Ask any metal-head to name the first bass player that comes to mind and 99% of the time you’ll get one of two Steves: Harris or DiGiorgio. Both are great, but only one of them is considered the de-facto go-to person for bands in need of someone that can dominate the low-end of the audio spectrum.

DiGiorgio has worked with countless legendary metal bands like Death, Testament and Sadus, and continues today with his new bands Charred Walls of the Damned and Future’s End. Picking up the bass wherever he is needed, DiGiorgio is renowned for playing fast and for bringing the fretless bass into metal.

I met Mr. DiGiorgio outside of the Cynic show last month and, after a brief update, I knew that I had to find out more about what the bass phenom was up to. I was fortunate enough to speak with the man about his bands, his bass playing and his inspiration. He also opens up about the final days of Death and the meaning of completing a new Control Denied record with Chuck Schuldiner’s final work on it.

(I talked with DiGiorgio for a good 45 minutes, needless to say, some of the conversation is paraphrased.)

Steve, thanks for taking the time to talk with us. First things first, the Charred Walls of the Damned album just came out today. Since all the guys are making the rounds talking about the album, I thought it’d be nice to hear your thoughts on the album and your thoughts on getting back together to work with Richard Christy.

You know, it was really no big deal at all. Richard called me earlier in the year and asked me, “If they would make an album would I play on it?”‘ and I said, “Of course, Rich! No problem!” It was just as easy as that. I had no idea it was going to turn out like this. Not that I had some low expectations, but because Richard hasn’t been doing anything musically at all and if I had stayed away from my instrument as long as he did, then I probably wouldn’t play very well. But that’s what makes Richard so unique, he’s an amazing drummer and he can go work at a radio station for so many years and then come back and still be Richard.

It’s cool the way the album came together. It’s got a really good sound and it just shows you that you don’t have to be “the guitar player”. Richard wrote everything on guitar, and he’s a pretty good guitar player, but he’s not good enough to play guitar on an album. But when you hear the album you don’t say, “Oh a drummer wrote this” because it’s really high-level playing and it’s got a good production sound and everything.

It was just cool to see this start as a little tiny seed in Richard’s big noggin’ and just kind of come out to a CD and have this really cool sound to it.

Absolutely. Well, don’t sell yourself short because your abilities on bass are very much in demand, to put it plainly. It seems as though you’ve got the whole gamut of music genres covered. Perhaps you could tell us a little bit about all of the bands and projects you’ve played with this past year?

Yeah, well shoot – there’s quite a variety lately, I guess. Ever since I started playing I’ve always been really open to different music styles and, I hate over-using cliches, but really, it’s just all music. I don’t know how to say that non-cliche. Music is just music and you don’t have to be a metal guy to play metal or a jazz guy to play jazz. If you’ve got an open mind and a willingness to participate you can do whatever you want. You might not be good at all styles, but at least if the desire is there then something good will come out of it. I’ve never put myself in a limited category and because of that I think I’ve carved out a kind of recognizable career just from playing from a big soup of music.

Recently, three albums that I’ve played on that have just been released in the past few months are so different, obviously the first one is Charred Walls, which has got that classic metal in-your-face kind of sound to it. And in last September I recorded with an Italian Death Metal band called Faust. We just recorded their album in Italy and it is just extreme death metal to all degrees. Last October, my local band here Future’s End just put out our record. That really doesn’t resemble the other two bands either. That’s this kind of epic, progressive style with a lot of guitar shred and super emotional vocals and stuff like that.

I’ve got a lot of other stuff coming up this year. I’m not sure if they all will be released this year, but I’m doing the bass part of many different projects.

Anything you’d like to elaborate on?

Well, the new Control Denied is planned on being recorded this year. I don’t know if we’ll get to it exactly this year, but a lot of the legal issues have been pretty much cleared-up now and there are plans for us to get together and do the second Control Denied album. Chuck’s parts have been recorded and he finished everything he had to do when he was still getting around and could play. Him and Richard’s parts are completely done, it’s just the rest of us – me and Shannon and Tim that need to finish.

There are no confirmed dates or super facts to put out, but I know a lot of people have been asking and I’ve been answering the question now for 10 years, “Will the album ever come out?” and it just seemed like it never would. But I’ve talked to his family, I’ve talked to his personal manager and I’ve talked to the band members and we are definitely moving ahead for planning the recording.

