Maarten Plukker
Netherlands
Please tell us briefly about yourself? And what you’ve been up to these last few years?
My name is Maarten Plukker, I’m from Alkmaar, a city in The Netherlands above Asmterdam and I’m 24 years old. In recent years I have played in several bands, Theatre productions such as “Hairspray” and “Little Shop Of Horrors”, studied at the Conservatory in Haarlem and currently I play bass with Grapevine Collection and I have my own Youtube-channel.
How did you get to know Sire Bass and what is your first impression when you play Sire bass for the first time?
I was on Youtube looking at several Marcus Miller videos, then I saw a video of him holding the Sire Bass which interested me because it wasn’t his Fender, this was something different. After watching the video, I realised this bass was going to change things. A couple of months later when I bought the bass, I realised this was the instrument I had been waiting for so long, the action, the sound, the weight and the overall feel of this bass were plain perfect.
When did you start playing bass? What was your inspiration to play bass?
I started playing bass at the age of 15, and I listen a lot to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Flea became a huge inspiration for me. Back in 2007, the whole Post Punk Revival started and bands as Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes were some of my favorite bands back then.
Are you a professional musician or a member of any band? If so, please tell us briefly about your band.
I play bass with Grapevine Collection, a Electro-Funk band from The Netherlands. We draw inspiration from several Funk/Soul acts such as Motown, Chic and Tower Of Power, but we add some modern electronic sounds from Jamiroquai and add some high-level musicianship from Toto. We don’t aim target one specific demographic group, we’ve seen people dance at our gigs who are between 16 and 65. We make “Music that makes you wanna dance!”
What or who were your early passions or influences of music do you play?
My influences are divided in three parts: In the beginning bands as Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Arctic Monkeys and Muse were my favourite acts and I studied a lot of basslines from these people. Later on I had my “vintage” period: I started to discover The Beatles, The Who, Deep Purple and many classic rock acts, I wanted to play on huge SVT stacks. Now in my “recent” part, I discovered Motown, soul and the jazz/funk music. This all started when I studied at the conservatory in Haarlem. it was then that I realised how important the bass guitar really is. Without bass, music has no soul. I also started listening to “studio bands” such as Steely Dan and Toto. Their level of musicianship inspire me a lot. When it comes to bass players: James Jamerson, Francis Rocco Prestia, Flea, Bernard Edwards, Stuart Zender and Derek Forbes (Simple Minds, the basslines on their earlier albums are brilliant) are my main influences.
I saw in your Facebook that you have participated many performances, please tell us briefly about your experience?
I’ve played at various bars and venues in The Netherlands with a lot of wonderful people, doing live performances always make me happy and I love to see the audience dance and have a good time. Last summer we (Grapevine Collection) were playing at “Rock en Morvan” in France, people were stunned to see a band that came all the way from The Netherlands giving such an energetic performance. It’s amazing to see hundreds and hundreds of people having a good time when you are playing your songs that you have written!
Do you compose or produce your own music? Please give us your favorite song which defines yourself?
With Grapevine Collection we write our own music, sometimes it’s a jam that creates the song, otherwise someone has written something and we work with that. If there is a song that gives me energy and inspiriation everytime I listen to it or play it, it has to be “Cosmic Girl” by Jamiroquai, that bassline brings a smile on my face everytime.
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