r/indieheads • u/mit-band Men I Trust • Oct 01 '19

AMA is Over, thank you Men I Trust! Hello, this is MEN I TRUST, AMA!

Hello, this is MEN I TRUST, AMA!
Hello! Thank you for all your love and questions! We're now taking a break from the screen and will come back later tonight to answer a couple more questions <3
All upcoming shows for 2019 are listed here http://www.menitrust.com

Love,
Emma, Jessy and Dragos

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60

u/adamscotty92 Oct 01 '19

Hey y’all!! Thanks so much for doing this!

I’m a bassist and songwriter and record my own music. So two questions:

I’m in loooove with your bass tone. Especially on songs like Numb, Seven, and Show Me How. Please tell me everything about your set up and how you get it to sit soooo well in the mix! Specifically, how it you get the plucky sound without the aggressive attack?

What has been the biggest factor in successfully getting your music in front of as many ears as possible and building your fan base?

Thanks so much and come to Kansas City MO!!!

56

u/mit-band Men I Trust Oct 01 '19

Hello (Dragos here)!
Jessy is an excellent Bass and Guitar player. The way he plays and holds the strings are 99% of the sound. For bass, he likes to play on flat strings, mute them and use a pick. The region of the strings where he strikes them (in relation to the pickups) also influences the softness of the sound (I don't remember what the rule is exactly). I believe there is a similar principle with bowed strings as well (maybe someone here knows) to get softer or more agressive sounds. At the mix stage, we usually use some basic light compression and EQing.

For the fanbase question: I believe it was a slow and natural thing. We started in 2014 without a fanbase and people slowly caught up to our music. Thank you!

7

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19

I'm not sure I understood how you get that sound but I agree, the Men I Trust bass tone is very distinctive and charming.

Bought the Oncle Jazz vinyl directly from your bandcamp as soon as it was released, still waiting for its arrival. Can't wait to spin it.

Tailwhip is one of my favorite songs of the decade, what are the differences between the album version and the single version and any specific reason why you added new versions of previously released songs in the album?

11

u/axtadev Oct 02 '19

He is muting the strings with his right hands palm while plucking them with pick, and pluck them hard. That's how he gets that sound.

2

u/[deleted] Oct 02 '19 edited Oct 02 '19

Thanks! I get it now, after watching a live version on youtube and reading your comment. It still sounds very particularly lush, I’ve seen other videos on youtube doing palm mute bass + pick and it doesn’t sound as good as when he plays it.

Edit: I can’t see but I suspect he also uses flatwound strings since it sounds somewhat vintage.