As his fingers fly up and down the strings, he tells us that his bass was the best present he could’ve asked for. As one of the first Fender jazz basses ever made, Betsy has a long story of her past.

Watching him play, it’s easy to see why Guy Pratt is such a legend on the bass.

In playing ‘Pissed Crap Shag,’ on the BBC’s show, Linda Green, they were so impressed by Guy’s snore in a sleeping scene, that they continue to use it every time there’s a snore in the show!

He goes on to describe working with Madonna and his surprising (to himself) performance on ‘Like a Virgin.’ He thought he sounded so good that he didn’t believe it was him!

Guy describes the tour as the, “13 most absurd months of my life,” and continues to tell us of the luxurious touring lifestyle, especially their private Boeing 727 tour plane, and the tricks and games they played on board.

This shift, which he explains was started with Michael Jackson’s ‘Off the Wall,’ led up through the early 80s, or ‘the glory years of the bass.’

“You couldn’t be too loud, too flash, or wear it too high.”

Guy also takes a moment to show off his perfectly sculpted and bodaciously attractive thumb, so formed by years and years of ’slapping,’ or playing the bass.

But of course, it wasn’t always that way. Guy Pratt describes to t5m the search for a band to play with, the audition process, and the thrill of finally playing bass in a band.

His first proper band, Speedball, was often confused with the lethal drug concoction that was a favourite of Rolling Stones frontman, Keith Richards. Better though, than the band name on every band’s list: The The, which was eventually used by Matt Johnson in 1982.

He moves on to describe that every progressive rock band needs a colour in their name, such as Deep Purple and Pink Floyd, and further accounts for the true genious behind the name The Who.

From there, Guy knew he’d be a musician. He begged his parents for a guitar, and when they said no, he tricked them into a bass guitar, not knowing the difference between the two.

He speaks to t5m about what led him to music and the bass, his first bands:   A Nice Pear and Speedball, and finding inspiration from his step-dad’s records like Bob Dylan’s Highway 61, Jimi Hendrix’s Smash Hits.

“If you’re going to be in a band, you have to write your own songs, there’s no two ways about it.”

The now world-renowned session bass player, who has collaborated with countless musicians on albums and world-tours, explains to t5m how he became the legend he is today.

Other top destinations include Cielo in New York, Catwalk in Barcelona, Il Muretto in Italy, a club called Yellow in Tokyo, Zouk in Singapore, Home in Sydney, and he also notes Pacha in New York for its top-notch sound system. Jealousy doesn’t even begin!

It was the tune Love Dancing that that was his first real big club success. Roger used to put on a night called Ego Trip in New York. It was picked up by a fledgling label at the time called Strictly Rhythm.

‘I had just done one track called Dreamworld, by Ego Trip for a label called Quark’. A&R Gladys Pizzaro heard and liked the record and put Roger in the studio.

From there came Love Dancing, which in turn became the big tune played by legendary Brooklyn DJ Tony Humphries, who used to have a residency at Club Zanzibar in New Jersey. The DJ picked up Roger’s track and it really took off. From that point Roger started touring the UK and Europe and rose rapidly in the scene, all off the back of Love Dancing.

Roger told us how travelling with such a dense collection has changed the way he can DJ, in that he has a wider collection, and can play out more creatively sometimes ‘remixing records on the spot’ in the middle of a set.

The Stealth Records founder has released huge dance hits such as Love Dancing, Release Yourself and Another Chance.

‘Every time someone comes up with a new synth patch they’ve like named a new sound’, he explains.

Roger defines himself only so far as ‘dance music, and particularly house music’. There’s no categorising his music any further because it’s so diverse. In one set he might mix deep electro, minimal, soulful and tribal tunes.

The island used to be visited mainly by Brits, but now party people from all over the world flock to the island every summer. Roger recommends beautiful beaches such as Las Salinas and San Antonio’s Cala Salada.

Both Narcotic and Arsenal records were distributed by other labels. In the earlier days of Stealth, records were distributed by Defected Records. Roger then realised he needed independence, to have the freedom to make certain decisions.

‘It’s a different paradigm now, you have so many different ways of doing things.’

It started as a radio show on KISS FM in London. The show proved so popular that it soon moved on to Galaxy in the UK, as well as being broadcast in Spanish, and broadcast in Italy and Greece.

The DJ talks us through his architectural approach to the process of putting together a radio show. His shows are heralded for their eclectic compilations of different types of house music.

