Sitting Down With Vernon Reid

Vernon Reid walks into the lounge at the back of the Prodigy tour bus and sits down. The only thing I really know about him is that he's an amazing guitarist -- and that's sort of common knowledge. Even people who aren't big fans of his former band Living Color will readily admit that Vernon Reid does not mess around on the guitar.

Vernon Reid looks different than I thought he would. I imagined he'd look like he did in the "Cult of Personality" video; short colored dreads, flashy clothes, a lot of energy. But instead, he comes in looking like a native from Jamaica; all relaxed in his rasta vest and his baggy pants, his long dreads running down his back. He reminds me of this kid I knew in college who was the star quarterback one year, and then the next year he quit the team, grew his buzzcut out into dreads and started smoking lots of cheeba.

Something must have happened to Vernon Reid. Something that made him change, that caused him go back to playing solo. What that was, I'm not sure.

Matthew Shepatin: What is the biggest horizon developing in your life right now?

Vernon Reid: Being reconnected to the idea of freedom. Allowing my aesthetic to be free.

MS: What do you mean by that?

VR: I started out being psyched about music -- you know, that it's groovy cool, we can all have fun, laugh, and sing -- and then the world comes in and interrupts that. You've got to sell, you've got to do a job, and so it's a struggle playing all the time trying to get people to pay attention. Then eventually it happened, and we connected with people, but somewhere along the line, the idea of freedom -- not to do f***-all but to actually let your mind go where it can go -- got lost. You have to fight against so much. So few people actually live there; it's so hard to live there. The biggest thing for me right now is reconnecting to that. Feeling good feelings.

M: How do you do it?

VR: I don't let it get me down and if it does gets me down I don't pretend I'm not down. I think Americans have this whole forced joviality. We always have to be laughing and be convenienced. Society has told us: convenience. Point and click. We always have to be fun, we always have to be laughing, we always have to be smiling, we always have to be cheerful. Women are especially burdened with it, more burdened with it then men are. Be perky and pleasant. It's sort of like you're one step removed from your actual feelings. You feel what you're feeling, but are you really feeling what you're feeling? That's the thing: I feel like I know I'm connecting now as much as I can allow myself to feel. And music is a way out. Music can shed all the crap. That's the real thing about Elvis swiveling his hips. Elvis released white America from their Judeo-Christian Protestant hangup. What he did was transpose what he experienced from black music and he let himself go. It all became crap later on. Of course, he was seen as completely dangerous and had to be eliminated. Anything that smacks of freedom is seen as dangerous. That's why they want to destroy the Internet, that's why they want to be able to go in and look at your bookmarks so they can see what you've been pointing and clicking on. Anything that deals with freedom of spirit is very disturbing because freedom breeds anarchy in the minds of those who are trying to hold on to power.

MS: So how do you keep your spirit free with all the bullshit that goes on?

VR: You've got to dig. You've got to dig deep. What makes you happy? What makes you smile? What is it about a melody, or a rhythm, or a beat? Really -- what is it? And hold on to that. Holding on to wow. Yeah, holding on to wow.

Vernon Reid comes on stage to play guitar with Lenny Kravitz on "Let Love Rule," his entrance seeming so unplanned it's almost as if right before he came on he just decided, "Sure, what the heck. I'll jam with Lenny Kravitz. Who's got a guitar?"

As Kravitz's band members jam in their fixed positions, Vernon Reid strolls around the stage carefree, wandering up to the crowd, his guitar hanging loose. If he wanted to, Vernon Reid could show off his guitar prowess, but rather than overpowering the "Let Love Rule" groove, he plays it subtle and restrained, letting the cheering crowd take center stage. He moves his hands up and down the guitar effortlessly, happy to be playing a funky riff, enjoying the freedom to do anything he likes. And as Lenny stands at the edge of the stage, clapping his hands over his head, inciting the sea of people to chant "Let love rule," Vernon Reid is content to play quietly in the background, letting himself go.

"Vernon Reid on guitar," says Lenny, pointing back to him. Vernon Reid looks out at the thousands of arms waving and nods his head. He moves off to the side of the stage and stands right beside me. When I look over at him, I see a big smile on his face.

What makes you happy? What makes you smile? What is it about a melody, or a rhythm, or a beat? Really -- what is it?