Suzi Quatro (USA)

Susan Kay Quatro, thank you for giving us this exclusive interview. Tell us a little about how you started in the music business? I was born in Detroit in 1950 and I started played bass at the age of 14, after seeing The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show. My sisters and some friends decided after that TV show to start an all girl-band. Everyone chose an instrument, the bass was given to me cuz no one wanted it! I played bongo's with my dads band aged 7, then took classical piano for a few years, then played percussion, (I'm a multi instrumentalist) but once I started on bass..that was it.

What were the first pieces you learned to play? I learned 3 songs which were actually our first gig with the Pleasure Seekers - Latin Lupe Lu, Twist and Shout and Louie Louie, all the same 3 chords...not to adventurous to begin with!

Tell us about your first band? The Pleasure Seekers - my sister Patti on guitar, me on bass, Nan Ball on drums, Marylou on rhythm guitar and Dianne Baker, whose father was in my dad's band, on piano. Later on my eldest sister Arlene replaced Dianne on the piano and her first husband managed us.

What is your main bass these days? It's a Status with a graphite neck, rosewood finish with a headstock. I have played this for about 15 years, it's a wonderful bass, smooth and durable and cuz I bash it around it's amazing how it stays in tune. It's got a full size neck as I had cut down versions but didn't like the headstock missing. I have the first one they did with the headstock back and can't see myself changing for stage anyway. In the studio of course it's my Fender Precision..you can't beat it with a stick!

Do you think that the wood affects the tone/sound/sustain of your bass? the type of wood is important. Best for that was the Gibson Les Paul professional recording bass with low impedance pickups - it weighed more than I did! Even the guys didn't like to carry this around. I don't know, either I am very strong or the guys are very weak, although I do have huge arms through all the years of heavy playing.

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What do you feel is the bass-players function in a band? I am an old fashioned bass player and believe that the point of the bass is to be the musical note of the bass drum. Without your rhythm section you have dickshit, e.g:  Jack Bruce - excellent player but....he should have been a guitarist. The bass player's function, along with the drums, is to be the engine that drives the car....everything else is merely colours.

What strings do you prefer and how often would you change them? Picato gauge 45-105; every six shows the strings are changed.

Do you prefer to use fingers or a pick?  I began playing with my thumb only, never could get a pick together - too delicate. I don't like picks. I can use one, but it feels awkward in my hand. I much prefer using my fingers..like Jameson from Motown. A bass should sound like a bass with the thump of the finger against the wood, like it began with stand up.

What's your current backline bass amp? Mesa Boogie Bass 400 Plus

Have you played a double or acoustic bass?  I have played an upright - standing on a chair! I can more manage a half size stand up. I jammed with a jazz band on a vacation on the island of Jersey. A few glasses of wine and there I was! There are also a couple of good regular acoustic basses on the market...Earthwood is one of them

What's your favourite type of music to play? Rock and roll mainly but I can play passable jazz also. On a challenge I did a gig with my father's band playing popular music from the '20s, '30s & '40s and what a challenge it was. Although I knew the songs from childhood, I had to stand behind the piano player's sheet music and read the chord structures and they were not your usual three changes thing. In fact, in the old style music there were passing chords in every phrase - very difficult but lots of fun - and my dad booked me again!

What music do you like to listen to? Because I do rock and roll I tend to listen to anything but that! Lots of crooners, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra - things like Jackson Brown, Motown is a big favourite, before they left Detroit. Basically I like good music - melody, or on the other end something I can get up and dance to. I also have a big love of classical music played on piano because this is the environment I grew up in my brother being one of the great masters in this world.

Do you know how many singles and albums you have released? I have record approximately 10 studio albums. I had 16 top ten singles and sold in excess of 45 million records all over the world.

Of all your gigs, which one stands out as a favourite? In Philadelphia, one sponsored by a radio station to over 60,000 people. We played in the middle of the lake on a boat - quite an experience - talk about making waves!

What was your worst moment ever onstage? In Finland at a big outdoor festival, I was doing my ego thing - waving a triumphant goodbye wave to the audience ala Spinal Tap. There was a monitor in front of the exit stairs that shouldn't have been there and I fell into it - and I mean into it - head first, upside down with the bass still on, feet waving in the air! What a shock! My ex-husband (guitarist) thought someone had thrown a blow-up doll on stage! We all still laugh about this. Luckily I wasn't hurt. Someone should put that in a movie!

What other instrument would you like to play? I wouldn't mind learning some of the brass instruments.

Have you played in many countries?  I have played concerts in most countries in the world, it's easier to say where I haven't played! South america, China, Greece...thats about it.

What do you think of basses with more than 4 strings? I like a 5 string bass - it gives you some interesting options. I played one a few times on stage. There was no problem...I was real natural.

Having achieved so much Suzi, what's your ambition now? To do a movie. This is the only medium in 'show business' that I have not yet worked in.

Thank you very much Suzi. See Links page for Suzi's official website - Ed.

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