Slapcat Gressy

doublebass player, singer

Every beginning is hard!

But it should quickly show that not only the beginning is hard but also learning a good slap-style on the double bass. But we aren’t quite there yet, because at the beginning was of course my creation in the year 1971.

Waaaaiiiiitttt!!! Now we are already too far back. Alright, lets spill it out short and sweet.

• One guitar
• Ten stiff fingers and on top of that a boozy, wailing night in Lüneburg. Why you ask yourself???

Andy had just told me that I should rather leave the guitar playing to him. It makes more sense to put all the energy in leaning bass or drums. Sorry? Me? Drums? I’m not so stupid and always have to carry so many things around with me. So it’s time to learn the double bass.

What I gotten myself into with that decision I didn’t know just then. The realization that it’s considerably harder to learn than the drums came too late. The reason was simple, I had already fallen in love with this brilliant instrument. That was in 1997 and since then I can count myself to the few slap-style double bass players in Germany that can get a rhythmic rockabilly sound out of their wooden box. Countless tries and a lot of electronic equipment was worn out until I had established the proper ‘Hepcazz sound’. With my 4/4/ solid wood double bass and my friends from the band I have found the ideal partners. A lot of lugging around, damaged vocal chords and blisters on your fingers don’t belie over all the great gigs and never ending applause at the end of a good song. For me there is nothing more wonderful than a satisfied audience.

And how shall it move forward?

Very easy! Just as Rock’n Roll is. Others may have condemned it as dead, but it rolls and rolls and rolls....

Your Slapcat Gressy