What does completing this album mean to you guys? It seems like people never really got full closure when Chuck passed away. Is this Control Denied album a step closer to that?

You know, that’s what it kind of turned out as. The material is pretty crazy. Obviously Chuck kind of carved out a niche with Death, he created this sound and people followed the evolution of his music that way. He’s talked over the years that he didn’t want to sing anymore, he didn’t like that vocal style too much. But he knew that he was kind of trapped, so to say, into his own creation. He said, “Well, this is what I want Death to sound like now.” but if he just hired a new singer he’d lose all his fans, because that’s not Death. So he created a new band, even though it’s the same line-up, plus a singer. So that’s the way he got around changing his sound, he just put a new name on it.

He also thought that with these new vocals that the writing style would need a change. He experimented with different riff ideas on the first Control Denied album and he liked it, but it wasn’t exactly what he wanted to play. After working with that singer and seeing how it turned out he said, “I’m just going to write the way I always write.”

I’ve heard all 9 or 10 of the new songs, with Richard on drums and Chuck on guitar. It’s some of Chuck’s craziest writing ever. Richard is just sicker than you’ve ever heard him play. The material blows away the Sound of Perseverance for technicality and craziness.

After Chuck died, we were all at the funeral and we said, “Let’s just finish this thing.” We were going to do it on our own time with our own dollar, but we weren’t even allowed to proceed. I kept asking, “Can’t we just record it behind the scenes and just sit on it’?” But apparently there was some kind of “cease-and-desist” kind of thing or something and we couldn’t even continue. But you know, it is kind of a closure thing because we got caught in the middle of it and someone just ripped the chord out. We never got to finish. It’ll still be exciting for people to hear the material and say “That song’s cool!” but you know, Chuck’s not around to enjoy it, and everyone knows that we’re not a band that’s touring and there’s no upcoming performances or nothing.  So, it’s exciting for people to hear it, sure – but I think the closure part just kind of outweighs that, now that we’re 10 years down the line.

A lot of folks are really looking forward to it. Besides, people know that you guys are really the only ones that could finish this album. You couldn’t bring in some random drummer or bassist…

Yeah, definitely. I remember the manager asking me if there was a possibility of replacing someone. I said “No, it was all done.” Chuck did tell me something when I was working on the pre-production for Sound of Perseverance. We were in his kitchen in Florida and he says, “Man, I finally got really cool guys in the band. I think we can stick this one out. Do you want to consider coming back to the band?” I wasn’t able to move out there because I had kids and a family, but what he said just kind of told me that Chuck would work hard to keep the line-up that he had. So, it’s all of us or none. Even considering Shannon’s health condition lately, and that everyone is grown and evolved, I think we still left off the same as that night at the funeral.

Speaking of family – are your kids into music?

Oh yeah, my son is 13 and my daughter is 16, it’s all they do. Itunes, Youtube, everything.

What do they think about heavy metal?

What do they think about it!? I’m back here in my little office/jam room trying not to turn into my parents and tell them to “turn it down”. I’m in here making metal, they’re out there turning it up! They listen to a lot of stuff, most of it’s really heavy stuff. Most of it’s new but I don’t know the names of the bands. But, it’s not that different than what we were listening to when we were young.

[5 minutes later, I learn that Steve's Mom was totally into Jazz and Elvis.]

Any updates on what’s going on with Sadus in 2010?

You know, we finally played our first outdoor festivals. These were real, full-blown European, three-day types. We played Brutal Assault and an open air festival in Germany. They’re not as big as Wacken or Graspop, they’re like a medium version of those, but it was a first for Sadus. We’re just 3 guys, and we’ve played really small stages and really small places and for us to get up in front of 10,000-15,000 people, it was amazing. Then when we came back we played with Soulfly in Arizona.

Since then, we haven’t done anything and there’s nothing on the books right now. Sometimes when we get into this position we start throwing around new song ideas, but with nothing new on the horizon and no shows booked, we’re back into hibernation mode and that’s probably why I’m starting to compile a huge session list. I’m not happy to take breaks, I can’t do it.

I got one more question for you. I saw that you had a good time at the Warwick booth at NAMM. How long will it be before folks can buy a Warwick signature Steve DiGiorgio double-neck bass?

