KEN BIGGS - THE BASS PLAYER by Senior Musician Simon Deppeler

What does the bass player in a band do? They always seem to be in the background and rarely take solos or even draw attention to themselves. Doesn't sound very exciting does it?

In all likelihood, the average person is usually unaware of ‘the bass player’ and is not really sure of their function.

In fact the bass player is usually one of the most overlooked instruments in a band.

Senior Musician Ken Biggs playing with the Victoria Police SHOWBAND

 What most people don't realise is that the bassist in any band provides the musical glue. They work hand-in-glove with the drummer to form the engine room or groove, of the band. His or her job is to "lock in" rhythmically with the drummer so as to provide a great "feel" for the music and the other musicians. They also provide the harmonic underpinning for the rest of the band as they are mostly playing the lowest sounding notes.

The bass player anchors the rhythm and harmony in a band. This is not a starring role but musically, is an essential role.

Senior Musician Ken Biggs is the bass player/tubist for the Victoria Police Showband. I caught up with him recently to get the lowdown.

Ken, you were 10 when you joined the local Nambour / Maroochydore District Brass Band in Queensland. How did that come about?

“Well my Uncle was the Conductor of the band, and my Dad played trombone in the band. Dad thought it would be a good idea for me to join.

‘You don’t want to play drums all your life, don’t you want to be a musician?’

I learned drums first for about 3 or 4 years before Dad said to me ‘You don’t want to play drums all your life, don’t you want to be a musician?’

So they found a little old single Eb tuba and I continued on with that instrument. I stayed in this band until I was 16. Before this I had studied piano from age 7 to 15. I got up to about 6^th Grade standard in AMEB.”

Ken (centre) playing piano with his brother and sister. He was the only one who would pursue music as a career

“My Dad’s oldest brother had always been in brass bands (I’ve still got his old G trombone) and my Mum and Dad were quite musical, not professional but they were all staunch Methodists and music and singing played a large part in our church life. All the boys in my family sang bass with their big booming voices and so I grew up singing in the church choir. I also learnt piano, it’s just what we all did.  There was always music around. In fact, both my parents could play mouth organ really well by ear.”

A country boy

“When I was about 13, one day I said to my mother, I think I’d like to do something with music.”

“At home we had a record player but I only ever heard vocal music and brass music of course and I didn’t hear classical music or jazz for example till much later.”

So you then joined the army?

“Yes, at 17 I joined the Australian Army as an apprentice musician. Scholastically, I wasn’t a natural student so this seemed to be a good option. This scheme doesn’t exist anymore, but the deal was you joined up for two years as an apprentice and were sent to Balcombe where you would live in army barracks. You could be an apprentice motor mechanic, electrician, builder, welder, plumber, in fact all the trades. In my case the army was going to teach me to be a musician at their School of Music. For me, this was a good thing and during this time I also studied string bass as well as tuba.”

Aged 17

“It was run like a boarding school as we were all very young. You had to get permission to go out at the weekends. We were all in huts with about 12 men per hut. There were four Companies and each one was operated like a proper Army unit. The arrangement was that in return for the free training and education, you had to then sign up for an extra six years.”

“Around this time each Army Battalion had their own band. This was during the Vietnam War years and each Battalion would take their musicians with them on operations and use them as stretcher-bearers. Needless to say there were injuries and deaths. In 1968 just as I was about to be posted to one of these Battalions destined for Vietnam, (my Mother was most distraught upon hearing this) the Australian Army Band Corp was formed and all musicians unexpectedly became non-combatants. The various Bands were separate units in each of the Capital cities around Australia. (Sadly these are now all in the process of being disbanded.) So from 1966-67 I did a year at the Balcombe army music school and then was stationed with the Central Command Band in Adelaide from 1968-70.

Next I was posted to Singapore from 1970-72 with the Australian Army Band, with the 6th Battalion Royal Australian Regiment.

Ken front right

While here, I was asked to join a forming rock band. This was my first introduction to bass guitar. The actual instrument was a Hofner ‘Beatle bass’ like the one Paul McCartney played.”

“From 1972-74 I was with the Band of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, in Canberra.

