Adam Bishop lives in North Bend, drops his twin boys off at elementary school, and plays bass in a band headlining the Crocodile in Seattle on March 21.
He is a member of Marsalis, a West Seattle-based rock band that is riding the release of a new single into what promises to be one of their biggest shows yet. The March 21 date at the Crocodile is an early, all-ages show with doors at 6 p.m., and plenty of familiar faces from the North Bend community will be in the crowd.
For Bishop, having neighbors and his kids’ school community there means more than people might realize. He sees the show as something bigger than a concert.
“A show like this can be a lot more than just seeing a band perform,” he said. “It can be a community event, or just simply an excuse to spend some quality time with friends and loved ones. There’s always people in your life you wish you could see more, spend more time with, but it can be difficult to ‘find the time.’ Sometimes we just need an excuse, and live music can be fantastic for that.”
Bishop says the all-ages format was very much by design. He notes that while arenas and stadiums with big-name touring acts regularly host all-ages shows, seeing live music at a club like the Crocodile and having it be all-ages is not common. He worried that inviting people from the North Bend community might get a ‘too far’ response about the Seattle trip, but that has not been the case. “Response has been fantastic,” he said, “with lots of people coming out and bringing their families.”
The band will also be filming footage at the show for music videos and a live video album. Bishop says he loves seeing performers look over and interact with a camera in live footage, finding it hard not to smile in those moments. For this show, he is most excited to capture crowd reactions, saying the footage Marsalis captures is always positive and feel-good, and that he loves seeing how people react when they notice a camera filming them.
“I think that sense of ‘putting on a performance’ will just be elevated that much more knowing the cameras are rolling,” he said. “We will have some fun surprises during the show as well.”
Marsalis formed in 2016 and is made up of lead singer and guitarist Dennis Zender, keyboardist Theresa Cadondon, and Bishop on bass. For Bishop, playing the Crocodile carries real weight. The venue’s name, brand, and history, he says, help bring positive attention to the band at a time when they are launching new music.
“Playing at a venue like the Crocodile can, to many people, show how legitimate an artist is,” he said. “The name and brand the Crocodile brings to the table, and all that history… helps bring a ton of positive attention to Marsalis during this time of launching our new song ‘Lie To Me.'”
Bishop comes from a classical and jazz background on bass. His classical training helps put organization and structure to what the band is doing, he says, and while jazz bass players carry a lot of control over tempo, groove and vibe, in Marsalis the drummer has that wheel. Growing up in that jazz atmosphere, he says, you can take on a leadership role that gives you skills to carry into future groups that have nothing to do with jazz. Coming up in jazz groups of twenty people taught him to know his place in a song and let others shine, a lesson he has carried into Marsalis, where the whole, he says, is greater than the sum of its parts.
“Bass is that instrument most people don’t ‘hear’ until it’s missing,” he said. “It lets everything have a foundation to build on to let a song do what it needs to do. Marsalis is always striving for ‘less is more’ so we try to keep things simple, to let a song breathe, have space… let vocals have a place to live without muddying things up. It’s always a push and pull to find a balance depending on what a part of a song calls for.”
Staying together since 2016 comes down to communication, Bishop says, and recognizing that even in a united group, each member brings their own identity, goals, dreams and fears to something that becomes part of who they are publicly. Ongoing communication, he says, makes sure the group can live and breathe in a place that’s healthy for all.
“Communication. Just like any relationship,” he said. “Say what you mean and mean what you say. Be open and honest and put energy into what’s important to you and try to keep in mind there’s a team working together on a common goal.”
The band’s new single “Lie To Me” is out now on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music and YouTube Music. A music video is also on the way.
The song, Bishop says, channels the difficulty of finding the balance between giving a relationship a chance and accepting abuse. There are a lot of variables, he says, but emotions, attraction and history can muddy the water, and you can see people try to stay connected when it is obvious the situation is unhealthy.
“The lyrics ‘but the sugar seems sweeter than the pain’ really illustrate that we can get caught up in the good ‘feels’ when they happen and then not give enough weight to the bad ones that are dragging us down,” he said. “Are we being honest with ourselves about these relationships? Should we re-examine?”
Bishop says he has told many people that he will play music in some shape or form until he physically can’t. His grandfather played upright bass until a year before he passed, and that, he says, is not a bad goal to live up to. Unlike athletes who tend to lose performance as they age, maybe you can even say it’s the opposite for musicians in many cases, he says. Currently the focus is just doing what they love when it comes to music, and all the other stuff will either come or it won’t, but the music will continue.
For Valley residents sitting on a creative dream, Bishop says too many great ideas just stay ideas. Action is important, he says, and you don’t need a perfect plan to take action. The perfect plan, he warns, is your biggest enemy. You just need to “Do.”
“Just do what you are passionate about, on whatever scale is important to you,” he said. “If you don’t have all the answers, that’s okay. Once you start doing, answers will end up finding their way to you. That goes for any idea. Art, business, hobbies, etc.”
Marsalis plays the Crocodile on March 21 at 6 p.m. The show is all ages and open to families. Tickets are available at thecrocodile.com. For more on the band, visit marsalisband.com.
