Originally published in the September 1997 issue of Bass Player.

Paul Denman's Search for Space- Grooving the Gap with Sade & Sweetback

BY Bill Leigh

        "When the bass found me, it was a good day for me," says Paul Spencer
Denman.  It was also a good day for the millions of future Sade fans who have
since kicked back to the smooth, airy grooves of the band the the chilling
vocals of its namesake singer.  Denman's deep-toned lines have been an 
integral part of Sade's jazzy, spare arrangements since before the band's 
debut album, Diamond Life, became a smash hit in 1984.  Now with four studio
albums and a greatest-hits collection under its belt, the group has been 
taking an extended break before heading back to the studio later this year.
In the meantime, devoted Sade fans have been enjoying the work of Sweetback,
a group made up of Paul and his fellow Sade instrumentalists: keyboardist
Andrew Hale and saxophonist/guitarist Stuart Matthewman.  Their eponymous 
album- released late last year on Epic- was enhanced by the vocal work of 
Maxwell, Amel Larrieux of Groove Theory, rapper Bahamadia, and long-time Sade
collaborator Leroy Osbourne; it featured a more dub-heavy R&B vibe than that
found on Sade albums.  With the notable exceptions of the single "You Will 
Rise" and the more recently recorded cover of Boz Scagg's "Lowdown," Sweetback
makes extensive use of synth-bass, which Denman hypnotically reproduces on 
4-string during the band's live performances.
        "I've never been much of a workaholic," offers the 40-year-old Denman-
a warm, friendly character with a striking appearance, a hearty laugh, and the
same calm energy found in his bass work.  "I prefer doing what I do in short
burst."  After 1993's Love Deluxe tour, Paul and his wife left England for 
Los Angeles, where they felt the warm, dry climate would benefit the younger
of their two children, who suffers from cystic fibrosis.  When Paul's in
town he works every Tuesday at Goddess, a clothing boutique owned by his wife,
a designer whose clients include Pamela Anderson Lee, Vivica Fox, and Paul 
himself. "Now that I'm settled in L.A.," he says, "I might want to do a bit
more bass work with other people.  It depends who asks."
        Paul was 13 when the bass found him.  His first one came from a thrift
store in his home town of Hull, for 13 {pounds- J.P.} - about $30 at the time.
Each day young Paul would come home from school and play and play, wearing out
the grooves on his copy of David Bowe's Ziggy Stardust [Ryodisc] while trying
to cop Trevor Bolder's bass parts.  During his teen year, Denman worked his 
way through more records: from glam-rock to blues, disco-funk to puck.  At
age 15, Paul left school and began a six-year stint building military 
airplanes at a local factory while playing in bands by night.  Eventually he
decided to move to London so he could take a shot at making it big with a punk
band; after nothing happened, Paul felt discouraged and quit playing for a 
while.  But then an old friend persuaded him to stand in for the bassist in 
a jazz-funk outfit called Pride, after which Denman quickly became a full-time
band member.  He'd been with the group for two years when one of the backup
singers, Sade Adu, enlisted some of Pride's members to help her with the 
softer, more melodic material she had begun writing.  Gradually, the spinoff
group, Sade, became their full-time project- and after two years, the group
scored a record deal and released Diamond Life.  Despite label fears that 
there wasn't a market for such a mellow sound at the time when techno-pop
was the prevailing style, Diamond Life was a huge success.  "It was all 
through luck and chance, really," shrugs Denman.  "But having said that,
even when you're in the right place at the right time, you've still got to be
talented and aggressive enough to take the chance.  It wall all of those 
things."

     ---Considering the smooth, mellow music of Sade, it's surprising to hear
your early years included glam-rock and punk.

        I've been through many different styles.  In between glam and punk 
came the whole disco thing; as things came and went, I came and went with
them.  I was very much into punk; I had spiky hair, and it was punk that gave
me the inspiration to leave home and go to London.  But I was never a musical
snob; I like Black Sabbath, yet I would also listen to Glen Miller.

     ---What inspirations were you drawing from when you were with Pride and
later Sade?

