The Dane and Prince

From Gaffa and bt.dk

Arranged and translated by Signe Amtoft

The Danish bass player Ida Kristine Nielsen does not have the regular 9 to 5 job. In fact, she has a job that numerous men and women out there would kill for. Because it just so happens that every time funk-legend Prince goes on stage – Ida does too.

Nielsen was sought out and hired by Prince last year and has been playing with him on stage ever since. The 35-year-old Dane has always been a fan of Prince, and sometimes she needs to “pinch herself to make sure it’s actually happening”.

Actually, the fact that Nielsen ended up playing the bass was a coincidence. She went to a very small provincial school in Jutland when she was a child, and the fact that her music teacher did not know how to play any of the instruments in class made the children try on their own, and Ida happened to end up with the bass.

After feeling like a complete failure at a concert with a friend, she rehearsed all through high school, and ended up being a great bass player. After touring with Danish band Michael Learns To Rock and releasing a solo album titled “Marmelade”, a woman representing Prince called her and invited her to a jam-session in Minneapolis. “I thought it was a joke,” Ida recalls.

It wasn’t a joke, though, and theDane has been touring with Prince – a former idol of hers – for a year now. Playing with him has opened her eyes to new songs as well. “A lot of the songs that I’m playing on the tour now are completely new to me. But “Alphabet Street” is definitely my favorite song to play, and on my top 5 of all time favorite songs,” she tells gaffa.dk.

Ida’s favorite anecdote about playing with Prince is from Paris, where they were to play on national TV. “He didn’t give us a set list,” she says. “We were just looking at him, trying to figure out which song he was going to sing next. The fact that he has the guts to do that on live TV is amazing. But I feel that it’s his way of telling his band that he trusts us as well!”

Ida will be releasing a new album soon, which will be given the title “Sometimes A Girl Needs Some Sugar Too”.