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Chris Kringel

Background information
Origin Appleton, Wisconsin, United States
Genre(s) Jazz/Fusion
Progressive rock/metal
Technical metal
Occupation(s) Bass Player/Producer/Author
Instrument(s) bass guitar
Associated acts Cynic
Website Official Website

Chris Kringel is an American bass guitarist, born in Appleton, Wisconsin, who has performed with Cynic, Æon Spoke and Inda Eaton. Appleton is a city in Calumet, Outagamie, and Winnebago Counties in the U Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States A fusion genre is a music genre which combines two or more genres Progressive rock (often shortened to " progressive " " prog " or " prog rock " is a form of Rock music that evolved Progressive metal (often referred to simply as prog metal) is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music which blends the powerful guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex Progressive metal (often referred to simply as prog metal) is a sub-genre of Heavy metal music which blends the powerful guitar-driven sound of metal with the complex A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the The Cynics (Κυνικοί Cynici were an influential group of Philosophers from the ancient school of Cynicism The electric bass guitar (also called electric bass, or simply bass; ˈbeɪs as in "base" is a Stringed instrument played primarily with the Appleton is a city in Calumet, Outagamie, and Winnebago Counties in the U Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States Cynic is a Progressive metal band with incorporated Jazz fusion founded in Miami, Florida, United States.

Contents

Biography

Chris Kringel

BIOGRAPHY

We�ll get to the meat of it all first and then a little bit of a timeline:

As you may know I'm a bassist and have been playing for over 20 years. I've done extensive traveling and touring since the age of 18, performing nationally and internationally.

You name the gig and I've probably done one like it (from the odd to the fantastic) and I can�t say they've all gone that well but they were all an experience. From covers to originals, jazz, blues, fusion, R&B, rock, Latin, pop, and yes I've done polkas too - LOL. You could say I've been around the block as far as gigs go. I've been a hired gun, bandleader, band director, band member, engineer and producer - I'm ohh so tired!

I'm an author of five instructional method books and a DVD for Hal Leonard Corporation. I've worked for them as a transcriber, editor and proofreader I also helped revise their style manual. I don't really know how many books I've worked on for them though it has to be around 2,000 at best guess. It's been a wonderful gig because it's afforded me the opportunity to take gigs and travel yet maintain a steady stream of income in my downtime.

I've appeared on recordings by national recording artist Aeon Spoke, Cynic, Inda Eaton, Jack Grassel, Jeff Schroedl, and Kirk Tatnall to name a few you can see the list of some of the ones on my media page.

I've studied in Milwaukee and attended Berklee College of music in Boston for a short period of time.


Now for a little bit of a timeline (more detail)

I started bass at the age of 14, during that time we were in the 1980s so naturally or un-naturally I gravitated towards the wonderful 80s metal scene. Metal evolved into all the shrapnel record artists and some progressive metal.

I�d have to say my earlier influences were David T. Chastain's bassist David Harbour, Stuart Ham, Randy Coven and Yngwie Malmsteen. At the age of 16 I joined a cover band and started playing some Rush, Kansas and many other bands I will not mention. A month after I graduated high school I went on the road with this band traveling the Midwest. We�d travel on Sunday and play a club Monday through Saturday; oh I miss the days of eating at McDonald's and getting paid a hundred dollars a week.

I did that for a year and moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where I started working at a local music store and the word fusion and jazz was a sweet melody to my ears. That's when I got into Alan Holdsworth, Tribal Tech, Brand X, Vital Information, Steve Coleman, and Miles Davis and so on and so forth. I was also attending a local music school while working at the music store (many basses I tried, many basses I owned). Jack Grassel was the head of the music department at Milwaukee Area Technical College and I can't say enough about the impact he had on me. At that time I'd say my major influences were Jimmy Johnson and some more Jimmy Johnson. I started playing with a fabulous guitar player named Kirk Tatnall and did an album with him. That was one of my greatest educations where the rubber hit the road.

Then an offer came in to audition for band named Cynic in Miami. At that time I was big into progressive metal bands like Dream Theater and Fates Warning along with fusion. I had never listened to death metal. Even though I wouldn't categorize Cynic as completely death metal. This was the first time I ever auditioned and it didn't quite work out. They were pressured to be ready for the studio and I was coming in last minute replacing somebody else. I ended up really connecting with Paul Masvidal and Jason Gobel though Sean and I didn't connect musically at first, so they decided to go with the bass player I was to replace for the studio but in the end they hired Sean Malone to play on the album. They offered me the tour after the album was out and then the connection happened. Maybe the pressure was off for all of us.

After the tour I decided to go to Berklee College of music. This is when I really worked on my playing the guys in Cynic got me into Level 42 and loads of other great music. I'd have to say my influences at this time were Gary Willis, Mark King, Victor Wooten, Tony Franklin and Jimmy Johnson (again). Berklee was a great experience and shortly after the guys from Cynic called me to join in preparation for the new album. Now this is a long story that I won't get into though I will say the band changed direction considerably and there was some label issues that we tried to work around and in the end we spent about three half years and had a few demos.

