We were lucky to catch up with Janine Wilson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Janine , appreciate you joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

Probably around three years old I knew that my life had to be one of creativity. As a child, I was surrounded by music. I didn’t come from a musical family, but music was always around me whether it was at church, the radio constantly being played in my home, or at cultural events, I was just always aware of music and drawn to it. I started taking piano lessons when I was seven years old, but the piano wasn’t exciting enough for me but it did give me the fundamental music theory that I would need to pursue other instruments. I started playing trumpet in the 5th grade, and I stuck with it up until my senior year of high school as a member of our school’s orchestra and brass band. Music was life for me as a child and as a teenager. I am also a vocalist, I started singing in the youth choir at my church at the age of 3. I loved being in the choir so much that I would line up my stuffed animals and pretend they were a choir, and I was their choir director. My love for choir and my passion for singing led to me becoming a choir director at the age of 14. I was taught and mentored by my youth choir director. I enjoyed playing trumpet, and I loved to sing, but I was always curious about the bass guitar from an early age, it was the instrument that my ears heard first, and it was the instrument that I felt the most. I had to learn everything that I could about bass guitar, but this was the 90’s and the internet was just becoming a thing, so I would go to the library and read books and magazines. I would listen to music for hours on end and concentrate on the bass lines. I got my first bass guitar at the age of 14 as a Christmas gift. At that point, I knew that I had to be a bass player and that it was something that I had to pursue.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a musician and a singer, for over 20 years. I am overly passionate about bass guitar and everything related to bass. My husband, Gene Wilson is also a seasoned bass player and songwriter and is equally passionate about bass guitar. I am an avid podcast listener, I listen to a wide range of podcasts from music, and pop culture to true crime and everything in between. One day I was searching for a bass guitar podcast, there were a handful of podcasts about bass guitar, however, none of them really piqued my interest. They were all either too technical, too serious, or too political. My husband is also into podcasts, so I asked him if he had any recommendations for a bass podcast that I would like, and he came to the same conclusion, he couldn’t find one that he liked. I searched some more and still came up empty-handed, then a lightbulb went off, I had the idea to create a podcast that I would enjoy listening to. I have no prior experience in podcasting. I really didn’t know where to start. The very next day, it came to me in a dream, Bass For The Culture. Cool, I have a name, what’s next? I sat at my computer ( I’m also a photographer and graphic designer) opened Photoshop, and started creating the logo for the podcast. Great, I have a name and a logo now what? I reached out to my son who already had an established podcast, he gave me a few pointers to get me started. I produce the podcast, and thankfully my experience in music production made podcast production a breeze! After I had the logistics together, I asked my husband if he wanted to co-host with me and of course, he said yes! Next, we put together a format for the show, we thought about things that we would like to hear being discussed on a bass-related podcast then the ideas just started to flow. Now we had a show! We released our first episode on January 17, 2022. We marketed Bass For The Culture as being “a podcast curated for Bass Guitar Players, fans, and enthusiasts in the space of Funk, Soul, R&B, Gospel, and Jazz.” From our market research, we found that there was not a podcast out there for bass players specifically related to those genres. It gives us so much joy to have created a podcast that our listeners can relate to and enjoy. Our main segment for our show is our “On Bass” segment where we feature a bass player every week. We have gotten amazing feedback from bass players and non-musicians alike on how educational our show is. We do deep dives on some of the greatest bass players of our time. We also interview some of the best bass players in the industry for our “On Bass” segment. Our very first interview was with Jonathan Lee Johnson of Tank And The Bangas! We are also a platform for up-and-coming bass players to give them a little shine and talk about the work that they are doing. Musicians are communal by nature, we will always be drawn to spaces specifically for us. I think that’s what gives us an advantage. We have organically built a community of BFTC fam, and I’m really proud of that. We have social media pages, but we don’t heavily rely on it to draw our listeners, a lot good portion of our listeners are from word of mouth. We are currently audio streaming only, we’re pretty much everywhere you get your podcasts ie: Apple podcasts. Spotify, Amazon Music, iHeart, etc. We have started putting our live interviews on Youtube and building up our Youtube which by the end of 3rd quarter, we will be streaming our show on Youtube as well. There is not a podcast out there like Bass For The Culture. We have a grassroots movement of community and it’s been a beautiful thing to watch and experience! We have been in existence for a little over a year, and the rate that we’re growing and gaining momentum is mind-blowing to me, and it’s due to our connection with other musicians.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I hope to inspire someone to never give up on their dream, their passion, or their vision no matter the obstacle. I have built my career as a creative while also working a 9-5 corporate job. That is hard work! It’s hard to get up and work for someone else every day while creating and building your own business and brand. I have an established photography business, I am a musician, and a podcaster, managing two brands in two different creative spaces. On top of being a wife, and a mom all while working a 9-5. People ask me how I do it. I honestly don’t know sometimes. I have to give all glory to God because it’s His strength that gets me through the hard long days. A typical day for me is getting up and working on my business from 5-9 am, then doing my corporate job from 9-5 pm, then coming home and working on my business from 7 pm- whenever I get the chance to go to sleep, then I do it all over again. In between all of that, I have to squeeze in time to practice and learn new music each week. When you really want something you’ll stop at nothing to achieve your goals. It’s the passion that keeps me fueled and focused. My goal is to eventually drop my 9-5, however, it was too lucrative to give up while my daughter is still in college. I want creatives to know that two things can be true at the same time, you can be a full-time creative while also working a “regular” job. Don’t let anyone tell you that it has to be one or the other because you can absolutely do both, and do both well.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

With Bass For The Culture, my mission is to continue to foster and build a community for bass players and non-bass players alike, to be a trusted resource in the bass community. To educate, and spread our love for bass guitar, and to give a voice to bass players that may not have a platform to promote their music or their work.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://linktr.ee/bassfortheculture
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/bassfortheculture?igshid=NGExMmI2YTkyZg==
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Bassfortheculture?mibextid=ZbWKwL
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@bassfortheculturepodcast973/playlists

Image Credits
J. Wilson Photo Art