ELEVEN QUESTIONS WITH GRETA VAN FLEET’S FLEET-FINGERED BASS MAN, SAM KISZKA

When you were starting out, you were able to grow and make mistakes without a lot of people seeing you. Is it harder to evolve now that you have so many eyes on you?

That’s a good question. There aren’t an overwhelming number of groups that really experiment on stage. I know I’ll try out different things live, just to get a reaction. We’ll write parts while jamming. We’ve established this communication between us that allows us to jump in any direction and ride it for a while, and then we can get back to whatever we were doing. We’ve done that since we played little clubs and bars. It’s a little different doing it in front of 100 people versus 10,000 people, but you can’t let the pressure get to you. People want spontaneity — from that, you get authenticity.

Your two brothers do the flashy stuff; Jake is the high-profile guitar guy, while Josh is the lead singer. Do you ever feel a little overlooked?

Oh, absolutely! But I have a very firm understanding of what I do in the band. As the bass player, I create the marriage between guitar and drums. It’s like I’m the thing that holds it together. Bass is a funny thing: You don’t realize it’s there, but you know when it’s not. Don’t get me wrong, I love attention. In the early days of the band, I used to get upset because nobody was paying attention to me. I think that caused me to develop a playing style that’s a cross between rhythm and lead. I think some of that comes from listening to Jack Bruce in Cream. He was probably my biggest inspiration for bass playing. That whole band was a good example of three musicians working together to create a sound.