John Bassett

B i o g r a p h y

John Bassett is a multi-instrumentalist, singer songwriter, producer primarily known for writing, recording and producing albums under the names of Arcade Messiah, KingBathmat and his own name. The music produced is within the genres of Post Rock, Post Metal, Progressive Metal, and acoustic and are sometimes a combination of all the above. John has released numerous albums since 2003 which can be found at these bandcamp sites

https://johnbassett.bandcamp.com

https://arcademessiah.bandcamp.com

https://kingbathmat.bandcamp.com

John Bassett was born in Walthamstow, London. He was raised by his Mother (an ex convent nun) and Father (a meter reader), who fed and looked after him until the age of 16, where he left school with very little else except a degree in truancy.

Poor academic qualifications led to employment only in very mundane positions. Music and playing the guitar were a way of escaping the drudgery of everyday life.

Excerpt below taken from "Classic Rock Society Magazine" Interview

Question - When did you start playing and songwriting, and how did your musical projects and songwriting evolve into what they are now

Answer - "There was an acoustic guitar that used to sit, unloved in a corner of my parents house when I was a child. I would pick it up from time to time in moments of boredom and mess around with it on an infrequent basis, when I got into my teens I would play along to records and it then became more of a daily routine. I couldn't seem to comprehend how to play chords so I went to a guitar teacher in Tottenham, who laughed at the pitiful sight standing in front of him who then duly told me that I was playing the guitar the wrong way round, it transpired that I was playing a right handed guitar, left handed. I am actually right handed, but for me playing the guitar left handed felt more comfortable, I only had a few lessons, but as soon as I purchased a left handed guitar I found playing chords much easier and my first inclination was to write songs.

"There's something in the sea air in Hastings that has turned prog ingenue John Bassett into one of our scene's most prolific protagonists" Prog Magazine

"one of the most impressive records I’ve heard this year" Popmatters

"This is an album you need to listen to, on headphones, in one sitting, so you are immersed in its majesty. Faultless." Classic Rock Society

B i o g r a p h y

﻿John Bassett was born in Walthamstow, London. He was raised by his Mother (an ex convent nun) and Father (a meter reader), who fed and looked after him until the age of 16, where he left school with very little else except a degree in truancy.

John Bassett was born in Walthamstow, London. He was raised by his Mother (an ex convent nun) and Father (a meter reader), who fed and looked after him until the age of 16, where he left school with very little else except a degree in truancy.