Troy Sanders

Troy Sanders (Born September 8, 1973 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American heavy metal musician and vocalist perhaps better known as the bassist and one of the four vocalists for the Atlanta heavy metal band Mastodon.
Bass and vocal style
Sanders first played when he picked up his older brother's bass and tried it out; notably, the bass was strung for a left-handed person, and he is right-handed. A few months later, he talked his father into buying him a bass. He cites Cliff Burton, Gene Simmons and Phil Lynott as influences on his bass playing. Sanders is primarily a fingerstyle bassist, but has also used a pick on certain songs.
Sanders' gear includes a Fender Prophecy II, Fender American Standard Jazz, Fender American Deluxe Precision, Ibanez SRX700, Godlyke Deity 4-string bass, Yamaha BB414 Bass, Yamaha BB2004 bass and michael kelly acoustic basses. Typically, Sanders tunes his bass down one full step (D,G,C,F), or Drop C (C,G,C,F), although for some songs ("Iron Tusk", "Circle of Cysquatch", "Aqua Dementia", "Crack the Skye" and the entire "Remission" album, except for the songs "Crusher Destroyer, and "Elephant Man" which use D,G,C,F) he drops the lowest string down to A (A,G,C,F). His amplifiers consist of mainly Mesa Boogie and Ampeg heads and cabinets. He likes to use effects such as the Electro Harmonix Big Muff as well as a Sanford and Sonny Bluebeard Fuzz. He started using Moog Taurus bass pedals during the recording of Crack the Skye.
His harsher vocal style is similar to Dave Edwardson of Neurosis and King Buzzo of The Melvins; he utilizes low growls, although not low enough to be death grunts. His harsh vocalism was largely applied in Mastodon's earlier albums such as Lifesblood and Remission. In more recent albums, like Leviathan, and especially Blood Mountain and Crack the Skye, Sanders utilizes a different range of clean vocals along with the harsher style. Also recently he has switched to Orange Amps, he uses a Orange AD-200B and a SP 410 bass cab.
Inspiration
His inspiration is all in the family, as he likes to say. His brothers Kyle and Darren are both involved in music. Kyle is the bassist for Bloodsimple, and Darren is "a one man road crew" and bass tech for Mastodon. Sanders has stated in interviews that his favorite albums are Men at Work's Business as Usual, Times of Grace, and George Jones' Anniversary - 10 Years Of Hits.
Personal life
Sanders has one daughter named Haley, who is following in her family's musical footsteps by playing guitar; and an infant son named Yuri. Haley is inspired by her dad and Lady Gaga.
Guest appearances
*"Back to the Mountain" by Yakuza on the album Samsara. (vocals)
*"Until Man Exists No More" by Dozer on the album Through the Eyes of Heathens. (vocals)

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