You’ve been on tour with Chris Brown, Brandy, Faith, Avant and more. How is working with Lil Wayne different?
For me [the method of preparation] varies with the artist. Wayne is one of the best people that I’ve ever worked for. He’s very respectful he’s very appreciative of not only the band, but his entire crew and he makes it known to us. He’s very quiet, he doesn’t talk a lot but when he says something; you listen to it. He’s a good guy.
You’ve worked with R&B artists mostly, is hip-hop harder to prep for?
Playing hip-hop is different from R&B because R&B has sections in the song. Playing hip-hop you’re pretty much playing a sample throughout the whole song. So every band member had to learn Wayne’s lyrics. I had to sit with every song, learn all his lyrics—if I wasn’t a fan then, I’m definitely a fan now.
What’s the coolest thing Lil Wayne has done for you on the tour?
On a nightly basis he shows appreciation for the band. There’s a section where he allows us to do our thing and we have solos. He definitely gets us involved in the show, individually as musicians. Being a musical director, that’s the best thing that can happen because that means that he’s happy.
What’s the craziest thing that’s happened since you’ve been on the road?
Man! There’s all kind of stuff going on behind the scenes! We have an amazing set that has to be set up and broken down from night to night and when we first started we didn’t know how it was going to happen because it takes so long. Plus, because we have so much pyrotechnics it makes for a crazy situation.
Do you have any crazy groupie experiences to share?
You know I’m married! But nah, there’s always women who appreciate the artists and the band and the crew. I think just like everything else if you want to find it, it’s there. I think in my earlier days when I was single, I saw a lot more crazy things than I see now. Now I go play the show and then go straight to my hotel room.
What’s the best city you’ve played so far?
Atlanta, because we played there on New Years Eve. It was packed, everybody was there. Bobby Valentino came out, Shawty Lo, Baby… it was really really cool. It was on one of the countdowns on CNN too.
