“It’s really a feeling of ‘Wow, I have all these new recipes that I want to prepare!” New Orleans singer-songwriter, producer, and world-class bass stylist Roland Guerin enthuses about his new EP. PROG:FUNK brings a gumbo of influences, melodies, rhythms, and creativity he’s absorbed through years of touring/recording with Louisiana legends to a boil. And they’ve been simmering long enough for the flavors to blend seamlessly: the clear structure of prog rock with the propulsive groove of jazz, blues, and funk. “My technique and style of playing have grown over the last few years, partly because of the music I’ve been writing, and that, in turn, enables me to bring that music to life.”
Guerin’s career has found him performing with musicians from Jon Batiste to Alvin Batiste & the Jazztronauts. He toured for years with Allen Toussaint, and more recently with the Marcus Roberts Trio, and with Brian Blade: The Fellowship Band. He has toured internationally with guitarist Paul Gilbert, and last but not least was the music director and bassist for Dr. John.
“Allen Toussaint was very generous in sharing his knowledge, which I deeply appreciate. He helped me expand my creativity, as well as my storytelling, production and arranging skills. Being a witness to and a part of Mr. Toussaint’s process was and is priceless. I joined his band in 2008. Up until that point, I had only toured playing upright bass, so when I finally had the opportunity to tour playing electric bass, I was very excited. I feel like I was finally able to express a part of myself that I wasn’t always able to express before.
“Dr. John helped me to see and understand different ways of telling these stories. He was very creative with his delivery and notion of things, and he would regularly switch things up. Both Allen Toussaint and Dr. John had this ability to play around with their own concepts. It was beyond humbling to have had the opportunity to learn from them both.”
The new EP was produced in Guerin’s home studio, which is now enhanced by gear he won from Burl Audio’s International Song of the Year contest in 2022 with his original Louisiana Red Hot Records song: “28 Days.” When he wasn’t on the road, he was in the studio concocting this delicious new bass-centric genre. “Every time I step into my office and turn on my gear, I smile. Inwardly and outwardly! It’s such a great feeling, and I’m so fortunate to be able to use some of the very best tools in the world to help me bring these stories to life. I know I say it a lot, but I get that from Allen Toussaint. He always told me that when he’d have an idea for a song, he would want to hurry up and finish it as quickly as possible so it could live. That really stuck with me.”
As for the creative process, he says it is somewhat random. “Sometimes I’ll sing something into my phone, like when I’m doing groceries, cooking, or washing the dishes. Sometimes the ideas come while I’m playing my bass. I usually give the ideas a title right away. I feel like once it has a title, the whole song starts to unfold. When I’m able, I’ll get my session prepared with the title and record the idea. Honestly, from that point on, if I have enough time, I could very well finish the meat of the song right on the spot. If I don’t have enough time, then I’ll label it as a demo and wait for the opportunity to finish it. For the initial thought, I may sketch out a basic groove to track to and then replace it later on. But as for the bass and guitar-like parts, most of them are usually keepers. Then if vocals and lyrics are involved, I may add a scratch track and then wait until things are quiet to redo those.
“The thing about my gear that I love is that it allows me to hear everything. Way more than I was ever able to hear before. My Rupert Neve Designs 5060 has an incredible amount of depth, detail, and clarity. My Burl Audio Mothership can have 24 channels of detailed audio feeding into my Neve 5060 for mixing. I’m monitoring on a pair of Amphion One12s as my main source. At times I may have various keyboards, drum machines and sequencers going and then capture all of that in real time on my Tascam Model 24. Then I can port this over to my computer and further produce and mix and so on. It sounds amazing, and it’s so much fun! I really love sound and details, and my setup allows me to hear both. This helps me make good decisions as far as mixing and mastering is concerned.”
In his new single “I Propose,” what he is proposing is that we all come together to find our way to some solutions, in a society so deeply divided that a lot of people seem unwilling to do so. “I would like to see that change. This is a very sincere wish of mine, so in the video, I tried to get that across visually with a lot of closeups.” Crafting the song with dexterity, timing, and feel, he uses different Ibanez basses in the recording to capture a variety of sounds. With his custom BTB846VRG covering all of his guitar-like parts, his custom Talman Tele filling in the rest, and smooth-switching vocals à la Elvis Costello, those sounds together with the lyrics paint a positive existentialist view: feeling disconnected from the world while acknowledging a new day ripe for plucking (bass).
Having done photography for many years, shooting the video proved to be a lot of fun. “I packed up my Fuji Xe4 and my tripod, drove around New Orleans, and once I picked out a few locations, I set up and ran through the song several times in each spot. I assembled the video using DaVinci Resolve and, after mixing and mastering, I dropped the music into the video. I really enjoyed the whole process.” Guerin has already compiled footage for his next single, “Crunch Time.”
