Eric Bass (born William Frederic Bass Jr., October 23, 1974) is an American musician and record producer. He has been the bassist of the rock band Shinedown since 2008.
Personal life
Bass was born into a conservative,[1] and very musical family, and was encouraged to sing and play piano from an early age. At 13 he received a trombone, before moving onto guitar the following Christmas.[2] In highschool he played drums in the marching band, which he recalls as being rhythmically invaluable to me throughout my music career.[3]
Bass currently lives in Charleston, SC with his wife and their two dogs. He owned a recording studio called Ocean Industries Studios (www.32tracks.com),[4] which was his second studio,[5] and now owns a studio called "Big Animal Studio", in which he recorded and produced Planet Zero.[6]
Bass is known to suffer from depression, which influenced his work, especially in Shinedown's sixth album, Attention Attention, which was influenced by Bass' condition along with frontman Brent Smith's addiction.[7][8][9][10][11][12][1]
In September 2021, it was reported that Bass tested positive for COVID-19, and would miss a few shows during the band's tour.[13][14]
Career
Deepfield
In 2002 Eric formed Deepfield with Baxter Teal. By 2003 they were signed to In De Goot records/McGathy Promotions, and began to produce their first record. However, Eric soon left the band after becoming more and more drawn by the producing, recording and studio process.[3]
Shinedown
Bass joined Shinedown in 2008, before the release of The Sound of Madness, as a permanent replacement for Brad Stewart. He did not record the album with the band (the album's bass parts were contributed by noted session bassist Chris Chaney), but is now touring with them. In addition to his bass duties, he also plays the keyboard in concert and contributes backing vocals.[15]
Bass soon became a prominent member in Shinedown, and wrote many of their songs, starting in Amaryllis.[8] After producing a few singles for the band, such as "Diamond Eyes" and Cut the Cord,[16] in 2018 he produced Shinedown's sixth album, Attention Attention,[17][2] and in 2022 he produced their seventh album, Planet Zero in his new studio, "Big Animal Studio".[6]
Influences
Bass never learned to play a guitar (or a bass guitar), and is self taught.[2]
