Dick Lövgren

Biography

In his early days, Lövgren was particularly impressed with Metallica bassist Cliff Burton. He said that Burton "was probably the main reason why I became a bassist". Lövgren is a schooled jazz musician, influenced by Dave Holland, John Scofield, Medeski Martin & Wood, Miles Davis and Brad Mehldau. He always preferred playing with fingers, however, in his main band, Meshuggah, he plays with pick exclusively, stating that the exact sound from the pick and distortion is strictly what Meshuggah wants to extract from the bass. Before joining Meshuggah, Dick performed with a vast array of bands in his native Sweden. First with the neo-classical metal/melodic power metal band Time Requiem, then the melodic/progressive metal band Last Tribe, the death metal band Cromlech and the power metal band Armageddon (alongside Arch Enemy guitarist Christopher Amott). In the late ‘90’s Lövgren held the enviable assignment of touring bassist for both Arch Enemy and In Flames. Dick joined Meshuggah in 2004 after the band's departure with their bassist Gustaf Hielm in 2001. In the same year, they released their one-track EP titled I, that contains a track of the same name, that lasts twenty-one minutes. However, Dick didn't play bass in Meshuggah's recording sessions until their 2008's highly successful album, obZen. The reason for this while recording Catch Thirtythree was the album finish deadline, so the drum and bass tracks were recorded digitally. He also released a highly acclaimed fusion-jazz album with the Swedish Nica Group ensemble titled Lounge. All tracks were composed by Lövgren, and the release showcases his creativity as well as jazz-styled playing skills.

In September 2010, Lövgren was accepted into the Gothenburg Music University to study improvisation and composition with Anders Jormin, the Swedish jazz double bass player, arranger and bandleader who has worked with numerous jazz artists, such as Bobo Stenson, Charles Lloyd, Tomasz Stańko, Don Cherry, Elvin Jones, Gilberto Gil, Lee Konitz, Joe Henderson, Kenny Wheeler and Jon Balke. He stated that it is a huge honor and a great opportunity, emphasizing that it will not jeopardize anything with Meshuggah. “I will be able to do the tours and come back to classes. But this does mean that I will be playing and writing a lot of jazz in the next few years between Meshuggah tours".

Playing Style

Lövgren prefers playing with his fingers, as his main influences are jazz and fusion players. However, in Meshuggah, it is requested of him to play with a pick, mostly through distortion and octaver pedals, because of the band's signature sound. In the songs that are played with 8 string guitars, he plays in unison with the guitarists.

Equipment

Lövgren is endorsed by Warwick basses, which he has played since his teenage years. He owns a number of fretted and fretless Warwick models.

As of December 2016, Lövgren has been touring and recording with two custom Zon Basses. One of them is a Sonus, the other is a custom instrument based on the Warwick Stryker.

Basses

His main bass for recording and live shows are the 5 string Dolphin basses. His fretless and 6-string fretted basses were used while recording his fusion-jazz album, Lounge. He uses DR bass strings. In 2012, Lövgren acquired two new custom Warwick Dolphin I basses.

Tuning

Main Tuning: Bb, F, Bb, Eb, Ab. String gauges: .120 - .100 - .080 - .060 - .040 DR Dragon Skin

Bleed Tuning: Bb, Eb, Ab, Db

Obzen Tuning A, F, Bb, Eb, Ab

Amplifiers & effects

Discography