Band of the Royal Military College, Duntroon, Canberra

Two weeks after I returned I was asked to join a ‘private’ off-duty band playing bass guitar. This was a ‘function’ band that played for weddings and parties. We called ourselves The Diplomats.”

The Diplomats

“Next up was 13 months in Honiara in the Solomon Islands where I was attached to the Department of Foreign Affairs. This was part of an Australian Defence Cooperation Program. I was sent with one other musician to train up the new Royal Solomon Islands Police Band. So I was on tuba and my offsider played trumpet. We had a great time. We were given a house, a gardener, a house cleaner and a car with a fuel card. We were literally a part of the Department of Foreign Affairs. All of the native musicians we were to train were ‘natural’ players but unschooled. Amazingly, none of them had ever seen a piano! This made teaching the basics very difficult. It was a real challenge but it helped that the musicians were so keen. If we’d had an extra year there we could have done more with them but it was a great experience.”

“Off duty hours were often spent scuba diving around old Japanese shipwrecks and coral reefs.  The underwater visibility often exceeded 100 feet! Life was good.”

“When I came back from the Islands I returned to Melbourne as a Sergeant but was then promoted to Staff Sergeant. Unfortunately for me, this involved maintaining the Army Band        Q-stores, which was a tedious task and took me away from my real love – playing music. I did this for six years.”

“At this point in my career I did a Warrant Officer course which was the next promotion level but then realised that taking up that position would take me even further away from playing music. I came to the decision that it was now time to leave the Army. It had been good to me and I had learnt a lot but I was now ready for something new.”

“With no particular plan in mind, I resigned. I used up my entire long service at half pay and took a   3-month European holiday with my wife. On my return I took a job selling insurance. Unfortunately, I was not a born salesman.”

"Feeling a bit unmotivated, I then joined the Army Reserve. The money was good and I went in as a Staff Sergeant. The hours were three hours a week on a Tuesday night, two weekends a year and two full-time weeks once a year. Fortunately, this had no impact on the work conditions in my next job with the Victoria Police Bands. I combined both jobs for the next 10 years."

Army reserve days at a shooting range.  Ken 3^rd from left with Police band-mate baritone saxophonist/vocalist Julie Leder 2^nd from left 

Bass player/action man! Scaling a wall for the Army reserve

How did you come to join the Victoria Police Bands?

“In 1988 I was performing in an Army Reserve ANZAC Day parade when I was asked by a former Army boss I bumped into, whether I’d like to come over and join the Victoria Police bands.  They had been looking for a tuba player and the job had just been made into a full-time position. Without too much hesitation, I auditioned and got the job. It’s where I still am today.”

What was the first recorded music you ever bought?

“I was an apprentice musician in the Army at the time and one of my friends was trying to raise money for a wild weekend out, so he sold me one of his jazz trio records. It was a piano, bass and drums record. I paid two pounds for it. It was the first time I’d heard string bass played like that and it captivated me. I’d grown up with traditional church music remember and hearing this style somehow just resonated with me.”

“When I got into the army, one of my army mates who had a record player, started to buy classical music records. Composers such as Tchaikovsky. Pieces like the 1812 overture really started to get me into that side of it. I really loved it. Not long after that I started buying my Bert Kaempfert records. I must’ve bought all his records. He always used electric bass and I always loved that sound it was very distinct. (A very treble sounding but muted, guitar pick tone for which Bert Kaempfert became well known) Everything on these records was well played. But I was almost drawn to the sound of the bass on those records. It was a unique sound for the time. This was around the early 70’s.”

What is the function of a military band?

“Well in early career marching and parades were the core function of a military band. At the Royal Military College we were there for the cadets. We were on parade every morning at 7 o’clock sharp. Over 600 cadets did a muster parade every morning… there were 50 of us in the band, so every morning whether it was raining and cold, you didn’t care you just did it and in Canberra it was often minus 10°. We were allowed to wear greatcoats and gloves if it was below 1° but we would still have to play every morning regardless. Trombone slides would actually freeze up because they had iced over!   I can remember often coming off a parade and scraping ice off the top of my tuba.”

