So when and how did you come to play bass?

DS In 1980 when I was 16, one of the bands I was in needed a bass player. For some reason I’d been observing bass players I was playing with, including one in a stage band playing hip stuff like Steely Dan tunes, and another in a funk band playing Earth, Wind & Fire-type of stuff. I remember thinking what a cool instrument it was, and I was definitely being drawn to it. Don’t get me wrong, I still loved the trombone, but it just wasn’t as cool as the bass guitar. Maybe it was also because of some time spent on my brother’s guitars, I don’t know, but I volunteered to play bass.

Was it a big help already being able to read music at a high level when moving on to the bass guitar?

DS Most definitely, because most of my early bass playing involved reading written parts. As a trombonist I’d had to read four clefs, treble, alto, tenor and of course bass., and the music in orchestras in particular could be extremely difficult. So I was easily able to handle any bass part that was put in front of me. This helped me greatly when I turned professional at 18, because at that time bass players were not known for being good readers or sight-readers.

Did you have a bass teacher?

DS No, there was no one around, so I bought a couple of early bass method books, one by a woman named Valda Hammick and one by Laurence Canty. This helped a great deal, but my biggest education came from watching live gigs, and checking the bass players on TV programmes such as The Old Grey Whistle Test, Top of The Pops and of course, The Tube. (Thank you Jools!)

Can you remember the first bass line you learned by ear?

DS Indeed I can, it was ‘One Step Beyond’ by Madness.

And all those years later, you actually got to play with Suggs

DS Yeah, but sadly we didn’t play that tune, which is a shame because I remember it perfectly well.

How did you discover your first bass hero?

DS In my mid teens I was into all the great funk bands, Earth Wind & Fire, Kool & the Gang, Lynx, Shakatak, Light of the World etc. and of course, as a bass player then, you couldn’t help but listen to Level 42. Oh yes, I’ve done a bit of slap & tickle in my time! However, I wasn’t really into jazz, and certainly knew nothing about it. But the turning point came when a trombonist friend of mine lent me an album and said ‘you’re learning the bass, you should check the guy out on this record, you won’t believe what he’s doing.’ And he wasn’t wrong! The album was Night Passage, the band, Weather Report. And the bass player was of course Jaco Pastorius. My bass hero had finally arrived, and I’ve never been the same since!

What about the double bass?

DS My trombone teacher was also a fixer (someone paid to find suitable musicians - or sometimes not - for various, shows, gigs etc) in and around the Midlands. Being the shrewd fellow he was, realizing I had potential to become a good working bassist, he suggested I take up double bass too. This would result in me getting a lot more work, and him having to do less work finding a good double bass player. And what excellent advice it was.

Did you study upright bass with anyone?

DS Not really, certainly not at the beginning. But I did buy the Simandl bass method books, and I had one or two lessons with a local bass-playing priest! Other than that, I was on my own.