Ha! How long will it be? Don’t hold your breath. Shoot, I have no idea.

You know, I tricked ESP into that bass. It’s the only double-neck bass they ever made and when they update their catalogs they never use pictures I send of of me playing it because it took so long to make. When I first hooked-up with ESP they had styled me. I was customizing stuff and looking up options lists, if I said it they would make it! I’ve got a few of them, and they’re nice instruments. I’ve never had a lot, some guitar players like to have guitars for every song, but I’ve never been like that. I get a bass that I like and that sounds good, and that’s all I need. Once I hooked-up with ESP, I had quite an arsenal. They kept asking me, “What do you need?” I said, “I don’t need anything! I need you to take some of these back!” But they kept asking, so I threw them a curve-ball and said, “build me a double-neck!” and it took them about 2 years for them to get it to me. It’s a really cool instrument, but it’s so damn heavy. It’s literally two basses. It doesn’t really travel that much though, especially with all of the airplane restrictions.

As for Warwick, I may be trying out their amplifiers and pumping their new Jonas Hellborg model amp into the metal world. No signature bass though, so far.

We’ll have to check in with all of your projects at the end of the year, because you got a lot of good stuff going on.

Right. Unfortunately, except for Control Denied, most of the bands I’m working with are unknown or are start-ups. As busy as I am, the Testament or Sebastian Bach type gigs aren’t really happening any more. I’m twice as busy though. We’re already writing songs for the new Future’s End album. Last night we were up until 1 a.m. writing, already on song #4!

How did Future’s End come about?

It’s all local guys. Me and John (drums) live next door to each other. But the two guitar players really started the band. They’ve known each other for a long time from the local circuit. They realized they had something going and it came pretty quick for them. Mark (guitar) and I have known each other for years and years, and we finally hooked-up after talking about jamming together for so long. Mark called me one day and said, “Hey, I think I found a band for you and me finally.” So I went out there and it wasn’t like someone pressed “play” on a cassette player, this guy Christian had a full production going on! He had computer wizard craziness at his house. A huge monitor, killer speakers, drums programmed, guitar solos, just craziness going on! So he asks, “What do you think?” and I said, “I’m in!” They needed a new drummer, and I asked John from Sadus. I’ve known John since I was 14 or 15 years old, so I know what he is in to. John’s just an amazing drummer.

The album sounds great.

We’re just now getting reviews and so it’s cool to hear what people say. We’re having a lot of fun with this band. It’s the kind of band where the musicians really push each other, it’s challenging. You have to practice-up before you play your own songs.

We make this really crazy riffage and send it to the singer, and he sticks it all together. When you hear the riffs without vocals you say, “What the hell is this?” But the singing comes on and it’s like obvious verse, obvious chorus. He helps the band stay away from too much “wankery”.

I saw that you guys are playing a few shows around the Bay this year, so we’ll be checking it out.

We’re playing a benefit next month and we’ll be on a cruise-ship concert in April and possibly the Bay Area rock-fest. We have the Nightmare fest as well.

Yes! Will this be your first time playing on a cruise ship?

Yeah, I’ve never been on a cruise ship ever. That’s how I experience a lot of things in life – the first time I ever did anything it’s because I was there to play. I wouldn’t have been around the world so many times if I wasn’t there to play.

We have a couple leads we’re following up on. It’s hard though when you have a first-time band, you can’t come right out of the box and already have a million fans, it takes time and it’s hard because I’m used to playing the big stage and sometimes I think I can just pick up the phone and say “Hey, book my band. I’m a cool guy!” But they’ll say (in Euro accent) “Umm, we do not know zis musik. Send me and a copy and maybe we review it for 2012. 2011 is already booked-up except for one headliner.” And I’m like, “Fuuuck! Son of a bitch.”

By this time of the year, all the European festivals are booked. So, it’ll be an off-and-on busy year for this band. Nothing for Sadus, so it’s working out.

Steve, thanks for taking the time to talk with us tonight. I’ll let you get back to your family now.

Yeah! No problem! Glad we were able to talk!

For more information on all of Steve DiGiorgio’s bands and projects, check out the official Steve DiGiorgio website or the Steve DiGiorgio myspace page.