“My job is not to be the guy that’s bringing the entertainment or adding the color”: Coldplay bassist Guy Berryman opens up on his role in one of the world’s biggest bands – and how he’s adapting his playing style
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2 years ago
Beatbounty
Over the course of their career, Coldplay have masterminded a sound that can make actual stadiums feel small, and that’s all down to a nailed-on approach to translating their studio material onto the stage in the most all-encompassing manner possible.
Naturally, it’s also down to the instrumentalists themselves, with Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bass guitar player Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion all taking responsibility for a key cornerstone of the Coldplay sound.
For Berryman, that means holding down a low-end that can rumble the minds of 90,000-plus people on any given night, and as he explains in a new Rolling Stone interview, it’s a responsibility he doesn’t take lightly – and sometimes that means shaking things up when he plays live.
When asked how the band’s songs change from stage to studio, Berryman reflects, “I think they do evolve. It’s always about being in the moment, performing to the best of your ability. And my job is really about micro-timing.
“My job is not to be the guy that’s bringing the entertainment or adding the color or whatever. Everything I do has to be like a lockstep. I have to listen to Will, and when his kick drum hits, my note has to hit at the same time.”
Despite this nailed-on approach to the rhythm section, Berryman does make sure he finds the opportunity to adapt and experiment with his playing style, which leads to new developments in his picking technique and beyond.
“I do try and change the way I play songs,” he goes on. “Even to this day, I will adjust the angle of my plectrum a little bit because I think I’m getting a slightly better timing in a song like Yellow.
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“I’ll say, ‘Okay, if I do it this way, it sounds a bit tighter.’ So for me, the challenge is just every night to go up there and play everything a little better than you’ve ever played it before. It’s a very mechanical job I have.”