“There were two massive parades a year. There was the Queen’s birthday parade/troop the colour, and then a graduation every year as well. We would start rehearsing on Saturday mornings for these big parades four months in advance until the whole thing was just perfect. But this band did many formal concerts as well for the general public. There were also some school concerts. It was not a PR exercise for the Army, just a free concert.”

“With the army band, I also did a lot of ‘mess’ gigs. The officers would often have a ‘dining in’ night. A small band of some description would go into the ‘mess’ and play.”

“One unusual gig we did was an opera. This opera was about Joan of Arc and was written by the Australian composer Dorothy Hewitt. However this was very unusual. In Canberra most of our work was marching but when I moved to Melbourne later there tended to be less parades so we would do more schools and general public concerts.”

What tuba are you playing at the moment?

“I play a double Eb Imperial 1986 Besson tuba.  Besson used to be Boosey and Hawkes who used to make brass instruments. All the brass bands in England and Australia used to play instruments by Boosey and Hawkes but then Besson took them over.

I have had a handmade Willson tuba made in Switzerland. It was an Eb tuba probably better than the one I have now but it really took some blowing. After I joined the police band and was playing so much electric bass my tuba chops suffered a bit and I found it really hard going so I sold it. It was a beautiful tuba.”

How did you come to play bass guitar coming from tuba?

“Well I studied string bass as a secondary instrument as an apprentice musician in the army and I just fell into playing electric bass when I was stationed in Singapore. A rock band formed up and I just started playing. I was pretty young at the time and didn’t have much trouble transitioning from double bass to the guitar bass.”

Victoria Police Concert Band promo photo circa 1989

Who are your musician inspirations?

“As far as tuba, there was a guy in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra called Arnold Jacobs. He was the principal tubist from 1944 until he retired in 1988. He actually had only one lung! But God could he play! He played a big orchestral ‘C’ tuba which have the bigger sound. The brass section in that orchestra for the time was the best in the world. They were head and shoulders above the rest.”

“There’s also the English tuba player, John Fletcher. He played in the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Phillip Jones Brass Ensemble. I got to hear him play the Vaughn Williams tuba Concerto. His version is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”

“As far as bass guitar hero’s I would cite John Helman who played with the Daly Wilson Big Band. I loved his sound in fact I still love it. It’s a sound I aspire to. I went to every Daly Wilson Big Band concert and I still have all their albums.”

“The other guy I liked was Jim Fielder, the bass player from Blood Sweat and Tears. He was always my hero. He and drummer, Bobby Columby were a great team.”

“On double bass there was a guy I got to know in the Canberra army band called John Parsons. He’d been in the Royal Artillery Band in England and was a really fine string bass player. I sat beside him all the time and closely observed his technique. He was generous with his time and taught me a great deal. John was a really proficient orchestral player and I really regarded him as a mentor.”

Early promo shot

Who were your main teachers?

“The only tuba teacher I ever had was my Father. He had a really good embouchure and taught me all the basics.  When I first joined the army as an apprentice musician there were a couple of really good Sergeant instructors I learnt a lot from. Really good solid experienced musicians.”

“On electric bass I’ve actually never had any lessons…I really just crossed over from double bass by myself. Naturally, any concerts I’ve ever been to or any time I see a band I’m always focusing in on the bass player, watching them intently and learning from them.”

What is your practice regime?

“When I was in the army I did a lot of tuba practice with etudes and orchestral excerpts. As far as my current personal tuba practice is concerned, the thing I constantly work on is evenness of sound over the whole range. That’s basically what I practice towards.” 

On parade in Melbourne - late 1980’s

“With electric bass, I practice songs that the band is doing at the moment.  If there are any hard riffs that I need to have under my fingers I’ll work fairly hard on those. I also go through lots of chromatic scale work to strengthen my hands and all the regular scales in various positions all over the neck.”

For the tech heads reading this, what electric gear are you using at the moment?

“I play a 5-string (with low-B) Musicman Stingray 5 and my amp is a David Eden ‘Traveller’ 550 with 4x10” David Eden speaker box.”

 What sort of music do you love to listen to lately?

