Interview: Will from Puppy
Hi. My name’s Will, I’m the bassist from Puppy and I’m here at Desertfest 2018.
When I started playing bass, I was actually a guitarist and probably like most guitarists, nobody else wanted to pick up the bass. So I was like, “I’ll do it.”
It’s been a bit of a journey trying to find the right kind of raucous, rumbling low end but something where you can pick out the melody as well. I don’t want just sub – something that bites through. That’s what I look for.
I’ve always looked up to bassists that really stood out – I love Cliff Burton. I love the way he played the bass like it was a guitar. That approach, not just being “just” the rhythm section. I think that – and a lot of three pieces were always my favourite bassists as they had a third of the job to carry. You couldn’t be a wallflower bassist in a three piece. Al from Sleep, for me is a massive influence – I play a Rickenbacker too. Cliff and Al are probably my two favourite bassists of all time.
My interest in Orange came, really young actually – before I was in any bands. I used to love Oasis as a kid. I remember seeing them playing and they had an all Orange back line. Black Sabbath too on some German performance, I remember seeing they all had a full Orange back line. I was like. “That’s just the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.” Then I learned a bit more about the history of the company. I got the Orange book and I was reading about the shop they used to have on Carnaby Street (Ed’s note: It was New Compton Street.) Which was so cool and the old logo, the tree growing off the world – the Voice of the World logo. I thought it would make a great tattoo, so I’ve got it there. (On his left bicep.) Yeah – that’s about it, man. I’m a bit of a loyalist to the brand and I was super stoked to asked to use their equipment. I would be using it anyway, so yeah. You’ve got a fan for life in me basically.
My first stack was an Orange AD200 with two OBC410s and I was super proud to have that onstage. We would play the tiniest venues and I’d never go without the full stack even if it meant piling it into a cab and pissing off cab drivers. So yeah, it feels amazing to be asked to use their equipment because I spent so long drooling over pictures of musicians I adored, like Prince and Al from Sleep and all of these people I thought were super cool using their gear and I obviously just wanted to be like them. That’s why I was using the gear in the first place so it feels great to be an ambassador for the brand. It’s awesome.
