INDIE SPOT
Interview with New York Based Electric Bass Player Akos Forgacs
Akos Forgacs is a New York City-based electric bass player. Raised in Serbia and attended the local performing arts high as the very first electric bass player they accepted. Here he was awarded the many awards including an award at the national string chamber orchestra competition where he played the lead bass guitar.
in 2012 Akos moved to the United States to attend the prestigious Berklee College of Music. At Berklee Akos had to opportunity to work closely with many incredible artists, most notably he worked with Dave Fiuczynksi. He worked with Dave for some time and he also had the opportunity to play with the legendary drummer Jojo Mayer together with Dave.
At Berklee, he also had the opportunity to work closely with Paul Simon keyboard player Alain Mallet After finishing his studies at Berklee College of Music Akos moved to New York City where he maintains a busy schedule as a bandleader and sideman. He had the opportunity to play many big festivals as a leader and every year he is asked to come back.
How did you come by your stage name?
Well, My stage name is my real name, so I guess I have to thank my parents.
When did you discover your love for your craft and what made you realize you wanted to pursue a career in it?
I come from a family of non-musicians, but fortunately, my family used to listen to great music. So I was exposed to a lot of great music from an early age.
I always gravitated towards the electric bass but never really had the chance but at the of 13 I and my friend decided to start a band, he played drums so it was a good excuse to start playing the bass. That was the start of everything.
After a couple of months of intense practicing and learning songs, some local session musicians started to call me to play with them. That led to more successful bands and I realized that this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. By the age of 15, I was already working as a professional bass player in the local music scene.
To what or whom do you accredit your sense of style?
When I just started out playing I was in a band with one of my classmates and we just played classic rock songs. That’s what we were into at that time. After a couple of months, I took lessons with some of the top session musicians in my country.
At these lessons, I started to discover that there is more great music out the other than rock and metal. I really got into Jaco Pastorius, Marcus Miller. After these, I got into the great rhythm section players like James Jamerson. So all of these players influenced me in away. I still like listening to rock and metal but also appreciate jazz, so all these styles made my own sound away.
After that, I got accepted to the local performing arts high school as the very first electric bass player. Before that, they only allowed upright bass so I kind of opened the door for electric bass players in that school.
After my high school years, I got a scholarship to attend one of the most prestigious colleges for music, Berklee College of Music.
On your upcoming project, how did you come up with the concept?
Being an accomplished lead session bass player I have a great understanding of a lot of different musical styles. For my upcoming debut album, I gathered all this knowledge to come up with something unique for me.
I have played in 20 piece bands and all the way to solo bass, but I realized my favorite setting is to play in a smaller group. My upcoming album is going to be stripped-down instrumentation, only a guitar trio.
Are you the best at what you do in your opinion?
I think I have something unique to say. I don’t know that I’m the best at what I do is the right word, to be honest.
What are your plans for the near future?
Currently, I’m planning to record my debut album, which will happen probably early next year and hopefully be out soon after. Also, I’m getting ready for some European festivals with some of the bands I work with as their lead bass player.
If you are interested in my upcoming debut album or any other news about my upcoming gigs follow my Instagram @akosbass where I usually post all about my upcoming projects.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank, any shout outs?
I’d like to thank all the big festivals that had me as a leader in the past. Without them, I don’t think I would be here where I am now. Also my teachers from Serbia and Boston.
How can fans find you?
my Instagram is www.instagram.com/akosbass
my Youtube channel is www.youtube.com/szbd
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