Photo by MadRon
For more on Nashville Pussy, visit: https://www.nashvillepussy.com/
Eaten Alive, Nashville Pussy (2021, Slinging Pig): https://open.spotify.com/album/1EFMuLPgwQaQIHlhXwUhBj?si=-6Ob8J4BTPKd0jLmwubDmA
Nashville Pussy YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkRiRgE72eMo13BXmDGvuDw
Bonnie Buitrago Website: https://www.bonniebuitrago.com/
Bonnie Buitrago just reached her 10-year anniversary with Nashville Pussy. “I realized today it took me 20 years to get this 10-year mark,” she proclaims. Buitrago started touring with them in 2012, but first auditioned in 2002. Though she didn’t get the gig at that time, she left an indelible impression, and ultimately grasped the brass ring when her predecessor, Karen Cuda, left the band. Buitrago’s history with Nashville Pussy, however, actually goes back even further, all the way to 1996, when she was still a teenager. “I saw a photo of Ruyter [Suys, lead guitar] in a magazine and read a little blurb about them,” she recalls. “The article said, ‘Buy any and all recorded material by this band, or forever be doomed for life.’ So I did [laughter]! The local punk rock vinyl record store in town happened to have a couple of Nashville Pussy 7” singles, as well as a single by Blaine’s [Cartwright, vocals, rhythm guitar] band, Nine Pound Hammer, in stock.” Buitrago bought all three, and when she got home and listened, she was so blown away, that she immediately wrote a fan letter to a P.O. Box address that was listed in the liner notes. “I struck up a friendship with Ruyter, who quickly became one of my guitar heroes, and a pen pal – actual, pen and paper [laughter]!”
Photo by Kelli Hayden
Fast forward to the present day, and Nashville Pussy has just released Eaten Alive, a ferocious hell ride of a live double LP – proof positive that the band is one of the most formidable live acts in the world today. Coming hot off the heels of their critically acclaimed 7th studio album, Pleased To Eat You (2018), the Grammy-nominated Nashville Pussy recorded Eaten Alive on the road in the UK, and critics are already proclaiming it to be their Live at Leeds (The Who), and one of most unrelenting concert albums since Motorhead’s No Sleep Til Hammersmith. Recently, Nashville Pussy pummeled the national streaming zeitgeist with their song “Come On Come On,” which appears on the soundtrack for the DC Comics/HBO Max Peacemaker series, out now.
As for Buitrago, her imprint on the band is inimitable. Her tone and attack channel the punk and metal influences of her youth with an unbound ferocity that epitomizes the rock and roll ethos of rebellion. Bass Gear Magazine caught up with Buitrago recently to discuss, among other things, her musical influences, her 2002 audition for Nashville Pussy, and of course, the gear that makes the band go boom.
I love your live tone on Eaten Alive. What gear are you using?
Thank you very much! In Europe, I usually get to rock out on a sweet ‘60s [Ampeg] SVT, which sounds incredible. But it’s also temperamental and tends to blow up occasionally [laughter]. On this particular tour, I got rescued by Orange Amplifiers, who invited me to stop by their HQ in the UK to pick up a bass head to finish the tour. We were on a schedule with no time really to leave the SVT with anyone to scope it out for a repair. So, I’m playing a Terror Bass amp on Eaten Alive – right after getting it!
How do you like it?
I’m quite impressed with its sound – it’s got some good deep growl, punch, and clarity. It’s really become my main bass head, lately. I’m still rocking’ the vintage Ampeg 8×10 cab.
Photo by Raphael Meert
What’s your live signal chain like?
I use a Satellite Amplifiers tube preamp and Creepy Fingers distortion. I like the mic to capture the nuances of the warm fuzz and that punchy roundness I get blasting out of the 8×10, so I always have both the D.I. signal and the cab mic’d. I use Ernie Ball Power Slinky’s, Pig Hog Cables, and Clayton picks. I’d like to add that all three of us string-slingers in Nashville Pussy are loyal to our Boss Chromatic Tuners. This is a public plea for Boss to support us – I think we’ve collectively kicked around and baptized countless of their tuners in the crossfire of Jack Daniels and beer flying around our stages, losing many in the constant whirls around the world that we do [laughter]!
Speaking of loyalty, that red P-bass I always see you with looks pretty hot.
It’s an ‘80s Fender Precision Special. I love the character of tone that bass has – it just seems overall a little darker than any other P-basses I’ve tried out. These were Fender’s first line of basses to have both active and passive pickups, but I keep it on passive. And the candy apple red finish is surely worn, purely rocked off from its life of relentless touring. I love how it looks because of that!
How does your recording process in the studio differ from your live rig?
In the studio, it depends on what’s available and if I am able to bring in my own amp or not. It’s pretty much always an Ampeg in one form or another. Usually, an SVT 8×10, or Portaflex B-15, or I get to use something interesting that the studio may have on hand. Lately, I’ve been using an A Designs REDDI tube direct box to record, so I’m eager to get to use that next time Nashville Pussy head to the studio. And Darkglass sent me their killer Vintage Ultra and Microtubes B7K Ultra pedals, which I’m really digging, too. I prefer a triple-track attack via re-amping, so I’ve got the D.I. track, a mic’d clean track out of the cab, and then another track re-amped where I’m using effects. I like to explore with tones and gear, but I save that for my own indulgence and studio time [laughter]. For Nashville Pussy, it’s straight up AC/DC – P-bass into an SVT, mids cranked, set to rock!
When you joined Nashville Pussy, did you have to audition? You knew them already, correct?
