Reason For Hope
"Reason For Hope" is the music project of me, bassist/songwriter Jay O'Connor.
The name covers basically anything I'm involved in that covers my own music, both solo material and collaborations.
I use electric bass guitar, both fretted and fretless, to create a deep sound; using the instrument in a 'traditional bass' role, as well as for various kinds of accompiament, melody and solo expression
Most of the sound clips here currently are not full songs. They are more like sketches, such as an artist might create rough sketches of ideas for a scene before doing the full painting. They give ideas and hints of what is to come.
I'm a big believer in the idea that instrumental music can from from an emotion within the player that can be left as a raw or ambigious idea. Rather than the song being 'about' anything, the song is only about that ideal expressed without words so that the listener is free to interpret the same feelings within their own experiences
Have you performed live in front of an audience? Any special memories?
I have no live dates scheduled currently, although I plan to shortly
Your musical influences
When I first started playing bass, I was heavily influenced by prog-rockers such as Geddy Lee and Chris Squire. Over the last ten years or so, I've been exploring jazz/fusion music such as John Patitucci, Stanley Clarke, Micheal Manring, and similar artists
What equipment do you use?
Fernandes 6 string fretted bass
Conklin GrooveTools 4 string fretless bass
Line 6 Bass POD
SWR Silverado