        With Pride, it was War, Kool & the Gang... that kind of stuff.  In
Pride, I slapped and popped all the time, which is something I picked up 
through listening to Larry Graham, and Mark King of Level 42.  It was good
for Pride- but when Sade started writing her melodic songs, it didn't fit.
So I had to go back to the style of bass playing I first learned.  I had 
always played with my fingers-  very rarely with a pick.  Sometimes I'd slap
around a bit, and if it fit in the song, we kept it.  But when we first 
started writing material with Sade, I would listen to Bill Withers records
and acoustic-bass players such as Scott LaFaro.  There was no one influence,
though; I listened to a lot of records and just played along.  I wanted to be
able to interpret all different styles of music.  I think that's very 
important for bass players- if you're playing a certain songwriter's songs,
you want to be able to put your own feel into playing whatever type of music
it is.  
     
     ---It must be very different now that you've played with the same band
for so long.

        Well, over the years I've kind of developed my own style, which is 
what all musicians try to do anyway.  I've worked myself into my little niche
with the sound I've got and the way I play, which is very, very simple- to 
the point of distraction at times.  What I do is listen to the vocalist a lot,
and I listen to what else is going on.  If I can fit in with the drummer and 
make the whole thing work without stepping on anybody's toes, I've done my 
job.  It's everyone else's job to step all over the track; my job is just to
be solid so they can get on with their stuff.

     ---What early experiences helped you to develop your approach?

        When we were making our first record, I was a very raw, inexperienced
bass player.  I wasn't that young- maybe 24- but I was very inexperienced at
recording.  Robin Millar, who produced Diamond Life, really talked me through
that record.  He taught me how to listen to the other instruments, how to 
bounce off other instruments without stepping on them, how to look for spaces,
and how to know when to leave something out instead of putting it in.  He had
quite an influence on my style.  With each track, he would say, "Now look- you
want to listen to this, and don't try to do that, because it's not going to 
work."  Then I would still try and do whatever I wanted, it wouldn't work, and
he'd say, "See?"  He was very patient, and he has incredible ears.  
Unfortunately, by that time his eyesight had almost completely gone; in fact
he's totally blind now.
        Robin was really good with sounds and sparseness and acoustic 
instruments too; at the time it was just me on bass, Stuart playing sax, Sade, 
and a drummer- so he was great for us.  But by the time we began recording our
second album, Promise, we felt we'd all grown as musicians, and we wanted to 
start producing ourselves.  He was very happy for us; he felt proud that he 
had helped us to do that.

     ---There are several Sade songs where the bass part involves quite a bit 
more than simplicity "to the point of distraction."  Do you prefer playing 
songs in which your part has a more melodic role?

        It's all about playing the song for me.  I love playing three-minute
songs with verses and choruses and hook lines and all that kind of stuff.  If
there's a space, and it seems it might be nice to fill in that space, I'll do
it- but normally I want the song to sound great, not me.  I don't see the song
as a vehicle for me; I'm a vehicle for the song.  I want the whole to be 
fantastic.
        I can be flashy, and at times I have been- but it's always 
understated.  I never want to play something and say, "Hey guys, this is the
shit," because to me it's not.  The "shit" is playing the song and making 
it solid and so groovy that everyone else feels really relaxed so they can
do their shit.

     ---Although many Sade songs seem centered around the bass, your name is
conspicuously absent from the song-writing credits.

        [Laughs]  Sade and Stuart really write the songs.  They sit at home
with a guitar and then bring the songs to us, usually pretty well formed;
then, it's up to me to interpret what they've written.  With every song, I 
try to put my heart and soul into every note I play.  I'm sort of intense 
about that;  I want everything I play to have my stamp on it, and it has.
On those Sade records, whether I've written them or not, you can hear that 
it's me.

     ---What goes through your mind when you're presented with a new song?