Growing up, he learned valuable bass guitar lessons and philosophies from his mother who taught him the instrument. In particular, she taught “old-school” blues bass lines that demonstrated where the feeling is. “A line, riff, or phrase won’t mean a thing unless there’s heart and feeling to it to make it say something meaningful. She taught me just how important that is. And if I ever played without feeling, she would not hesitate to let me know, and vice versa. She still does that today.
“I actually started out on viola. I played in our elementary school orchestra, but I wasn’t the best sight reader and so, oftentimes, I would be second or even third chair. When we had a sight-reading test, I’d listen closely to what the first chair would play and, if I was lucky, I’d get to hear the second chair as well. By then, I definitely had it down and was able to play it, sometimes even better. In seventh grade, I started playing guitar. I was very good at it, but it didn’t feel right. In eighth grade I switched to bass, and something really clicked. Even though it had fewer strings, the strings themselves were bigger, thicker, and somehow that resonated more with me. My parents bought me my first bass at this time. It was a Westbury Track 2. I still have it!
“I remember listening to the radio as a kid and hearing songs with bass players slapping and plucking. I didn’t know how they were getting that sound, but I desperately wanted to find out. One day, I went to a party in the neighborhood and saw my friends Marc Pero and Bartley Collier playing, and I finally saw it in person. I started to listen to more and more albums as well as to the radio where folks were playing slap bass really fast. So then, I started to practice doubling and tripling the speed of my right hand. I had no videos of people playing, so I didn’t know that they were actually using both the left and the right hand simultaneously to get the high speeds going.
“I eventually transferred my right-hand technique to upright bass and developed it further as time went on. I remember, maybe in ninth or tenth grade, my right-hand speed had gotten so good that I called my mom to my room to come and check it out. After I was done, she looked at me and said ‘Cher, that was nice, but I can’t feel that. You have to put some feeling in that, otherwise what’s the point?’ That definitely stuck with me.”
In high school, Guerin studied under Lee Fortier and John Gerbrecht through his school’s program. Planning on attending Berklee College of Music, he instead took Mr. Fortier’s sage advice and went to Southern University where he studied with the world-renowned Alvin Batiste. “And it was absolutely worth it! Studying with ‘Mr. Bat,’ as we called him, was an unbelievable experience that I cherish deeply. He helped me refine my core and expand my creativity and knowledge in so many ways. He had the most unique and honest way of bringing people out of themselves. All of these people helped make me the kind of musician and person that I am today.”
And that musician he is today writes songs that get to the bottom line. He starts with melody and bottom, then fills in the middle. “To me, playing bass is perfect for this and the relationship of top and bottom is very natural. Most of the time, in my case, my bass lines are like melodies in my songs. I feel like it doesn’t take a lot of notes to have a very complete sounding idea. The bass function is still happening, but it’s just expanded a bit. Most of the time I don’t think about it, until it’s time to rehearse with my band. Then they usually point out how unusual my approach is.”
Following an appearance at Jazz & Heritage Fest Foundation show and NAMM, Guerin has a tour of Finland on the horizon. He’s also booked for shows including the Allen Toussaint Orchestra playing for the Parsons Dance Company at Mahalia Jackson Theater. “The Jazz & Heritage Fest Foundation show was awesome. I love playing there. It felt very comfortable and intimate, and I could feel that from the audience as well. We had a chance to play some of my new music, try a few things and really start this new year off feeling great. I can’t wait to play there again!
“Timo Lassy and Jukka Eskola asked Herlin Riley, David Torkanowski and me to record an album with them about a year ago, and now they put together a Finland tour which is coming up early March. I’ve been to Finland before with Dr. Michael White, Greg Stafford, and Detroit Brooks, performing New Orleans Traditional Music. This will be my first time traveling across the country, visiting different cities for concerts and workshops. I’m really looking forward to it.
“NAMM 2024 was awesome. I met up with all of my friends at Ibanez, Rupert Neve Designs, AEA, Amphion Loudspeakers, and more. I was there for three days, and it still wasn’t enough time to see everyone. But I did meet new friends at Chord Electronics, Misco Speakers and SoundOnSound Magazine! I’m a people person and I love gear. NAMM is one of those events where you get to mingle with folks who love what they do, whose creations support and inspire people around the world. It’s a blast!”
Roland Guerin w/ Timo Lassy and Jukka Eskola Concert Dates:
Wed, Mar 6 – Helsinki, Finland
Thu, Mar 7 – Turku, Finland
Fri, Mar 8 – Tampere, Finland
Sat, Mar 9 – Hanko, Finland
Sun, Mar 10 – Hameenlinna, Finland
Mon, Mar 11 – Helsinki, Finland
Tue, Mar 12 – Oulu, Finland
Allen Toussaint Orchestra playing for the Parsons Dance Company:
Saturday, April 20 – Mahalia Jackson Theater – New Orleans
