JAN 2015
UNEDITED:
INSIDE THE HEART OF A TRULY PASSIONATE BASS PLAYER
By Raeann Beckles
…BASS, it’s like a Guitar, But Cooler…
“When I play the bass I feel alive, free, she’s my dance
partner, my voice and so much more. But, the most
powerful feeling that generates when I play is love. Love
for GOD, love for others, love for my purpose as a
musician.”
Anton Ricardo
T
hough he plays the acoustic guitar and percussions,
his love for his bass guitar surpasses all others; as
he so passionately reveals, “no other instrument helps me
to express how I feel inside like the bass.”
Trinidad born Anton Ricardo Constantine, or Anton
Ricardo as he is more warmly called in the music
industry, discovered his love for this instrument at the
tender age of eight. Uncover the heart of this truly
passionate Bass Guitarist/ Musician as we have a heart to
heart chat with him.
Q&A with Anton Ricardo:
Q: At what age you recognized your love for the bass
guitar and music?
A: I am really glad you used the word ‘love’ because
that’s how I feel about this instrument, Love! As a child
(not very long ago J) I discovered that music was my first
love, not the television at all. I only pretended to like the
TV so I could fool my mom. So when I got punished it
was always the TV, leaving me with my radio,
unscathed. Brilliant right J? So I guess I was probably
about 8 or 9 years old when I started being mindful of
bass lines from the music I listened to and sang them out
loudly. Yep, the lower notes called out to me. The first
time I actually laid my hands on an electric bass I was
about 10 or 11. I felt a connection that reached deep into
my soul, so much love and though I didn’t have the
means to acquire one I never stopped thinking about the
bass or feeling desperate to have my own, or at least
access to one. At the time, my angel of a mom worked
two jobs to care for my ‘sibs’ and I so she would have
had to sell her soul to get me a bass and GOD knows we
don’t want that. Hey, so I decided to become my own
luthier and built one out of ply and nylon from our
clothes linesJ. If only I had thought about adding hair
back then, she would have been my wife today J.
Q: What is it about the bass guitar that you love so
much?
A: You know what? I’m not trying to be biased or slight
other instruments, I love them all but for me there’s no
other instrument that helps me to express how I feel
inside like the bass. I actually feel (not just hear) each
note, each line, each rhythm pattern, the low frequencies
from deep within me before I play it. If I were to lose
my speech (GOD forbid) I think I could pick my bass up
and say everything that’s in my heart and people would
understand.
Q: How often do you practice?
A: Well I kinda don’t like that word ‘practice’ anymore,
because for me there’s nothing tedious about playing the
bass. Let’s just say I bond with my ‘babies’ daily and get
to know them better J. Usually it’s no less than two
hours at a time because I’m employed otherwise.
Sometimes I’m blessed enough to have a day to myself
and when that happens my bass guitars are strapped
across my chest for the entire day. Once I pick them up I
can’t stop.
www.bajansunonline.com/MAGAZINE/ | [email protected] | @BajanSunOnline