Thievery Corporation man Eric Hilton told us about his love for Leland ‘Lee” Sklar’s bass on "Stratus"...
Eric Hilton: One bass line that particularly influenced me is Leland ‘Lee” Sklar’s incredible riff in Billy Cobham’s song "Stratus." It was famously sampled by Massive Attack for their song "Safe From Harm."
Recently Richard Dorfmeister talked about being so excited to sample that line for a K&D song, only to hear the Massive Attack song a few days later. The line itself is so iconic as it underpins and propels all the other instruments in that song into another dimension.
Since hearing this bass line, I’ve often thought of bass lines in a similar circular form. If you limit your main bass line to the space between two octaves of a particular note, you can achieve a very driving, trippy result. It’s one of my favorite sonic tricks.
Eric Hilton's Elegantly Erotic album is out now...
Photo courtesy of Montserrat House Music
