Pixies Paz picked up on advice of A Perfect Circle's Freese

Pixies guitarist Joey Santiago has revealed that bass player Paz Lenchantin got the job after a recommendation from well-travelled drum hero Josh Freese.

Freese worked with Lenchantin on A Perfect Circle’s debut album Mer De Noms and hers was the only name he came up with when pal Santiago asked him to recommend potential bass players for the Pixies. Freese has also worked with Weezer, Daughtry, The Vandals and Nine Inch Nails, among others.

And in an interview with RVA, Santiago also takes a swipe at departed bass player Kim Shattuck, who he refers to as unprofessional.

He says: “Paz is awesome. She’s a professional. She does her homework. She learned the lyrics without even being asked. She’s flawless as a bass player and as a singer. She’s got great manners too and we welcome her with big open arms. Hopefully, she loves us more than we love her.

“We got in touch with her through a recommendation from a great friend of mine, Josh Freese. He’s a great drummer and he played with Paz in A Perfect Circle. When he recommended her, I asked him if there was anyone else he could think of, because we were doing tryouts so we didn’t want to just have one person show up. Josh called me back and said, ‘I don’t have anyone else. Just try Paz.’ He was basically telling me that we didn’t need to try out anyone else but Paz. We tried her out and she was just awesome, so Josh was right. It was a great fit.”

Asked about the departure of original bass player Kim Deal, Santiago praises her attitude and makes reference to her professionalism – while taking a pop at her short-lived replacement Kim Shattuck.

On Deal, Santiago says: “For some reason or another though, she had to go. She had to leave. That’s a mystery to us. We had dinner, she told us, and she wished us well. It was pretty sad, but it was a very amicable parting because that’s how professionals part with each other, if you catch my drift. I mean, it’s nice to have one Kim that’s professional.”

Pixies released new album Indie Cindy last month, their first in more than 20 years.

Stef wrote close to 5,000 stories during his time as assistant online news editor and later as online news editor between 2014-2016. An accomplished reporter and journalist, Stef has written extensively for a number of UK newspapers and also played bass with UK rock favourites Logan. His favourite bands are Pixies and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah. Stef left the world of rock'n'roll news behind when he moved to his beloved Canada in 2016, but he started on his next 5000 stories in 2022.