207: Claus Freudenstein on heavy metal, minibasses, and arranging - a podcast by Jason Heath

Today we’re featuring Claus Freudenstein, who is pushing the boundaries of the double bass in some really interesting ways.  Claus is innovative on a number of fronts.  He joined the world of the bass later in life than many people, and he came to it through heavy metal and the electric bass.  This resonates greatly with me because this is the exact same way that I arrived at the bass.

Claus has taken this love of heavy metal and channeled it into the Bassmonsters, a bass ensemble that is expanding the repertoire into metal and bringing a whole new audience into the fold.  We feature three clips from their first album Classic Meets Rock: Sweet Child O’ Mine by Guns & Roses, Creeping Death by Metallica, and Thriller by Michael Jackson.  You can find this album on Spotify, Amazon, and iTunes.

Claus is looking for a new record label to publish the latest Bassmonsters release.  He has some tracks to pass along, so listeners, if you have ideas for a new label for Claus, send him an email and let him know.

Claus has also been quite innovative in the world of teaching with his creation and popularization of the mini-bass.  We discuss Claus' work in education, his approach to repertoire, arranging and composing, and many other topics.  Enjoy!

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