Jayen Varma is the fastest bass guitarist. Declared in 2008 by the Registry of Official World Records USA & UK, Varma plays at an incredible speed of 36 notes per second. This was viable due to a very unique slap style developed by him, widely known as “Indian slap bass” where Bass is played like Indian percussion instrument Tabla. He is a freelance Bass Player and is into RagaZZ music.

Indian Music Lovers: When did you first pick up the bass and why?

Jayen Varma: I was a drummer in a band since 1981 and I used to play six string guitar also. The lead guitarist Vichoo and Drummer Sriram of the band Firefly asked me to play bass in their band and I took bass in 1986 and started playing heavy metal songs.

IML: When did you realize the unique style of playing bass?

JV: I never had a bass instructor, so I had to play bass according to my convenience. Since I had some knowledge of the Indian classical percussion instrument mridangam and ragas, I was applying Indian classical raga scales with mridangam/tabla style percussive playing on the Bass Guitar.  I had a feeling that it can become a new genre of unconventional funk bass someday.   It is slapping the strings without using the thumb, but hitting with 1st then 2nd and 3rd fingers held together.

IML: Tell us the detailed story behind the record of being fastest bassist.

JV: I was doing a job other than music till 2008, playing bass guitar part time in bands since 1986 and learning the bass lines of hundreds of cover songs by different bands. Every day I had to sit three hours in a train since my work was in a very distant place, so during the ride I practiced and did finger exercises. I used to practice around seven hours a day. Some of my friends and bass legends in USA and Europe asked to go for a world record speed. With the help of few musicians and sound engineering friends, I verified my playing speed using computers in studios. I had read that Adrian Davison of USA used to play piano style bass at 31 notes per second. I decided to make my playing a record and completed all the official formalities with The Registry of Official World Records USA and UK. After verification they confirmed in 2008 that my playing was 36 percussive notes per second.

IML: Which artists inspired you the most—what are the specific influences in your playing style?

JV: Many musicians, I cannot name just a few.  But I got the inspiration to play fast from the life story of Shadkala Govinda Marar of India who lived in 1700-1800 AD. He was considered the fastest singer who ever lived in India. He used to sing at demi semi quaver speed (32nd notes). Playing fast may not always be music, but many musicians have experimented with it, even centuries back.

I love all the bassists. I have been learning bass by watching videos and listening to bass lines by different electric bassists like Jaco Pastorius, Bootsy Collins, Jeff Berlin, Stuart Hamm, Adrian Davison, Billy Sheehan, Billy Cox, John EntWistle, Abraham Laboriel Sr, Larry Graham, Victor Wooten and many others. Every Bassist inspires me. And I love to see anyone holding a bass guitar.

IML: Please tell us about Ragazz and how you started playing with the band.

JV: Ragazz is not raga music, nor is it jazz. Kalyan Pathak has very clearly defined it: It’s about developing musical conversations using the languages of raga and jazz. Much respect for him. When I apply it in on stage it sounds similar to mixing raga (both Hindustani and carnatic), jazz and funk. Currently I am doing concerts with renowned Indian Hindustani vocalist Aparna Panshikar of Pune.

IML: Tell us something about the scales that you use, songs where particular scales are used. How do you really approach creating a melody?

JV: I do not have a particular scale or raga. Generally it’s the minor scale that is used and ragas differ from place to place and person to person.  It can be in major scale Hindustani Yaman (Kalyani) or Minor scale Thodi.

IML: What’s your solo repertoire?

JV: I used to do a lot of solos to do demonstrations. It can be played as a demo, but if a solo exceeds 20 minutes it will be boring for the audience. So I now do solos only with bands.

IML: What’s the best feedback that you’ve gotten till date?

JV: I get good and bad feed backs. The best feedback I got and I value a lot are from the greatest bassists of all time. Jeff Berlin, Bootsy Collins, James LoMenzo, Marcus Miller, Michael Henderson, David Pastorius, Stuart Hamm, Phil Powell, Mike jones and a hundreds of bassists to name. Thanks to all of them.

IML: What are the gears that you use?

JV: Now I play an Indian handmade 5 string bass guitar named Stelsie.  Cost of my guitar is below 300 USD.  There are many great luthiers in India and in India we get good wood to build the body.  So I think Guitars made in India are awesome.

IML: What’s next for you?

JV: I hope to popularize Tabla style Indian Slap Bass across the World and also wish to make sure that this kind of slap bass can be used in Indian classical music as well as blues and jazz. And I believe that few of the next generation bassists play this Indian Slap Bass better than me.  I am also waiting to release an album.

Photo Credit:
Courtesy of Jayen Varma

Visit Jayen Varma on the web at www.jayenvarma.net