Maroc - NEWSDAY.CO.TT - A la Une - 26/Jan 04:04

Man on the bass: Joshua Richardson finds his groove

IN the world of soca music, basslines move waistlines. And Joshua Richardson’s groovy style of playing often does just that. From Kes’s Cocoa Tea to Yung Bredda’s The Greatest Bend Over, the 34-year-old musician is the man behind some of the 2025 Carnival season’s popular grooves. ‘That sounds cool’ Richardson hails from Pleasantville in south Trinidad. Recalling his childhood, he said his father Selwyn, a guitarist, was always blasting music in the house and jamming along to it. “He's what I would call a reggae fanatic. So I would always hear him playing Bob Marley, Steel Pulse, Sizzla, Third World – all the legends.” His father played guitar at their church as well. Wanting to also play an instrument, Richardson opted not to follow his father’s footsteps and tried out African drums. “I never wanted to play guitar because I always felt like it looked hard,” he said, laughing. “But once I started to get a little older, I started picking up the (acoustic) guitar (at home) and played around with it; fiddled with it.” He was around ten years old and attending the San Fernando Boys' Government Primary School. But it was when his family moved to Marabella that he fell in love with the instrument he was destined to play. “We started to go to another church there and that was the first time I heard somebody playing the bass. I was like, ‘Oh! That sounds kind of cool.’” [caption id="attachment_1134993" align="alignnone" width="768"] Bassist Joshua Richardson. -[/caption] Young Joshua would sit in the church’s wooden pews moving his fingers to mimic the bassist. “Then eventually, I decided to take up the guitar that my dad had at home and play it as though I was playing a bass guitar.” He said it was then he realised he had “an ear for music” as he was able to accurately replicate melodies with no formal training. He was excited to learn more so he approached the church’s bassist, Cecil Ramsey, for tutoring. Owing to Cecil’s work schedule, they were only able to have two classes, which he remains thankful for to this day. “The first class he taught me the major scale, and then he taught me two-finger exercises, and I literally practised that for like five years, no joke, because I did not have any other information at that time.” He still did not have his own instrument so he would go to church whenever there were no events to practise there. “Sometimes me and another friend used to be there all 2 am just practising, just playing, just trying to figure out how to make it make sense.” Asked what happened to the African drums, he said, “Once I discovered the bass, that was it. “I was thankful for the foundation of the drums because it helped me in terms of rhythm. But…” The magic bass guitar His father was “very excited” to learn he was genuinely interested in playing a type of guitar. There was one challenge, though: Cecil’s bass was “extremely heavy,” especially for a child. “I started to play with gospel artiste Koen Duncan around 15 years old. So I would be walking around with this heavy bass. Sometimes I had to ask my mom to rub my back for me when I got home,” he said with a laugh. [caption id="attachment_1134992" align="alignnone" width="1024"] -[/caption] “It was so heavy, and sometimes I’d be travelling to shows in Arima and I’m there fighting up to fit this bass into a taxi.” But it was all worth it. He gained a lot of experience and people became familiar with his name. Around age 17, he got a bass to call his own. He was part of a band at his church called Inspiration Brothers and a good Samaritan bought equipment for all the members. Then, at 21, he bought one himself. He was working at Musician’s Paradise, a music store in San Fernando, at the time, after graduating from the San Fernando Secondary Comprehensive School. To this day, he is convinced that bass was magical. “We would always get these particular basses (Ibanez SR505) with a burgundy, wood finish. I’d tune them and hang them in the store for sale…(The) usual thing whenever we get new stock. But this particular bass just sounded and felt different. It actually felt magical.” He said guitarist Jason Bishop was his co-worker at the time and they “both looked at each other in slight disbelief. “I quickly tuned it and packed it back in the box and told the manager, ‘That bass is mine, bro. We’re not selling that to anybody else. I’m taking it by the end of the week.” And so, the story of Richarson and the magic bass began. From gigs to releases Continuing with gospel, he was part of live bands for Gates Praise Music, Samuel Dyer, Rizon, Nigerian singer Uche Agu and others. He also played on gospel projects like Gates Praise’s album Change, Mountain Mover by Positive and She’s Her by Nathanael. Asked how he transitioned to soca, he said it happened after a simple conversation with his good friend, musician and producer Josh Caines. Richardson had taken a break from music but was ready to resume. “I called him and said, Josh, I think I'm ready to start back playing music,’ and he literally called me back the next day and asked me to come to a rehearsal with Voice. [caption id="attachment_1134991" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Bassist Joshua Richardson. - Photo by Garryn Ferdinand/Joy Photography[/caption] This link helped him land the opportunity to play bass on his first soca track –Peace of Mind. Asked how he felt hearing the final track for the first time, he said, “That was honestly amazing. “First, being in the studio and being able to give the artiste what they're asking for – that was a magical feeling in itself. And then when the song was released and I'm in the car and I'm hearing it playing on the radio, I'm like, ‘Well, damn. That's me, bro.” He said he called his wife and friends to express the pride he felt at the time. “I’m hearing myself (play) all the time practising at home, doing covers, but then hearing yourself on the radio was a whole different experience.” He played in Voice’s live band as well as bands for Voice, Mical Teja, Nadia Batson, Nailah Blackman, Destra Garcia, Lyrikal, Erphaan Alves, Alison Hinds and others. Playing on hits People often describe his style of playing the bass as “groovy and weird,” which he agrees with. “I do have the propensity to play unorthodox at times because I do love harmonies, but it may not always be the regular harmony. I may switch things up a little bit, but it works because I don't like to go too far away from the groove itself. “But I am definitely somebody who solidifies the groove, yet still gives you a little bit of flavour in there.” He said producers often send him beats/instrumentals and just say “Do your thing.” Some notable tracks he has worked on are Cocoa Tea by Kes, Soul of Calypso by Machel Montano, the Big Links and Heroes riddims, Throwback by Ding Dong and More Gyal For Me by Juby. Asked how he feels to have now played on local soca hits, he said it has been amazing and gratifying. “I feel a lot of gratitude because last year, I did a lot of work. (I kept saying) I feel like 2025 is going to be a very interesting one for me. “Sometimes, you work on a song and it doesn’t come out. But then to see these songs released and then people are so receptive to them…I don't have words. I’m not sure how to describe it.” He is grateful for the trust that fellow musicians, producers and artistes put into him and his work. “They believe in what I present, in my skill, the things that I record. And then the general public, they're embracing the songs, they're embracing the bassline because it's making them dance.” He said he had told his sister he really wants the public to become familiar with the name Joshua Richardson as a bassist. And this has already begun.   The post Man on the bass: Joshua Richardson finds his groove appeared first on Trinidad and Tobago Newsday.