New Bassist Gets Rave Reviews! -- by A. Radjiva d'Andao

New bassist Dave "Fatty Fingers" D'aranjo really had his work cut out for him when he joined up with The Ocean Band. "We had this European tour all planned and got the big [Hoobastank] gig shortly after he joined," laughs guitarist Angshu Chatterjee, "so he had to join up with his feet running. He barely got a moment of happiness from us! But he's been doing . . . alright". Nonetheless the 20-year old, youngest and newest member of the Ocean Band takes it all in stride. "Yeah lah," he said when he took time out of his busy schedule to meet with us at a Dutch coffeeshop, "it's been tough, but this is what I want to be doing now. It's a real 'feather in my cap' - so to speak - to be able to jump in with the [Ocean] band and do Europe with them. It took me a while to get used to the alcoholic debauchery that makes these guys famous, but hey -- I gotta play the bassist's role, right? [laughter]" David has been playing bass for about six years so far, and while living in New York City, he had the opportunity to see and meet many of his bass heroes in the flesh. "I think the most meaningful experience for me was meeting Victor Wooten at Bass Day 2002 and then attending a clinic of his the next day -- they kept it really small, only 20 people! He's got such a formed philosophy about bass playing, and hearing it from the man himself . . . [He's] definetley one of my biggest influences. I learned a lot from listening to him". Some of Dave's other bass influences are Jaco Pastorius, Marcus Miller, Rocca Prestia, Jeff Berlin, Bootsy Collins, James Jamerson, Stu Hamm, and Stuart Zender, just to name a few. "I've been lucky to be very well endowed", he says, referring to the music he has been exposed to. And plans for the future? "I'm somewhat into filmmaking, perhaps it isn't out of the question to direct a band music video or one of the other personal projects I've written. But mostly [I just want to] continue making music with the band and have a good time." And from what this interviewer has witnessed on the road with the Ocean Band, thanks to the new man holding down the low end frequencies, there's plenty more music and good times to be had.

- From www.theoceanband.com, Summer 2004.