Mulvahill broadens his scope on Survive
Of all the words and music that emanate from Nashville each year, Scott Mulvahill’s 2018 debut, Himalayas, was striking and singular. Despite the amount of music and imagery Mulvahill was able to convey with just his upright bass, his vocals, and his pen, astute listeners sensed the potential for him to expand his sonic palette. That intuition has proven accurate with SURVIVE, Scott’s second full-length album. The resonant ten-track side is infused with production and instrumentation, giving his contemplative songs about the human condition heightened emotion, ambiguity, atmosphere, and most of all, clarity. Down low, Mulvahill issues more bass colors than just his Kay upright, but it remains the unique counter-voice to his singer–songwriter persona.
That the two are inextricably woven can be traced to Mulvahill’s upbringing. Drawn to the bass guitar at age 14 in his native Friendswood, Texas, he immersed himself in the instrument, adding the upright to his studies at 15. Soon after, he had a life-changing moment while on the family riding mower, listening to Paul Simon’s 1986 album Graceland on his Sony Walkman. He laughs, “The impact of the lyrics, as well as Bakithi Kumalo’s amazing bass lines, freaked me out and I almost crashed!” Combining the influence of songwriters like Simon, Bob Dylan, and James Taylor, along with bassists Scott LaFaro, Eddie Gomez, Stanley Clarke, Jaco, John Patitucci, and Victor Wooten, Mulvahill marinated in the prestigious University of North Texas music program for four years. He then headed to Nashville in 2010, where he landed the bass chair with bluegrass legend Ricky Skaggs. The five-year stint included a cruise with guest artist Bruce Hornsby, who offered key songwriting advice and paved the way for Scott to get a vocal feature with Skaggs.
Mulvahill’s journey as a solo artist has ranged from the lofty Himalayas — which includes “The Lord Is Coming,” a song he co-wrote with H.E.R. at a songwriters’ retreat — and two exploratory EPs, Surrounded and Creative Potential, to a Tiny Desk Concert appearance and opening touring slots with Lauren Dagle, Cory Wong, and Keb’ Mo.’ Exciting new possibilities lie ahead with his invention of the DataBass, an upright with mounted MIDI triggers. We spoke to Scott not long after his annual Graceland tribute show in Nashville (with guest Bakithi Kumalo) to gain more insight into his new record and his new instrument.
SURVIVE feels like you’ve arrived at a few places you were headed toward.
I think so. With my first record I was making a statement about what you can do with just bass and vocals. Then I put out an EP where I was exploring a pop sound, and a second EP that utilized some strings and horns. For this record I wanted to find the center of what I do — especially as a producer and arranger — and what sounds and textures I wanted along with my bass and voice. It draws from what I’m interested in doing going forward, but really I was just trying to get to the core of who I am. Being a bassist, singer–songwriter, solo performer is at the heart of it, and then trying to orchestrate around that in a way that feels natural to me. I wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel; I just wanted to make the music groove and feel emotionally resonant. Ultimately, the goal was to have the whole picture be the star of the show, not just the bass or the vocals.
What was the recording process?
I started in my home studio, making workups and sketches of the tracks. I would layer parts and do them to loops. That’s how a lot of the arrangements happened, in terms of where things come in and out, and where parts create a lift in a chorus as opposed to relying on the dynamics of a band to do that. From there, we cut the grooves as a live rhythm section — except for two tracks that have programmed drums — the get that human, breathing element. But we recorded on top of the sketches, so many of those parts remain, or we’d replace the sound of a sketch part we liked. That includes keeping some scratch vocals, because if you’re in a good space emotionally when you first cut it, it can be hard to top. Even if you sing it technically better later, it just doesn’t feel as authentic.
I wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel; I just wanted to make the music groove and feel emotionally resonant.
There’s an album-long arc, lyrically, starting with the atmospheric “Canyon.”
Yes, I’d say the lyrics are introspective and the theme is about change and growth, which makes sense when you consider many of the songs were written during or coming out of COVID. “Canyon” is a juxtaposition of how our lives change, which can happen suddenly and jarringly, and other times gradually. I wrote it with Marshall Altman, and it’s like the overture to the record; it presents a big idea that all of the other songs fit into. Sonically, the guitars are key: I played an acoustic and a Gretsch Rancher with a Bigsby whammy bar to get dive bombs and bends. Anthony DaCosta added his trademark guitar atmospherics, and Madison Cunningham played a rubber-bridge guitar. Will Sayles is on drums, and I played my Kay upright recorded through a DI and miked with a U47-style mic. Also, the mix pans left to right.
“Sleeping at the Wheel” has a techno vibe.
I wrote the song with two friends, Alex Kiel and Petar Janjic, who is Cory Wong’s drummer. At the time, I was developing my DataBass, which is another acoustic bass I have that’s equipped with MIDI triggers, and this song was a great vehicle to try it on. My concept was to use the DataBass to perform the song live, so we kept that vibe on the track. There’s programmed drums and all kinds of delays and effects, and we added a little distortion to my vocals, which fits the cautionary lyrics.
