The masters of modern progressive rock are without a doubt Opeth, the Swedish quintet whose fourteenth studio album The Last Will and Testament has been acclaimed in recent months.
Bassist Martín Méndez reveals a typically unpredictable selection of albums that made him the man he is today. His influences are many and varied, among them the likes of Queen, Stanley Clarke, Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix and Jaco Pastorius.
“Jaco has always been the main influence when it comes to the more dissonant side of my playing,” Méndez told Bass Player. “That music has inspired me a lot, even though it might not be obvious on the albums.”
“There’s this sense of melancholy in the recordings made by people like him, Miles Davis and John Coltrane. I pay a lot of attention to the bass register on those albums – those musicians ended up affecting how I approach my riffs.”
So what five albums does Méndez chart among those that shaped his bass style?
1. Black Sabbath – Master Of Reality (1971)
“I suppose I’m in a metal band, so I should put at least one metal album in here! It’s generally difficult to hear the bass playing in metal, because it’s usually hidden behind the guitars, but some bass players like Geezer Butler stand out because they try to do something different with their parts. If they don’t do that, I usually find it a bit boring. This was a huge album for me when I was younger.”
2. Return To Forever – Return To Forever (1972)
“Stanley Clarke was another huge influence on me. I'm a fingerstyle player too, although l've never tried to play like him. l've never managed to play with a pick – but l don't bend my arm like he does.
“He's the man. I've actually started to play upright bass with Opeth, like Clarke does: I played it on Heritage.”
3. Stevie Wonder – Innervisions (1973)
“I got into this album when I joined Opeth. It was Mikael Äkerfeldt who showed it to me. I don't know who the bass player is but whoever he is, he was amazing.
“The song Visions is my favorite [featuring upright great Malcolm Cecil], although I really love all the songs on it. I like funk playing, but it needs to be groovy for me. I don't like it if it's too happy!”
4. Jaco Pastorius – Jaco Pastorius (1976)
“It’s funny – when I was really young I hated this album. I didn’t understand it. Ever since then, though, I’ve thought it was tremendous.
“I play fretless bass and I know a couple of songs of Jaco, but I would never compare myself with him. He was the ultimate bass player for me – his basslines were amazing and I loved the way he created melodies and used such incredible techniques.”
5. Astor Piazzolla – Tango: Zero Hour (1986)
“This guy was a major tango player from Italy, but his tango was completely different. I loved all his albums, but this one was the first that I heard.
“Again, I don’t know who the bass player was on this record [Hector Console], but it wasn’t just about the bass playing: it was all about the entire composition. Piazzolla wrote parts for the upright bass that were very unusual – they were very percussive at times.”
