For Zach:

hey..

i started playing bass on a whim , when a friend wanted to start a reggae band. it sounded fun. they already had a guitar player, so i picked up the bass. the bass seemed cooler to me at the time anyhow, and i figured guitar players are a dime a dozen. i didnt expect to get into the bass so much i was just doing it for fun, but i was hooked. i played constantly.
i decided i should take bass lessons. i lasted about 10 lessons, at that point i was just being shown traditional bass stuff, like blues. it bored the fuck out of me. so i stopped the lessons. around the same time i remember seeing this new age guitar player michael hedges . he was doing all this whacky stuff on his guitar. it kind of spurred me to try different things with the bass, which i had already begun to do. anyhow to answer your
question i just practiced a shitload. im self taught. if your thinking of learning an instrument i wouldnt shy away from lessons, it gives you a good starting point , but for for me it was a good way to see what i didnt want to do with the bass :-)

as far as recording i read up on this as much as possible. i havnt taken any classes, its like you said all trial and error. i think the latest pinback album autumn of the seraphs
is the best recording rob and i have done yet. oh by the way we finished it - hooray!

thanks,

-zach