‘It starts soulful… and then gets tougher’. Combining house tunes with electro, minimal and tribal tracks, every show has to be about ‘always about what I know rocks’.

‘I just remembered looking out onto the floor, and it was packed, and just thinking “I would love to be able to rock a crowd like that”.’

That was the moment I decided that DJing was something I wanted to pursue. In his early DJ days he was really mixing it up; blending the hip-hop tunes of his roots with breakbeat and early electro beats and anything from James Brown to Afrika Bambaata.

Roger started off promoting at clubs like Mars and the Tunnel in New York, doing his own parties, organising whole promotions teams and drawing big crowds.

It was the tune Love Dancing that that was his first real big club success. Roger used to put on a night called Ego Trip in New York. It was picked up by a fledgling label at the time called Strictly Rhythm.

‘I had just done one track called Dreamworld, by Ego Trip for a label called Quark’. A&R Gladys Pizzaro heard and liked the record and put Roger in the studio.

From there came Love Dancing, which in turn became the big tune played by legendary Brooklyn DJ Tony Humphries, who used to have a residency at Club Zanzibar in New Jersey. The DJ picked up Roger’s track and it really took off. From that point Roger started touring the UK and Europe and rose rapidly in the scene, all off the back of Love Dancing.

Roger is now on his fourth record label, Stealth Records, following One Records, Narcotic records and Arsenal Records.

That was the moment I decided that DJing was something I wanted to pursue. In his early DJ days he was really mixing it up; blending the hip-hop tunes of his roots with breakbeat and early electro beats and anything from James Brown to Afrika Bambaata.

Roger is now on his fourth record label, Stealth Records, following One Records, Narcotic records and Arsenal Records.

They had respect for Nile, and learned as much from him as he did from them. And now, years later, he does the same thing, teaching the younger generation of music what he’s learned in his many years of performing and producing. He discusses a recent studio session with Wu-Tang Clan, and the mutual respect between the decade divide.

As well as working and touring on Sesame Street, Nile was performing regularly with the house band at the Apollo Theatre, backing artists like Aretha Franklin, Ben E. King, Nancy Wilson, and Parliament Funkadelic.

Here, he shares the story of his first performance at the Apollo, playing with Screaming Jay Hawkins.

At 19, Nile began his short-lived career at the world famous performing art conservatory, Julliard. After just a few days at Julliard, he auditioned for a tour of the children’s television show, Sesame Street.

He got the job, weighed his options between musical education and a paying gig, and headed on the road with Sesame Street, where he became friends with the likes of Luther Vandross, Fonzi Thornton, Diva Gray, Carlos Alomar, and Michelle Cobbs, who formed ‘Listen My Brother,’ an eclectic group led by Vandross.

Each member of the group continued on to lead influential careers in music, recording and collaborating with some of the generations most successful artists.

The first was an experience with his third grade school teacher. While Niles seemed like a shy and anti-social student, she reached out to him and gave him a very valuable gift.

The second, slightly less sweet, but a good life lesson, was Nile’s first audition to be in a band, which surprisingly, he didn’t get into.
Seemingly trivial memories that inspired a determined Nile to continue to learn and grow as a musician.

“How come we always have to swim upstream, knowing that we’re doing the right thing?”

He and his Chic band mate, Bernard Edwards, felt the sting of a racially divided music industry, but carried through regardless. After being turned down seven times by Atlantic Records, Chic finally turned to sign with small label Buddha records.

Nile was born to his thirteen-year-old mother in New York City. His mother was from Greenwich Village beatnik of the 1950s, he grew up calling his mother by her first name, and never stayed in one place for too long.

These moves led Nile to his music education. Rather than sticking to one instrument all the way through school, he filled seats in the orchestra as they were needed, and so learned an array of instruments and styles.

He speaks about always being drawn to the ‘odd’ or eccentric people in the school, probably indicative of his quirky lifestyle to come. Nile Rodgers went on to lead one of the most successful music careers of the 1970s.

After being turned down seven times by Atlantic Records, Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards of Chic, finally signed to Buddha Records.

Buddha Records, who had gone bankrupt, knew that Chic’s record was gold, so the VP of the label made a deal with the President of Atlantic Records, who’d never heard that Nile had been turned away. Chic resigned to Atlantic Records, where their album was considered ‘a smash.’

In April 2002, Kelly Slater’s father lost his battle against throat cancer. He shares with us some touching memories of his last months with his father. It was in this time that his dad really let him know how proud he was of Kelly’s career, and shares a lovely story of remembering his dad while surfing.