Steve Arrington
+ Funk Group, SLAVE
What age was you when you got started singing? Wow, I was never a singer coming up. As a young boy, I for fun I’d mimic instrumental solos like, Jimi Hendrix guitar solos and John Coltrane solos. After high school, I toured with a lounge band for a while as the drummer, but did some singing on things like “Tie A Yellow Ribbon Round The Old Oak Tree” and “Bad Bad Leroy Brown”, but I was a drummer. When Slave hired me to play drums, which I played on all the records, they also asked me if could I sing. I began with some background vocals, then they asked me to do a lead vocal on “Coming Soon”. On the next album, we needed a lead vocal, on what was to become “Just A Touch Of Love”, so we were each taking turns and trying to come up with lyrics. I guess through mimicking instrumental solos and everything, I had developed a style, even though I didn’t realize it. So, when I started to sing, they thought, hey man, what you doing is different. The next thing I knew, I ended up being the lead vocalist and I knew had to start taking singing seriously. I never saw that coming. I guess, I’ve been singing all along from when I was a kid, but never had aspirations to be a singer. Who are some of your mentors? Well, as a young head coming up, I have to go with my brothers, Gary and Victor (8 and 7 years older), both loved diverse styles of music and were always bringing home new music. I remember Gary and I would play a game, where he would take 45’s, put them up under a sheet, pick one out without looking, put it on and we’d see who knew the most lyrics of the song that played. Victor had his own band and I played percussion in it. When I graduated from high school, I played and toured with a lounge band, lead by Clifford Murphy, who was a really good band leader and mentor. Then, I went to California, where I met and started playing with Coke Escovedo, who really took me under his wing and taught me a lot. I lived with Coke and it was through Him, that I started to play with Pete and Sheila Escovedo, who went on to be Sheila E, as well as, Carlos Santana. As a 19-21 year old, Coke Escovedo was very important to my development. Has anyone in the music industry given you particularly good advice? Yes, Coke Escovedo told me once, playing the notes is one thing, but you have to understand the language of the notes, the feeling behind the notes and the intention behind the notes, in whatever genre you’re playing. Do you draw much inspiration from your personal experiences for your songwriting? There are certain particular incidents that have sparked some songwriting, but mostly, it’s more about a particular mood that I’m currently in or was in, in the past, that I tap into for songwriting. Plus, there is inspiration from things going in the culture, as well.
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