Philm, Ultraphonix
PANCHO TOMASELLI Low Rider By Jon D’Auria |
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Photo by Kevin Blades
egardless of where he is or whom he’s with, Pancho Tomaselli is always the biggest personality in any room he steps into. Whether it’s his lightning-fast wit, the abundant life lessons that he’s quick to impart, his hilarious tour stories, or the intense charisma he embodies when he sparks up a conversation, the 44-year-old has a swagger all his own. And when it comes time to step onstage, the Ecuadorian-born 4-stringer’s playing somehow overshadows his persona. That’s why legendary acts such as War, Tower Of Power, Rex Brown, Eric Burdon, Dos Lobos, Tricky, Nelly Furtado, and many others have enlisted his powerful playing for their music. Tomaselli moved from Ecuador at age 20 to attend the Berklee College of Music, but not to study bass. Instead he graduated with a degree in Music Business and Management. From there he moved to Los Angeles, where he landed a high position with Virgin Records in its A&R department, which led him to work with Janet Jackson, the Rolling Stones, Lenny Kravitz, Ben Harper, and a slew of others before he got the itch to jump to the other side of the desk to pursue music once again. Several bands instantly recruited him before he got the call to join War, a bass chair he proudly held for 16 years. This eventually led to him stepping in for Rocco Prestia in Tower Of
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Power for a series of tours in 2013. From there, Tomaselli decided to create his own music. That’s when he helped form the rock trio Philm, featuring drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer) and guitarist Gerry Nestler. Now sans Lombardo, Philm is preparing to release its third album, Time Burner. The release will coincide with the debut album, Original Human Music, from his other outfit, Ultraphonix, a hard-hitting rock supergroup that features Corey Glover (Living Colour), George Lynch (Dokken), and drummer Chris Moore. When he’s not occupied with those bands, Tomaselli is keeping busy writing original music and scores with his old mates from Dig Infinity and putting the finishing touches on his new signature-series basses from G&L Guitars. “I’m always busy, because I’m willing to work harder than anyone else,” says Tomaselli. “Aside from that, I’m just a shredder bass player who never plays roots and 5ths and was blessed with chops and a good ear.” ow do you prepare for all of these big gigs that you land? I’m the type of player who is called to come in and fix holes. When I got the War gig, I looked at what B.B. [Dickenson, founding bassist] wore to the shows, what he smoked before the gigs, where he was from, what he ate, what his amp settings were, what bass he was playing — I would go deep into the psy-
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BASS MAGAZINE ; ISSUE 1 ; bassmagazine.com