“I listen to mainly classical music. I love the big symphonies like Dvorak’s 8^th and 9th, Beethoven and Mozart. I seem to have very eclectic tastes as I also love the medieval era. Bring on the sackbuts! (forerunner of the modern trombone) I also love choral music. Any of the Beethoven symphonies, Tchaikovsky’s 4^th and 5^th symphonies, Anton Bruckner’s 4^th symphony, Mendelssohn’s 5^th symphony…it all makes me feel good. However, I still listen to the Daly Wilson Big Band sometimes as well…I’ve always liked big bands.”

Holding down the bottom end

“I’m not really into avant-garde music because I don’t find it good to listen to. I’m more into mainstream jazz. I went and saw the Oscar Peterson trio and they were just fantastic.”

What was the last CD you bought?

“A CD of Haydn’s Creation. I heard a bit of it on the radio and thought I’ve got to hear all of that.”

Your wife is also a professional musician?

“Yes, Geraldine (Gerry) has spent the last 35 years playing bass trombone in what is now called Orchestra Victoria, which is the opera and ballet orchestra here in Melbourne. It used to be called the Elizabethan Trust Orchestra. It’s a full-time job and they do 16 calls per week. She was 18 when she got that job. Straight after school she undertook early tuition with the ABC Training Orchestra. At one point she came to Melbourne to fill in for someone and the bass trombone job came up and she got it! Apart from their usual concerts, the orchestra does educational tours for schools as well.”

Notable gigs you’ve done?

“When I was in Canberra we played for all the royalty - the Queen, Duke of Edinburgh and Prince Charles. We did a huge parade outside the old Parliament house in 1976 for the Queen when she came out for her Jubilee.  It was a huge parade with Navy, Army and Air Force. I performed in a combined services band of about 100 musicians.”

“Over the years we did many jobs for the Duke and Prince Charles when he came out to Government house.”

“With the Police band in 1993, I travelled to Northern Ireland and Scotland as part of a rhythm section that accompanied the Victoria Police Pipe Band at the world championships.”

“In 1997, I travelled with the Victoria Police Showband to Calgary, Canada for the World Police and Fire Games.”

“Another one was in a small group of us that did a trad jazz gig on stage with Victor Borge the musician comedian. We played a few charts before he came out, then he came out and gagged with us on stage.”

“I’ve also backed a few Australian pop stars of the past, including Little Patti, Judy Stone, and Lucky Star. Names mostly forgotten now.”   

Ken with his rhythm section partner of many years, 

Larry Kean

Most embarrassing moment?

“Once we’d just finished a Police Graduation and we marched off and came to a halt as planned. We were then dismissed. In front of a whole group on onlookers I then proceeded to fumble with a strap catch on my tuba, resulting in me dropping my instrument with a loud bang onto the concrete. There was nowhere to go. Very embarrassing!”

“Another time I was filling in with CODE ONE the Police rock band playing electric bass. During a song early on in the performance, one of my inside strings broke. Normally breaking a string, if it’s an outside string, is no big deal but an inside one can be devastating! It was.”

The Victoria Police SHOWBAND rhythm section

L to R: Senior Musicians Nic Johnston, Dene Ford, Kerryn Doughty, Ken Biggs, Larry Kean

“Another time, at a school gig in Canberra I was playing double bass and my bridge collapsed. (this makes the instrument unplayable as all the strings then hang loose) I had to go off stage for a quick repair…I only missed 2 songs.”

Best gig?

“In recent years the police band did a great gig with Kate Ceberano. (well known Australian singer)  It was a floorshow of about 10 songs. I really felt I contributed and played well.”

Advice for upcoming musicians?

“Don’t make music your one and only thing because there are so many other people trying to make a living from music. There is other stuff in life rather than music. If you try and then fail, you have nothing else behind you to fall back on.” 

Playing for the general public with the SHOWBAND

What’s next, for you Ken?

“I’m still enjoying playing and I enjoy the standard of the musicians I get to play with everyday. I feel as if I’m still contributing to the band so I’m basically happy in the band.”

If you want to hear Ken’s work with the SHOWBAND, you can purchase their CD’s on the Victoria Police Blue Ribbon Foundation site here.