"Music opened up so many things for me that it was definitely worth it."

A week before the October 20, 2008 show by the incredible bass trio SMV in Sofia, Bulgaria, we got in touch with one of the three musicians, Marcus Miller, and talked to him about his work with Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten, as well as about his childhood, wishes and more...

Vassil Varbanov: Mr. Miller, what are you up to now?

Marcus Miller: We're in Stockholm at the moment on tour with SMV, which is a group that I'm in with Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten - two great bass players. We've been traveling around for over two months now all over the world, trying to play some music for people.

V. V.: Tell us please something more about your show. Is it just the three of you playing bass?

M. M.: No, we also have a drummer whose name is Derico Watson, and we also have a keyboardist called Federico Gonzalez Pena, so it's really a band, not just three bassists playing low notes. It's a very full, interesting sound.

V. V.: Where did the idea of forming a three-bass band come from? Maybe from the Three Tenors?

M. M.: Ha-ha... Well, when I have to describe what we're doing, I do tell people, "Think about the Three Tenors except with bass guitars!" You know, we did a tribute to Stanley Clarke a couple of years ago. Victor and I gave Stanley a lifetime achievement award at a convention in New York. After we present him with the award we jammed together. We had such a good time and people were so excited to see three of their favorite bass players playing together on one stage that we thought it might be a good idea to make a recording and do a tour.

V. V.: Is there a fourth bass player somewhere in the world who could be worthy of joining your project?

M. M.: Oh, sure. The first one that comes to mind is Jacko Pastorias, who's unfortunately no longer with us, but he was a great bassist... There's plenty of bassists who could play with us. The thing that's interesting for us is that Stanley Clarke was one of the original bassists to lead a band and play with a very aggressive sound. He did that in the 70's, and in the 80's I did my mark coming out of Stanley Clarke's sound. In the 90's Victor Wooten did the same thing, so it's just pretty cool to have three decades of the bass on one stage.

V. V.: Who's a closer friend of yours - Stanley or Victor?

M. M.: We're all pretty close. I've known Stanley since I was about 17 years old. I met him when I was a teenager, he's always been very supportive to me and I've talked to him periodically throughout the years. Regarding Victor, we met about 15 years ago. I just loved the way he played and we stayed in touch, too. Since we've been touring we became very close, and it's a very nice situation.

V. V.: Do you plan to do more recordings together?

M. M.: Yes. We have CD out called "Thunder" that we're very happy with. We just finished recording a live DVD that we hope to release pretty soon. And who know, we might probably do another CD down the road...

V. V.: I know you've been playing the bass since you were a kid. Did the constant rehearsals hinder you from have a normal childhood?

M. M.: Probably there are a few things that I didn't do as a teenager, because I was so focused on my music... On the other hand, the music opened up so many things for me and exposed me to so many different things, I've seen so many different parts of the world and met so many people, that it's very much more worth it. You know, I wasn't one of those kids who didn't play sports at all - I tried to keep a balanced life. I did spend a lot of time with my bass, but I also played basketball and had a good time with the other kids, so it wasn't that bad.

V. V.: You've played with so many musicians throughout your career, but is there any particular person that you've wanted to play with but haven't had the chance to so far?

M. M.: I would have loved to play with John Coltrane, but he passed away by the time I became a musician... In terms of people who are around - yes, there are plenty of people to make music with. It's not the same as it was years ago when I couldn't wait to play with Herbie Hancock or Sonny Rawlins or Aretha Franklin... I don't think like that anymore, because I've already played with a lot of people. Now I just look for interesting things to do. There are a lot of young artists coming who I like, for example a guy named D'Angelo who is a very good R&B singer, or a new bass player called Esperanza Spalding... There's new people coming around all the time that I'm hoping one day to have a chance to make music with.

Copyright: Tangra Mega Rock