How did you get into music? When did you start reading music? When did you start playing bass? When did you become a professional musician? How did you start playing with Jools Holland? How did you switch from upright to bass guitar in Jools Holland’s band? What’s your approach to playing so many high-profile sessions with world famous musicians? Have you worked with any of your musical heroes? How do you choose the right bass for each gig or studio session? What amps do you use and why? What do you practice and how does your technique change between upright and electric bass? Did you even play with Squeeze?
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What gear do you mainly use on tour?

DS Although i've tried various basses over the years, some good, and some not so good, I've never stopped playing, and loving my trusty Fender Basses, I just couldn't be without them. I use a combination of fretted and fretless Precision and Jazz basses. A recent addition is a Marcus Miller 5-string. What a wonderful bass! It's what I've been looking for, for a long time. A fantastic sounding, and extremely versatile instrument, a dream to play, stunning to look at, and most important of all, it's a Fender. What more could you ask for!

I also use Yamaha Silent basses. (Electric upright basses) the SLB100 & SLB200. These are a great alternative to using a traditional double bass as they are easier to amplify and transport. I'm now also using my fantastic Kolstein Busetto Travel Bass made by Barrie Kolstein in New York. Players should really check this instrument out!

Do you change your technique around for the different sounds required?

DS Yeah, the majority of the set I’m literally just using my thumb, and/or a combination of my thumb and my first two fingers, still muting the strings with the side of my hand, and other times I’m just playing normal finger style because we do a couple of rockier, funkier tunes in the set also. I have been known to play with a pick! (For example with Belinda Carlisle and the Go Gos). Over the years, Jools has come to love, and prefer the sound of a muted bass guitar with flatwound strings to the sound of the real acoustic bass, but having said that in the studio it’s slightly different. In that environment Jools likes us all playing live in one room and doesn’t like anybody recording their parts separately if we can help it. So because I’m in the room with him, the horn section and drums, all with open mikes, I can’t have my bass going through an amp, as the sound would bleed in to any other mics in the room. The answer then is for me to record everything on one of my Fenders through a D.I. box, and use headphones to hear myself. Jools then goes and listens to it afterwards and decides whether or not that particular track would sound better re-recorded on double bass. This is great for me because I then have the chance to either play exactly what I have already played or I get the opportunity to be more adventurous and enhance my previous bass line. I’ll then go in on a separate day, with just myself and the producer in the control room. This way, we can record my double bass using a microphone, which is crucial for picking up the true acoustic sound of the bass. We also take a DI from the pickup as well so we can mix the two signals together if need be. So I’m there in a room on my own, on a separate day, re-doing my parts.

Do you think people sometimes get obsessed with trying new gear all the time?

DS I think you’ve got to be careful because you can go crazy changing gear too often. At some point you’ve got to find something and stick with it for a while – don’t get caught up with changing your gear every time something new comes out, because you’ll get to a point where you don’t like anything! I’ve done it myself, all of a sudden you end up changing everything at once; your strings, pickups, leads, amps, speakers. It’s horrible! The other thing is, if you get fed up with or grow tired of a piece of equipment, or a bass, try not to get rid of it straight away. If you can afford to stick it in a cupboard or attic for a while, even years, do it! You may surprise yourself down the line and think how cool it would be to dig it out and use it again. I retired my wonderful, extremely well traveled, but sadly, much abused Polytone Mini Brute III combo 15 years ago. Dug it out last year, had it cleaned up, with a few adjustments, and now it sounds better than ever. I use it all the time!

In a way it’s probably better to have less instruments, because you have to make certain choices, especially in terms of performing?

DS As you can see from my bass collection, I have quite a few instruments at my disposal, but without question, the one's I couldn't do without are my Fender Basses. Next week I'm playing in a Ray Charles Tribute Show. When I got the call to do it, my initial thought was mmm... Precision or Jazz bass? I then received the bass parts and a CD of the show in the post I discovered the parts were littered with low B's C's and D's etc. So there of course was my answer; my newly acquired Marcus Miller V.