I decided to come back to Milwaukee and join the gigging pool of musicians and play any gigs that came my way. Prior to this time I didn�t have a wide variety of experience, just a bunch of controlled environments that I played in&the days of learning 40 tunes in a day or two was just starting. Prior to coming back I started working for Hal Leonard so I did gigs and worked for Hal.

For the past 10 years I've been gigging, practicing, working on my engineering and producing skills. I've played with so many great musicians and averaged over 200 gigs a year. Let me see, how do I sum of the last 10 years?

Let me start with the gigs.

I've done a lot of traveling with a singer-songwriter named Inda Eaton, I was her band director for some time, this was a really fun gig that I continue to do. It was through Inda that I ended up mixing a song for Julie Andrews. This is an LOL moment. . . One can never know what will happen in this business. . . From playing death metal to mixing and playing bass on a song for Julie Andrews (sound of music).

Other fun gigs I've had over the years was playing with my friend Steve Peplin in a band called The Soul Dealers. Some fusion projects with my friends Alan Arbor and Ray Tevich. Many gigs with Kirk Tatnall some blues some jazz gigs - let me rephrase that many blues gigs and many scotches/whiskeys. (Ohh the days when I drank) this was a band called Group Therapy. Since cover music is what Milwaukee knows I started a band called Atomic Willis for a while. . . though after too many complaints of our vast and long solos and jamming the band chose to disband versus the old sellout thing. Another great band is my girlfriend's band Barbara Stephan. Many great gigs, many musician changes and allot of stretching musically. We reformed her band with the name Peppermink, she's a great musician and writer. Many a sub jobs&many other gigs&great times and music with my friends Mrs. Fun& Producing Zachary Wade�s album, producing my friend Joe Rodrigue's album. Doing some great gigs with Del Bennett who I'm doing an album with at this present moment. Many steady fusion gigs with Mike DeRose. Playing bass on many projects, books, commercials, albums and so on. And many other projects I've done that I haven't mentioned due to running on endlessly.

With Hal Leonard I've written several books and have an instructional DVD out. I've played on various books and recorded all my audio CDs that go with the books I've written. More recently I've played on Oteil Burbidge�s DVD when he was in town. Transcribing bass greats like Stanley Clarke, Gary Willis, Jaco, Victor Bailey, and Marcus Miller has been a great learning lesson and a great time specially working with Willis. Now I'd have to say my main influences as far as bass goes is Marcus Miller, Oteil, Willis, Pino Pallidino, Alain Caron, Dominique DiPiazza and Pat Martino (guitar). But bigger than that I would have to say my main influences are the people that inspire me to change and grow as a human and the many musicians I play with. To me, at this point in my life, I think playing is not who you are it is something you do. Music is an expression of my life's experiences.

Discography

Major albums

Partial discography of related artists and appearances

Books

Title: FRETLESS BASS
Publisher: Hal Leonard (Bass Method Series)
Description: A Guide to the Techniques and Philosophies of Funk Bass

Title: Funk Bass
Publisher: Hal Leonard (Bass Method Series)
Description: A Guide to the Techniques and Philosophies of Funk Bass

Title: Play Bass Today! LEVEL 1
Publisher: Hal Leonard
Description: Book & CD Package

Title: Play Bass Today! LEVEL 2
Publisher: Hal Leonard
Description: A Complete Guide to the Basics. Hal Leonard Corporation is a US music publishing company headquartered in Milwaukee WI Hal Leonard Corporation is a US music publishing company headquartered in Milwaukee WI Hal Leonard Corporation is a US music publishing company headquartered in Milwaukee WI Hal Leonard Corporation is a US music publishing company headquartered in Milwaukee WI Book & CD Package

Chris Kringel has also transcribed the following:
Jaco Pastorius: The Greatest Jazz Fusion Bass Player
Jaco Pastorius: The Essential Jaco Pastorius
Red Hot Chili Peppers: By The Way
The Beatles: 1962-1966
The Beatles: 1967 - 1970
Blink-182 - Best of Blink-182
Steve Vai - Fire Garden
Steve Vai - Ultra Zone
No Doubt - No Doubt
Victor Bailey - The Best of Victor Bailey
Bob Marley - Bob Marley Bass Collection
Stanley Clark - The Stanley Clark Collection
Gary Willis - The Gary Willis Collection

External links

John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (December 1 1951–September 21 1987 was a American Jazz Musician and Composer widely John Francis Anthony "Jaco" Pastorius III (December 1 1951–September 21 1987 was a American Jazz Musician and Composer widely Red Hot Chili Peppers are The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 The Beatles were a pop and rock band from Liverpool, England formed in 1960 Blink-182 was an American Pop Steven "Steve" Siro Vai (born June 6 1960 in Carle Place New York) is an American Instrumental rock Guitarist Steven "Steve" Siro Vai (born June 6 1960 in Carle Place New York) is an American Instrumental rock Guitarist No Doubt is a rock band from Anaheim California, United States founded in 1986 Victor Bailey (born March 27 1960 in Philadelphia) is an American Bass guitar player Robert "Bob" Nesta Marley OM (February 6 1945 – May 11 1981 was a Jamaican Musician, Singer-songwriter and Rastafarian Gary Willis is an American bassist and composer known foremost as the co-founder (with Scott Henderson) of the Jazz fusion band Tribal Tech.
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