Any other instrument you primarily hear, but a bass is something you feel. When it comes to the rhythm that hits us in our soul, it's no wonder I've brought three more bassists back to our pages. After our Beyond The Fallen interview dropped last year, they have been one of the most requested bands to return. Their axe slinger, Joy, is back to reek havoc. As well, we have Chase Martinez from Denver native band, Redlands and Kentucky band, Picturesque's Robert Mote!

Click HERE for our last Beyond The Fallen Interview

Meryl DeWitt: How old were you when you got your first bass? What was your first bass?

Chance Martinez: I think I was like 2 years old. I got a little kid sized acoustic guitar! I just broke all the strings off I think. I was probably about 10 when I got a bass guitar of my own. It was a cheap entry level Yamaha black bass.

Robert Mote: I got my first bass for my 17th birthday. I don't even know. Rogue, I think?

Joy Widow: I was very old. Actually I started to play the bass when I formed my band, Beyond The Fallen. Before that I’ve always been a guitarist. Since I’ve always had a “bass approach” to my guitars in the past, I chose to change and finally play the bass. My first bass was an Ibanez GSR200.

Meryl: For anyone wanting to learn, what would you suggest as a starter bass?

Robert: Personally, I don't think it matters what brand/model you start on. They all make noise. Haha. If you are just trying to learn, go with a cheap, starter bass. If you have the money to spend and know you are sticking with it, go with a higher end bass.

Joy: Not the cheapest one, and not the best one. Probably a halfway is the best decision, IMHO. I believe that excesses, at the very beginning, are not good at all.

Chance: For bass guitar I’d suggest grabbing a used Fender P bass or Jazz bass off Ebay for like $300.00! I’ve been playing used guitars most of my life just because I can usually sell them for what I paid for it after a couple years of use… that way I never lose money on my investments, hehe, and they work just as good!

Meryl: Through trial and error in your career, is there any of your mistakes you'd warn young bassists to be cautious of?

Chance: Don’t depend on a teacher or school to skip having to practice, practice, practice…and get good, yourself. I see way too many musicians fall into that trap, and waste a lot of money. It’s through mistakes we learn the most, so I say try new things, and don’t be scared to get it wrong a million times ‘till it’s right. That’s how you get better. Always try to sound as good, or better than, the people you look up to, and you’ll get where you need to be to succeed!

Joy: Not really. Errors must be faced and solved alone. Only in this way a person can grow up. So, young bassists, search your own problems and do your best to solve them, you don’t need anyone’s advice.

Meryl: What's the biggest stage nightmare you've ever had?

Chance: I fell backwards off our “Ego Risers” about 5 years ago on our first song of the set, when I stepped backwards and sprained my ankle REALLY bad. Haha, I had a tennis ball sized bruise on my foot! In addition to that, I broke the nut on the Low E string so I had to transpose all our songs on the fly to the A string.

Joy: To be on stage and have some mysterious magical problems that nobody can explain, and that doesn’t let your bass work. Oh, and it actually happened.

Robert: During the San Antonio date of the Everything That Got Us Here tour with Secrets, everything that could have went wrong with me happened. The cable plugged into my guitar from my wireless pack shorted out a few minutes before our set started. I had to scramble to find out the problem and thankfully Zach, our guitarist, uses the same wireless system that I do and was nice enough to let me use his spare for the show.  Then, 30 seconds into our set, the battery in my in-ear wireless pack died. I had to wait for a break three songs into the set to change the battery. It was a total nightmare.