A groovy playlist of the best bass lines
Editor’s Note: This weekend, we’re all about that bass. Indie music veteran Rohit ‘P-Man’ Pereira curates a list of the top seven basslines that changed his craft. The selection showcases how the bass guitar truly is the backbone of a song and can take a simple composition and turn it into a track that gets your body on the dance floor.
We've compiled our picks that are available on YouTube into a handy playlist for your convenience. Check it out on the Splainer YouTube account here.
Don’t forget to check out our previous playlists—including rock songs through the ages, K-pop bangers, a drummer’s playlist, Folk to Bollywood renditions, indie music from Kashmir, and fun songs for road trips.
Written by: Rohit ‘P-Man’ Pereira has been around the country’s independent music scene for 15 years, playing in some of the most iconic bands the country has seen. Beginning as a bassist with one of India’s pioneering metal bands Pin Drop Violence (PDV) and death metal act Exhumation, touring bass player for the iconic electro-pop outfit Shaa'ir + Func, vocalist for the electro-rap group ViceVersa as well as played sessions for many other acts from the Indian music scene. P-Man also hosted The Vh1 Music Diaries, a music magazine show that covered the international and local music scene and aired on Vh1 India for 2 years. Yup that’s him below:)
Over to Rohit…
‘Give It Away’ by Red Hot Chilli Peppers: This was the song that made me want to pick up a bass guitar! Seeing Flea go wild in the music video—I was like—I wanna be like that guy. Never got anywhere near to being him but from all the RHCP songs, this has to be the most fun to play alongside.
‘I Belong To You’ by Lenny Kravitz: This song taught me how to be in the mix and be the backbone in a song. This is one of my top 5 songs of all time and the basslines in here is something I still do during soundchecks and practices! Hell, I use the patterns and runs here in a lot of the songs for the many bands I have played in.
‘Tandoori Chick’ by Exhumation: I played in a death metal band in Mumbai for a bit and this song kicked my ass. Over 200 bpm at breakneck speed, I had never played so fast in my life ever before. And the song is just over 2 minutes. Also—to be noted—I don't use a plectrum while playing, so this was all fingerstyle at this tempo! Sadly, no spotify link for this song.
‘Lady’ by Modjo: One listen to this song and you will instantly fall in love with the bassline. I recently got to cover this song with the Joel Padikkal band and boy, oh boy—it is so much fun to play this song.
‘Hysteria’ by Muse: I’m not big into technical and bass solos and all that, more of a groove guy and this song has that chunky bass groove throughout the song. Love it. Great song to practise your endurance playing!
‘Is This Love’ by Bob Marley: I love reggae music and the bassline in the songs is one of the big reasons why I love reggae. This song is everything I love about reggae music—great bassline, beautiful lyrics.
‘Soul To Squeeze’ by Red Hot Chilli Peppers: Just had to add another Chili Peppers to this list. Learnt so much from this song and the beauty Flea (bassist of RHCP) adds to it.
