Wedding Rites

My Dying Bride play heavy—but ‘romantic’—metal. Lena Abé is tasked with delivering the lowest of the low end, she tells us...

- Lena Abe

I started playing bass when I was 10 years old. My dad’s a musician, he plays bass and keyboards professionally, so there was always music around when I was a kid. He had a proper 80s-looking Washburn, a white one, and I would watch him play it and think ‘How do you do that?’ because I would pluck it and it sounded nothing like it did when he played it. So I asked him to teach me to play, and that was my start.

It’s a huge advantage for any musician if they have parents who encourage them to play. I didn’t have lessons, it was just me and my dad. He set me up with the basics and then I learned myself. He’s still gigging at 70 years old, which I think is fantastic.

When I was starting out I admired Cliff Burton, who was a major influence. He played incredible melodies, and the distortion he used just blew me away. Justin Chancellor of Tool, too; I heard their first EP when I was just starting out in the 90s, and I thought ‘What on earth is this?’ I loved Les Claypool’s playing for the same reasons—when I heard Sailing The Seas Of Cheese, I had no idea that basses could make that noise. It was weird—sort of playground-like and playful, but also spooky. And then it was Bill Gould as well, I’d never seen playing like that.