The Cult of Personality

While black American music is dominated in most quarters by rap, dance and blues, there is one band from New York City who still know how to rock 'n roll - they are Living Colour. Founding member/guitarist Vernon Reid speaks to Time OFf about the band, the music and the live set.

When Living Colour burst onto the recording scene with their 1988, platinum debut, Vivid, critics the world over touted them as the absolute next big thing.

Their sophomore (I love this American terminology) effort, Time's Up, however, failed to pack the expected commercial punch, reaching only gold status in the USA. Their latest long player Stain is a hot set of thirteen tracks, destined for a lengthy stay in the album charts and guaranteed to satisfy fans and critics alike.

Despite the commercial appeal of tracks such as Leave it Alone, the infectious rhythm of Mind Your Own Business and the sweet melody of Bi, Vernon Reid is quite adamant that Living Colour have in no way compromised their music in the search for chart success.

"I don't think we compromised on Stain at all," said the songwriter/guitarist. "Rock 'n roll is about trust and loyalty. Once an audience takes your band into its heart, you've entered into a sacred trust. If you respect that trust then it's almost impossible to make false records. Rock audiences are very savvy and they can tell when you are making a move to manipulate them."

"Stain is just an outgrowth of the first two records," he continued. "We're just trying to refocus and revitalise the idea of Living Colour. You can't keep repeating yourself - you have to grow, and hopefully your audience appreciates the effort."

"I know that some bands think that they can cut commercial records then, once they get in the door, change and do their own thing. But I can't believe that people still think that way, because it is completely wrong. You have to go with what's in your heart. First, if you become successful doin gsomething that you don't like you are going to become resentful. Second, if you build an audience by creating one type of music and then suddenly change, you'll lead a bunch of people down the primrose path and they'll reject you."

The most important change in the life of Living Colour as a band between the release of Time's Up and the recordnig of Stain was the departure of bassist Muzz Skillings and the inclusion of ex-Tackhead bass virtuoso Doug Wimbish. When Muzz left the band early last year, much conjecture surrounded the future of Living Colour. After some deliberation, however, Vernon, Corey and William decided to ask Doug to join the ranks. The musical union has never looked better.

"It's hard to put my finger on exactly why Muzz left," said Vernon. "These things are always a little fuzzy. Anyone who has gone through a divorce knows that there are probably as many reasons as there are stars in the sky. It's definitely not a Van Halen/David Lee Roth situation, where invectives are being hurled. We had just come to a musical fork in the road and we tried to deal with it while we were still friends. I know that sounds vague, but anyone who has had differences with band members know what I'm talking about. I really have nothing negative to say." And his thoughts on Doug?

"He's brought his own approach to the band and that is a lot of fun. He's fun to play with and he's also fun to just sit and watch. One of the things that impresses me about Doug is how he can play two independant bass lines simultaneously. He'll play a bass figure that supports the bottom while developing another figure that sits on top of the melody. His lines are almost like musical tapestries. He has the ability to make you believe that a line is continuing while he's gone on to play something else."

"He also has a freat feel for creating textures through electronics. For example, check out what he's playing on Bi. In the verse he combines an ostinato bass pattern with a series of harmonics and then introduces a whammy pedal line to emphasis certain passages. And all of those things are played in pass - there are no overdubs. It's quite ingenious."

According to Vernon, the Living Colour songwriting process still operates in much the same manner, with individual members coming up with musical ideas and throwing them into the band jam melting pot. From this point onward it's anyone's guess as to the variety of incarnations a song may take before it finally reaches our eager ears.

"Each song has a life of it's own. Leave It Alone evolved out of a chord progression that Doug composed on his bass. We just kept playing through the changes until it slowly started to take shape. The end result had almost nothing to do with the original idea. We eventually sped up the tempo and made it more ferocious. Then everything changed again when we started recording. In other words, giving birth to a new song can be a very complex process. My favourite part of Leave It Alone was actually developed in the studio. Notice that every time Corey says the word 'peace' in the bridge section we emphasise it by changing the echo from quarter notes to triplet rhythms. The effect is really trippy."

Stylistically Living Colour are a wild fusion of funk, jazz, metal and soul, with a touch of technical wizardry. In the live format, Vernon says the show has to be a fine line between improvisation and an accurate representation of recorded material. "When you are part of an improvising band you enter into a subtle contract with your audience. You give them sort of what they expect and then they allow you to take it away for a while. Hopefully there is a give and take."

"But the pressure to keep the music 'in' does not always come from the audience, it also comes from within the band. As a fan I personally like it when a band plays my favourite song and leaves it relatively intact. For example, I saw Alice in Chains recently and I was thrilled when they played a note for note version of Would?. It was the same when I went to see one of my heroes, Carlos Santana, and he performed Black Magic Woman, which is almost twenty years old. I just stood at the side of the stage and said 'my God that's great."

One wonders when we may see this live tour de force down under.

"Oh man, I can't tell you, I'm dying to go to Australia. There is so much I want to see. I want to hear more of the local music. But realistically I don't know when we'll get down there."

Until that glorious day bears down upon us, get into Stain. It's shear aural bliss.

written by Brent Hampstead
Time Off March 17 1993