        Well, I listen to the lyrics, see where the melody is going, and 
listen to the chord changes.  You've really got to listen intensely to what 
the vocalist is doing, because you don't want to step on his or her part. I
also look for the ways to complement what the chords are doing and not get
in the way of what the others are doing- and when there's a little gap, I'll
pop something in there that's interesting, so someone can play off it.
        It's all about thinking of the moment, too- and about what's coming
after it, what came before it, and what's going on over the top.  If Sade's 
going to sing something and I've got four bars before it, I think about how
I can make that lead-in really nice.  I want to set her up; it's never, 
"I'm going to play the hell out of those four bars and forget what she's going
to do."  Also, I'm listening for spaces where I can duck and dive and get in
there and be melodic, but still be myself.

     ---You use silence quite a bit.

        Yeah, I love space.   Some of my favorite place on record are the 
places where there's nothing- there's suddenly a gap or a rest.  Certain 
things bind us all together in the band, and one of them is we all love 
a bit of space.  I'd rather underplay than overplay, and I'd rather leave
a nice little gap than stick 15 or 20 notes into that gap just to show I'm 
clever.  I think it's much more clever to step back- to step out rather than
step in.

     ---One of the distinctive things about your playing is your clear attack.
Did certain players inspire you to develop this aspect of your style?

        I listen to tons and tons of Jaco; in fact, I was a complete Jaco
freak, and I still am.  The crispness he could get, as well as his musicality,
influenced me a lot.  So I try to vary my attack from song to song- and during
the song- depending on what's happening in each tune.  On some songs I play 
in three or four different positions- just to get slight differences in tone.
I've always like clarity, and I love to play really tightly with the kick 
drum and leave a gap for the snare.  
        I listened to those Jaco albums constantly, especially when we first
started making records.  I knew the songs inside out and would practice 
playing them myself.  Jaco's feel was unbelievable; in 1986 I actually booked
some lessons with him at the Guitar Institute in New York.  When I go there,
they told me he was sick and it wasn't going to happen, so I ended up having
lessons with Percy Jones.  Percy asked if I wanted to go see Jaco in the 
hospital, but Jaco didn't know me form Adam, so I didn't feel very comfortable
with that.

     ---Some synth bass was used on Love Deluxe, and Sweetback has quite a 
lot of it.  Are you involved in the synth-bass programming?

        No; Stuart and Andrew do all of that.  I've never had an interest
in playing-  I want to get up, strap on my bass, and go out and do it.

     ---How did you feel about the band moving in that direction?

        Oh, it doesn't bother me at all.  I'm quite secure;  I don't feel
threatened by it.  I think synth-bass has a great sound; I quite like it. 
But you always know when someone's playing- we do.  Some people don't, and 
that's cool, but musicians know when it's real.  You can never emulate that
realness-  the feel that a person has.

     ---How do you approach playing synth-bass parts live?

        I've always had a really deep sound.  Also when Stuart and Andrew use
synth-bass, it's written with me in mind.  We've all influenced each other.
When Stuart writes a keyboard part, he's doing it with Andrew in mind; he's 
not going to play some insane keyboard part.  And they're not going to write
some insane bass part I'd be uncomfortable playing.  So it's not that 
difficult to interpret those parts live.

     ---What's the secret behind your deep tone?

        To me, it's in the fingers and in the way you develop over the years.
The other thing, of course, is the instrument.  I bought the Music Man
StingRay I'm using right now in 1978, and I've used it regularly ever since.
I've bought other basses, but I always go back to that one, because it's just,
you know... it's me.  Everyone's got that certain bass or guitar; it becomes
part of you.  When I strap on this bass, it feels as if it's part of me.

     ---What other basses do you own?

        I have one that's pretty much the same as my '78 StingRay, but it's a 
'79; those two have natural finishes.  I also have a '78 sunburst-finish 
StingRay.  I have a '85 Ernie Ball Music Man StingRay 5-string, and '85 
fretless StingRay, a Washburn AB40 acoustic bass guitar, and Azola Baby Bass, 
a 3/4-size upright made by Emanuel Wilfer, a Gibson EB-3 from the '70's and 
a really weird Premier short-scale bass from the '50's that has a glitter 
finish.
        I've got a ton of effect from the '70's, too.  Not that I've ever
used any of 'em- I've just been buying them lately 'cause they look cool!
[Laughs.]  I've never used effects with the band; I just buy them to have 
fun and mess around.

