protected] with the headline, “How I Play”.
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