Tell me more about the DataBass.
It’s my science project. I had the idea in the middle of my 2019 solo tours. What if could have a whole other element of soundscapes on my bass, and not be limited to the sound of bass and voice? Taking advantage of all the real estate on an upright, I installed 12 pads that are MIDI triggers, and they speak to a brain in a box I carry. With 12 pads, the potential sound combinations are endless. I can load any sound instantly, and I can also switch sounds with a footswitch. I surrounded the pads with lights to add a visual component that helps you understand what’s happening during a performance. The pads are placed strategically in spots I usually hit, and there are more on the right side of the body than the left because I have more access there with my right hand, and because my left hand is usually playing or holding a note. I’m at the beginning of the journey. Last fall I walked into my studio, looked at it and said, “It’s time.” I started making sounds and posting clips of me using it, and I brought it on some gigs.
What have you discovered about applying it musically?
Well, for one, I’m launching sounds in real time. I didn’t want it to be press-and-play-a-track, like a DJ; I want to perform with it. My right hand has to attack the note on the string, reach for and play the pad, and get back to the next plucked note, so there’s a little human variation and push-and-pull tension in the music and the grooves. I prefer that to triggering a loop. I’ve also learned that having the right amount of information mapped onto the samples is very important. Too much and you get a wall of sound that sounds like you’re not playing it; too little and it’s hard to make music, because I only have two hands. So I’m trying to find the sweet spot of what these samples need to be. It’s a good tool for songwriting, production, and collaboration, as well. My producer and musician friends are sending me samples to use, ranging from percussion to a couple of bars of music. In my wildest dreams I’ll develop a cool show built around the DataBass.
“Satellites” has one of the year’s most poppin’ bass lines, in a song about a less-than-confident fellow.
That’s my ’73 Fender Precision; I end up using it on most sessions in Nashville, no matter what else I bring. It can be round and pretty or growly and cool. I came up with the bass line [see music below] and at first I cut it live with the drums, using my fingers and turning up the treble. But then I came back in and re-tracked it note-by-note, lining up everything in the [recording-grid] box as best I could, because I wanted the part to groove in an unshakable way and have the subdivisions be very clear. You would think that might make it sound lifeless and soulless, but it made the whole track sound more potent and harder-grooving. I did the same thing with my upright part on the verses of “Canyon,” because I was playing 10ths and I wanted each note to have definition and stand out clearly, rather than overlap each other as they do if played all at once.
This is another song I wrote with Marshall Altman; it’s about an awkward loner looking for love and not quite having the right words to say if he finds it. The abrupt feel change for the bridge is a dreamy departure for the character, set in a world where he’d be confident enough to talk to the girl and ask her out.
The main 18-measure bass riff of “Satellites.” Offers Mulvahill regarding his P-Bass-played part, “In the repeated first four measures, the key is producing clean quarter-notes and eighth-notes, with the right separation between them — especially the drop in bar 3, where it’s easy to drag your hand down across the four strings, which can sound sloppy and mushy. Strive to get a good attack on each note.”
The chord changes are one of the stars of “Anyway,” setting the stage for the questioning lyrics.
I came up with that progression, which begins C+/Gb-Dm7b5/F-Gb6/Bb-Ab6/C-Db6. Marshall [Altman] sang a simple melody over it that I would have never thought of, which shows you the importance of collaboration, and we were on our way. The lyrics are kind of cryptic: What is the meaning of life? What are we all looking for? I played my ’73 Precision and the organ part, and I take the harmonica solo in the bridge, which has a Sting/Ten Summoner’s Tales vibe.
“Last October” has a cool-sounding bass and interesting production.
It’s one of my favorite tracks, because I got to put all of my production skills to the test. I took a pop-music production course online, and I wrote this song for my class project. The bass is my Kala U Bass with roundwound strings, through an API preamp. It has more top end and a tighter attack than my Precision, and a deep low end that’s naturally scooped — almost a synth-bass kind of sound. I used my “Satellites” method of cutting the bass notes individually and lining them up, plus a Transient Designer plug-in to enhance the presence and attack [see music below]. Percussion-wise it’s a combination of the programmed drums from my sketch, which are immediate, combined with Will [Sayles’] drums recorded with room mics, to give a sense of space and a human-feel component. The song is about a guy who wishes he could go back to a romance he had the previous fall, so much so that he can’t understand why people like summer. Oddly, it mirrors events in my life before they actually happened. Other songwriters have said they’ve had this experience, as well!
The opening and verse arpeggio riff of “Last October.” Mulvahill played his Kala U Bass fingerstyle, with his palm muting the strings, thumb on the E string, 3rd finger on the G string, and index finger on the middle note (on the A or D string). In the D-chord arpeggio, dig how his B instead of the expected A catches the ear and enhances the lyric’s emotion.
