Nick Chaplin

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Nick Chaplin (born 23 December 1970) is an English musician best known for his work as the bass guitarist of Slowdive.

Early life[edit]

Born in Slough, Chaplin was raised in Berkshire and still lives there with his wife and two children. His father introduced him to aircraft spotting at a young age and he continues to be an aviation enthusiast; an additional role of his with Slowdive is organising their worldwide air travel. Chaplin is a keen road cyclist, having completed the L'Étape du Tour, and an occasional mountain biker.

Chaplin had a keen interest in music from a young age, but did not start playing bass guitar until he was sixteen years old. The first bands he saw perform live were INXS, The Alarm, Status Quo (band) and Queen (band) at Wembley Stadium^[1]. However, in his teenage years Chaplin was fascinated by the Goth subculture enjoying bands such as The Cure, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Fields of the Nephilim, Joy Division and New Order (band). His style of bass playing is heavily influenced by such bands and, in particular, Peter Hook and Simon Gallup. When asked what motivated him to play, Chaplin explained that it was the video of The Cure in Orange, directed by Tim Pope. He said that he already loved the band but their concert in Orange made him want to get up on stage and play.^[1]

Career[edit]

After the Pumpkin Fairies disbanded, its members formed a new band and the original line-up included Neil Halstead, Rachel Goswell and Adrian Sell who all attended the Henley College. Chaplin was introduced to band members by an old school friend attending the same college and he was soon invited to join the band. Apparently, Chaplin named the new band Slowdive, based on a word appearing in a dream.^[2] Unlike many bass players who are part of a traditional back line rhythm section, Chaplin is renowned for standing stage front and engaging the audience.

When Slowdive released their eponymous comeback album, some two decades after disbanding, Chaplin pondered "When we released the record in 2017, I think it took us by surprise a little bit. When we got back together in 2014, we weren't really sure whether people were that interested."^[3]

Equipment[edit]

Chaplin used to play a Music Man StingRay but now mostly plays a Fender Jazz Bass and occasionally a Gibson Thunderbird, all with with a Hot Cake overdrive pedal and Boss bass chorus pedal. As Chaplin says "I struggle with coordination, so I can’t have too many pedals ... I don’t even have that many basses" he continues "At the moment I’m playing a Fender Jazz Bass, one of the newer active ones ... That and a Gibson Thunderbird, which I like cause it looks metal.”^[4]

Discography[edit]

Slowdive

• Just for a Day (1991)
• Souvlaki (1993)
• Pygmalion (1995)
• Slowdive (2017)
• Everything Is Alive (2023)

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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