Alex Tsentides
Bass, Artwork, (dis)Organisation
Alex was born in Cambridge and grew up in Essex. Early interests were art, writing, architecture and food and by the age of 10 he could cook a full English breakfast.
After an enforced move back to Cambridge as a teenager, Alex fell in with a bunch of new friends who happened to be musicians. Inspired by hedonistic jamming in darkened cellars, Alex’s first instrument was the cow bell. With ever increasing musical ambitions, it didn’t take long for him to understand the limitations of this instrument and he moved onto synthesiser to make bubbly noises. However, this instrument required various additional apparatus to assist with its function and the very action of making any noise whatsoever, such as amplifiers, leads, stands, pedals and such like, not to mention a certain level of dexterity in the finger department – all requiring varying degrees of money and physical ability, none of which Alex had in significant amounts. Then came an offer from a friend, (who has since forged a relatively successful acting career), to undertake an instrument swap for his bass guitar. Now, at this particular time, being the only person with a driving licence amongst his peers, Alex had been roped into driving a drummer friend around between his gigs. It was at these very gigs he began to notice how, in the hands of certain players (and in this case, one particular player), the bass guitar can be not only an important, but also inspirational instrument. Alex’s appetite was suitably whetted so to speak and hence the offer of an instrument swap was opportune to say the least.
After a few vain attempts over the ensuing months to wrestle any kind of vaguely musical noise from the shiny new bass guitar Alex had just acquired, it was eventually relegated to the corner of his bedroom to gather dust. Then the calling for academia came and Alex went off to Plymouth Poly to study architecture, promptly forgetting all about playing in the excitement of impending creative machinations. Sadly, Alex’s aspirations to design the next Sagrada Família were to be short lived and he returned to Cambridge a year later somewhat demoralised by the experience. But not all was lost, as it was this particular set back which gave him the impetus to finally tackle the somewhat forlorn, tarnished and extremely dusty bass guitar behind the bed. Thus, at the tender age of 19, with a certain obstinate determination, he began teaching himself how to play. With influences such as Pink Floyd, Gong, Hawkwind, Queen, ELO, Genesis, Yes & Rush, he soon formed a band with a couple of friends, (one of them being Mark Page, who is also in TPFD), and they called it ‘Angstrom’. This band existed in various guises over the next 11 years, (sucking in other musicians who have gone on to be a part of TPFD), and gigged furiously, with moderate and altogether subjective success generally around Cambridge and London …oh, and one fateful trip to France in a retired ambulance.
In the mid 90’s Alex joined the neo-classical, progressive, art rock band, The Enid, and toured extensively with them during 1995-7.
Since finally retrieving his bass from a sad and lonely near-demise all those years ago, Alex has explored myriad different musical styles and has been (and still is) in various bands encompassing genres such as ska, blues, funk and rock. He has written his own music; recorded albums with The Enid and acclaimed singer songwriter Joanna Eden; has run away from the Circus to become a Chartered Surveyor and has played on stage for numerous acts including Katrina & The Waves. Some 20 or so years later, he’s still learning how to play the bass…
Equipment:
Far too much to mention in detail, but includes:
Fender Precision Custom Shop and American Vintage basses, Fender Jazz Fretless and a 1978 Rickenbacker 4001.
Amplification is simply Ampeg…there isn’t really anything else to use.
Effects just keep morphing and multiplying depending on what set we’re working on….
Alex is still looking for the perfect frying pan for his fried breakfasts after inadvertently losing a particularly good vintage cast iron one ….any suggestions welcome