I was so far down my own path by the time they asked me if I’d be willing to play with them, it was a complete surprise, but also perfect timing – I guess I stayed in their minds. I barely was old enough to get into a bar when I first auditioned. The years prior, they were sneaking me into venues to be able see their concerts, because I wasn’t old enough to get into the place! Part of why I wrote them that fan letter in the first place – I knew I just absolutely had to see them live, and I wasn’t sure how I would even pull that off without some help on their part [laughter]!
As for the audition, I got to rock out with one of my favorite bands, ever! What an experience! We blasted through songs from their first two albums, and the yet to be released third album. I nailed the songs. I was told I have balls of steel [laughter]. It took me some years until I had my own band to run, that I finally understood why it takes more than how you play songs to get the gig.
When and why did you first start playing bass? Was it your first instrument?
A bassist friend gave me his first-ever bass telling me, “You’re pretty good at that guitar, but let’s see how you dig playing bass!” I am equally influenced by certain guitarists and bassists, and I played both along the way since a teen, but didn’t make bass playing my main thing until later in life. I started off playing sax when I was seven. Danny Elfman’s Oingo Boingo was my very first favorite band, and I picked the sax based on the fact that it was one of the many instruments involved in their big sound. I didn’t realize it at the time, but that massive bouncing bass on Oingo Boingo’s Alive album really moved me, too. By the time I was 13, I was obsessed with all things rock music, and I got an acoustic guitar. I was dying to play electric, though, so I sold my sax to get an electric guitar a year later; unbeknownst to my parents or my orchestra teacher [laughter]. There was just no stopping me at that point. I was woodshedding on thrash metal guitar, until I fell in love with bass playing and singing, and that happened naturally through playing in bands, over time.
Photo by MadRon
Who were some of your early influences?
I think the band that really influenced me in the beginning was Metallica. It was at the height of the black album when I first heard them. I latched on to their entire discography right away. Seeing that A Year and a Half in the Life of Metallica documentary changed me for life, as it was a major source of inspiration. It was the first footage I’d ever seen of a band in a recording studio working on an album, and I was fascinated by it all. I also grew up on the legendary [Los Angeles] KNAC 105.5 FM metal radio station when it was only on the local airwaves. They were the first to launch the Mandatory Metallica radio show, when it was just a super-fan segment – long before it was syndicated and picked up by other rock stations around the country.
What did you glean from listening to that show?
Back then, the DJ would often play live bootleg recordings and rare demos of their songs. Those demos really shined a light on the mystery for me… To hear James Hetfield singing sounds, with no real words, in rhythm for the placement of the song, just the cadence of what will turn into lyrically – that was something that unveiled the secret of how a band created their music, and made me feel like, “Damn, I can do this!” I absorbed a whole helluva a lot from that band and I wanted to be just like ‘em. I was always affected by Jason Newsted’s live performance and intensity. What a powerful bassist and backup vocalist. And his playing is so energetic and popping’ on that original Garage Days EP! Justice for Jason [laughter]!
I understand you also really love punk bass.
Playing along and singing to Ramones albums is how I developed my ear to be able to figure out how to play songs on my own. I love [Nirvana bassist] Krist Novoselic’s weighty tone, and his catchy and melodic simplicity. When Nirvana hit the mainstream, that was the first of anything with a boisterous burst of punk I had ever heard in my life – and it really took a hold of me and opened the door to discovering more punk that wasn’t going to be found on the radio. Being from Orange County, California, where so many quintessential punk bands were born, was super motivating. It was so fun, watching these bands play, and getting that feeling, that it was possible to achieve being in a badass band, too! Working at a record store at 16, I got free tickets to just about any concert venue or arena show – I was really lucky to have this upbringing, especially during what I think was an extraordinary time for many music scenes. I was always following my favorite bands on their tour dates across SoCal. Experiencing all these amazing performances so early on in life influenced my playing and even how I carry myself, onstage, without a doubt. I loved it all, coming home with the ringing in my ears, elated from that experience of seeing an amazing concert – all I’d want to do after that is play! I was just such a fan.
Photo by Peter Ruttan
Who were your favorite bands from that SoCal scene?
The Cramps were one of my favorite bands to see live. They were wild, chaotic, and genuine – they just oozed rock n’ roll. It was always exciting to see them play! Nashville Pussy concerts warped me for life, too [laughter]. I was always in the front row, in front of Ruyter, getting my face melted off by her absolutely incredible lead guitar playing. I wanted to be in a band that was as exciting and true to rock n’ roll as these two bands were. I joined one of ‘em, eventually [laughter]! Between loving punk and metal, I developed a down-picking attack that is really a big part of my tone. I anchor down that ferocious double guitar attack with Blaine and Ruyter.
What were your early playing experiences like? Playing along to records? Playing in cover bands? Jumping into original music right away? Everyone has a different trajectory…
I just dove right in, taking guitar lessons and writing on my Tascam tape machine, while playing in my first rock band at 14. I really started to focus on the bass much later though, when I got to be around more bands and had opportunities to be in the recording studio. No one really showed me how to play bass, I just played it the way I wanted to. I was always playing tuned down for the feel of that big gnarly tone, using my Peavey T-40 and 4003 Rickenbacker, and being quite adventurous with effects. I developed my own style and got a lot of encouragement and recording experience from some amazing studio engineer friends. Once I started singing and playing bass together, I really fell in love with doing it. I was always pushing myself to be the best I could be. My old band Bloodhook was as D.I.Y. as it got, and eventually we put out our album, recording it at Sound City, and got to tour with some great bands like FEAR, Agent Orange, and D.I., and even toured internationally.
Do you have a guiding principle or philosophy to when it comes to bass playing?
WWLD… “What Would Lemmy Do? [laughter]” Unapologetic in boldness, pure in heart, tone and attitude.
What advice do you have for a young person who aspires to do what you’re doing for a living?
Keep your life lined up to be free and ready if this is the life you want – there’s nothing like it!
