Bass legend STEVE DIGIORGIO (TESTAMENT, SADUS, SEBASTIAN BACH, DRAGONLORD, VINTERSORG) spoke to Fretlessbass.com about a number of topics recently. A few excerpts follow:

FB: At what age did you start playing fretless bass, and how long have you been playing?

Steve Di Giorgio: "I started on fretless electric bass probably around my early twenties after I changed the neck on my Fender copy from the stock fretted to a fretless jazz neck. But I kind of 'cheated' back when I was in high school, by this I mean I played upright bass in orchestra class for a short while. Most people I know start with fretted bass and make the move to fretless and have to learn a new way of playing. The transition for me on fretless was pretty seamless because of my experience when I was a young teenager on stand-up. So all in all I would say it’s been roughly a couple of decades for me and the fretless bass."

FB: What influenced you to play fretless?

Steve Di Giorgio: "The sound of it. I heard a JETHRO TULL album 'A' and a guy named Dave Pegg was tearing up a fretless storm and I knew that I wanted that sound too. Soon after that I was getting exposed to Mick Karn and Gary Willis. And like the opposite guy I usually am, later I found out about Jaco."

FB: Are you self-taught or did you take lessons?

Steve Di Giorgio: "I’m a hybrid I guess. For the most part I’m self-taught on bass in a rock or metal context. But like I mentioned earlier I have some jazz training on the high school level, which isn’t much but helped me learn a few things with finger positioning and fundamentals. But it wasn’t until I sat next to the record player with my RUSH, YES, Tull, MAIDEN and SABBATH albums that I really learned how to play."

To read the entire interview head here.