Steve Swallow

“I think of myself as a composer who happens to play the bass.”

“I abandoned the upright bass because the electric bass guitar spoke to me more directly. It had the voice I was hearing in my head.”

“The goal is always to serve the song. Not your ego, not the audience's expectation, but the song itself.”

“Composition, for me, is a process of discovery. You start with a small idea, and you follow it to see where it leads.”

“I tend to hear melody in everything. I'm not a very harmonic-oriented player.”

“Silence is just as important as the notes you play. It's the canvas.”

“Improvisation is composing in real time. It requires you to be completely present.”

“Playing with Carla is like a conversation. We don't need to speak; the music says it all.”

“The bass is the foundation. And if the foundation isn't solid, the house falls down.”

“I try to make my bass lines sing, rather than just thump.”