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Premiere: Watch Dutch Artist Barend Tromp and Bass Veteran Michael Manring Jam in ‘Golden Mahseer’ Video

Tabla, sitar, classical guitar and bass dominate the Indian classical-influenced song off Tromp’s new album ‘Juvenile Fish Tales’

Dec 29, 2022

(from left to right) Bassist Michael Manring and artist Barend Tromp. Photos: Courtesy of the artist (Tromp), Mari Kawai (Manring).

An eclectic bassist who also began playing classical guitar at an early age, Dutch artist Barend Tromp also gravitated towards Indian classical music and particularly, the sitar after hearing his grandfather’s record collection featuring Pandit Ravi Shankar.

The diverse influences are heard throughout Tromp’s decades-long catalog, and more recently on “Golden Mahseer,” which features bass veteran Michael Manring. The song is part of Tromp’s new album Juvenile Fish Tales, which released via Bengaluru-based Subcontinental Records on December 2nd.

Tromp says he got in touch with Manring – of whom he’s a self-confessed “big fan” – via Subcontinental Records. On “Golden Mahseer,” Tromp supplies splashes of classical guitar as Manring offers his distinctive fretless bass playing, complete with tunneling Ebow-aided passages. Tromp says of the collaboration, “I love playing fretless bass myself and Michael sure had an influence on my playing and soloistic and melodic approach to the bass. He asked me to send him the track and he loved it so he confirmed he wanted to play on it. I specifically asked him to do an Ebow solo because I really like that aspect of his playing. He did a super cool fretless bass part on the song. I am very happy with the result!”

The Indian classical influence on the song comes not just from Tromp’s love for Indian percussive instruments like tabla, ghatam and mridangam, but also to suit the thematic side of Juvenile Fish Tales. Tromp says, “The album is an instrumental concept album about fish, each song representing a different fish. A Golden Mahseer is an endangered species of freshwater fish that is found in lakes of the Himalayan region and in the Indian Ganges river.”

The 11-track album has one song representing a different fish. The concept was born out of Tromp’s childhood-origin fascination with the underwater world, right from when he got a book for his birthday about marine life.

Up next, there are two releases coming up for Tromp in 2023. One of them continues to indulge his love for Indian music, with his project BMI Goes India involving his brother Maarten. It’s Indian EDM/psytrance, described as “Ravi Shankar meets the Chemical Brothers.” There’s a solo album as well for the new year, prog-fusion live projects and two books on advanced slap-bass techniques in the pipeline.

Watch the video for “Golden Mahseer” below. Get ‘Juvenile Fish Tales’ here.

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