“My Time Will Come” has a killer sub-hook played on upright.
I wrote that with Tristan Bushman, who also wrote the title track with me. It started with an acoustic bass riff I was messing around with that I put on the internet [see music below]. It stayed with me, and this is another good example of the power of collaboration: I was trying to come up with a melody, and Tristan suggested I just make the bass riff the melody. He was right — I would have come up with something too complex, and there’s plenty of information in the riff to express vocally. It’s a song about claiming your power and telling the world, don’t count me out.
The chorus upright riff of “My Time Will Come,” at 0:49. A couple of cool nuances add dirt to the part. First is how Scott slides up off the bluesy F on the downbeat of bar 1 and the upbeat of bar 3 (shown) for most of the track, leaning toward but never arriving at an F#. The other is that throughout, he’s slapping the strings against the fingerboard on two and four with his right hand (not shown). The focus turns to harmony in the final four measures. In bar 5, the octave leap of the F–A double-stops is especially challenging, and along with bar 6 is a good exercise for navigating thumb position, according to Scott. The last two bars find him adding a middle voice to his three-note chords, aided by building them around the open D string.
You team up with your fellow acoustic bassist and solo artist Adam Ben Ezra on “The World Is Flat.”
I’ve been a fan and friend of Adam’s for a while now; he lives in Tel Aviv. I reached out with this song that I was working on, and we had fun passing files back and forth. It’s basically his production. My only contribution is my vocal and my upright bass part. Adam added some scratching percussion on his upright, and he plays the bass riff an octave higher. The idea came from something an old roommate said in jest one day, “I’ve seen the map — the world is flat.” I thought that was brilliant, so I took the line and wrote a song around it. There’s kind of a snarky character speaking in the song. It’s about the world we live in where everyone firmly believes in their viewpoint, and it’s impossible to try to talk someone out of even the most insane idea.
“SURVIVE” feels like a positive arrival point late in the record.
Yes, it’s cathartic after a journey through the tracks with pain. It’s saying that if you’ve been fighting for a purpose or meaning in your life, there’s a direction for you to go. It’s hard to map out and it may not solve itself all at once, but it’ll come to you when you need it. In the meantime, try to worry less and remember how beautiful and amazing it is to be alive and have people you love. I played my Kay upright, but I laid out of the first chorus for impact.
What led you to cover Smash Mouth’s “Walking on the Sun”?
I’d been jamming with my buddy Simon Maartensson, who plays guitar on the track. We were having fun going through various cover tunes, including this one after I’d heard it on the radio. I ended up digging what we did and I liked my mix of it, plus I always like having a cover tune on my records, so I included it. The lyricist, Greg Camp, lives here in Nashville. We approached it as an adult version of the song, peeling away the layers, and it fits well with the other warning songs on the record. That’s my Kay upright.
You use a cool, lower vocal range on the closer, “A Word Like Soul.”
I wrote that with a great local songwriter named Marcus Hummon a while back, but didn’t record it until 2022. It’s an addendum to “SURVIVE,” which is the triumphant, “we’re going to be all right” track. This is a contemplation about trusting yourself. I was on tour opening for Keb’ Mo’ last year, and we sang his song “One Friend” together. In it, the one friend is yourself. This song is similar: You can only make decisions the best you can. As long as I’m hearing the sound of my soul, then I know I’m going in right direction. With regard to the lower vocals, I find singing in the lower register has a peacefulness that fits the theme of trusting your heart and soul. There’s no need to shout; just speak what’s real. I’m playing acoustic guitar and my Kay upright.
What lies ahead for you in 2024?
I’ve been cutting back on sideman gigs in order to have maximum time to focus on my solo career. I have some mini-tours and solo shows on the books, in support of the record. Performing is one of my great passions, and I’m super excited to develop the DataBass while I’m out there. I’m also eager to write songs with the DataBass and see what kind of music and lyrics come out, as opposed to sitting with a guitar, bass, or piano to compose. –BM
Scott’s Gear
Basses 1950 Kay acoustic bass with French-style bow, Pirastro Evah Pirazzi Orchestral medium strings, and Fishman Full Circle Upright Bass Pickup. “It was once a 5-string, but Nashville luthier Randy Hunt restored it with a new 4-string neck that attaches with a bolt, so I can travel with it in two cases.” Also, 1973 Fender Precision with old, unknown flatwounds; Kala U Bass with roundwound strings
Recording SURVIVE Neve-style preamp/DI for the Kay, Precision, and U Bass. “The Kay always had a 47-style mic signal, as well. I put it a little higher than you’d think. I usually put it a few inches higher than the f-hole on the G-string side, not right on the f-hole; it’s too boomy right over the f-hole. Raising it a bit helps the balance, and that’s where we hear the bass anyway — not down by the soundhole.”
Connect With Scott
By: Chris Jisi