     --- Which instruments do you use on the road?

        I use the StingRays most of the time.  I've used the Wilfer acoustic
on every tour I've done since '86.  And most of the songs on Love Deluxe were
played on the Washburn, so I use that.
        I play through Trace Elliot amps, and I always have.  I just really 
like 'em.  I'm using AH600SMX amp with a 4x10 and a 15- that's it.  I got my
first Trace rig in '84 when we signed a deal and I got some money;  before
that, I used anything I could.
        In the studio, I just plug straight into the mixing board.  The sound
you hear on our records is just me and the bass with maybe a little 
compression.

     ---Do you practice a lot when you have time off?

        Not a lot.  Sometime I'll mess around with me kids- they get into it.
If I know we're going to make an album or go on tour, I tend to practise 
really hard with scales and other things I've picked up over the years from
books.  And certainly when I'm not playing during the down time, I do all 
kinds of exercises to keep my fingers supple, because as I've gotten older, 
I've found that my fingers get stiff.  So I'm always aware of trying to keep
them supple.

     ---Do you read music?

        Very badly!  I should practice it more, but I'm a good loser! 
[Laughs.]  When I practise with books, I slowly go through them and then speed
up.  I do think reading music is important for younger bassists.  I'm very 
lucky to have ended up in a band where it's not that important; we never 
write out our parts.  But it's important for a young bassist who's looking to 
get into a group or to do session work.

     ---Sade has never had a drummer who's been a permanent member of the 
band.  What's that been like?

        We did have one very early on, but we had a lot of problems trying to
record him.  There were some personality things, and some ability things-
the band and Robin wanted him to do things he just couldn't do.  It was very
sad for us when we had to say, "Look, it's not working out."  We've never had
a permanent drummer since then, and sometimes I've felt it's been a bit of 
a drag, because every time we do a new album and every time we do a tour, I'm
working with a new guy.  On the other hand, it's been great because I've been
able to work with some terrific drummers, and it's made me play better.  
Sometimes I've had to really kick myself in the ass to catch up with them.  
Purely because we change drummers so often, I've never gotten stuck in a rut 
playing with the same person, which can happen.

     ---Which Sade songs do you enjoy playing most?

        There are so many.  I still love "Your Love is King"  [Diamond Life],
'cause that's one of the earliest songs we ever wrote.  "War of the Hearts" 
[Promise] is a great one to play, too, and so is "No Ordinary Love" [Love
Deluxe].  When you're playing live you can have a different favorite song 
every night because the audience reaction is always different.

     ---You begin "War of the Hearts" with a little flourish.  Is that one 
of the reasons you like to play that song?

        Kind of, but also I like the lyric, and every song brings up different
memories.  That one evokes particularly good memories for me;  I remember
recording it very clearly.

     ---At Sade shows, if there's anybody on the stage who's moving around
and getting into it, it's you.

        I can't help myself.  I don't know what happens, but I'm not thinking
about anything apart from playing the song well and having a good time.  I 
like moving around, and I like eye contact with other people;  that's always
been important to us as a band.  I also love to be up there with the drummer-
getting some eye contact and feeling really locked in with each other.  And
I hope people get enjoyment through me enjoying myself.

     ---There's a distinct dub vibe on the Sweetback record.  Has dub had a 
big influence on you?

        It always has-  even from the really early days, when I would listen
to Prince Buster and all those early ska records.  And in the '70s, I got 
turned on to Bob Marley and Aston "Family Man"  Barrett.  It's just that most
hypnotic groove in the world;  those guys can really play.  They're not 
actually playing a great deal, but what they're playing is in the pocket and
right on.

     ---Sometimes you'll play lines that are really in the pocket with a
little syncopation; then you'll drop out of the pocket completely with a 
rhythmically loose passage.

        That's kind of natural for me.  You just play and find your own thing
you can do.  It's just a question of getting your chops together and trying 
to find that niche in which you can express yourself.  That's really what 
it's all about.

{This article ran me 10 bucks.... you owe me -- J.P.}