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Web Exclusive Interview
Jonathan "Sugarfoot"
Moffett
 Jonathan "Sugarfoot" Moffett
Jonathan
Moffett got the nickname
"Sugarfoot" because of his exceptional bass
drum technique - he had a 'sweet' foot - when he was all but twelve
years
old.
by Billy Amendola
The
name
came courtesy of a fellow bandmate and childhood friend, Curtis
Verret, who hailed from Jonathan's hometown of New
Orleans. "Man, I
didn't like that name at all back then," Moffett laughs today.
"Everyone else had what I thought were
much cooler nicknames. I wanted
to be called something like Ace or Duke."
Eventually Jonathan
embraced the
name comfortably, relocated to California in 1979, and
went on to tour, record, or both with mega-stars Michael, Janet,
and
the entire Jackson family band, not to mention George Michael, Elton
John, Madonna, Lionel Richie, Julian Lennon,
Richard Marx, and Italian
superstar Vasco Rossi - a r'sum' that truly made him 'drummer to
the
stars.'
Nowadays Moffett shares his touring time with Cameo, a
group he's been associated with for
twenty-five years. Between Cameo
tours, Jonathan performs with smooth-jazz saxophonist Kenny G - all the
while working on
a solo CD and a book. "I'm always working on my own
music," Moffett insists. "I have enough material for a few
CDs.
As for my book, I have what I call 'mindset materials.' So when you
read my book, you'll learn who I
was at any given moment, where my
focus was in my mind and my heart. It covers the years from '77, '78 up
until
now."
MD Online caught up with Jonathan while he was on a short break before heading back out on the road with Cameo.
MD: You're staying pretty busy touring with both Cameo and Kenny
G.
Jonathan:
I've been with Kenny since last May, and I've been with Cameo now for
twenty-five
years. Plus I've been in the studio working on my own
projects.
MD: Tell us a little about
those.
Jonathan:
I'm working on finishing up a Christmas record, which I thought I would
have done this
year. But I keep hearing new songs, so it keeps
expanding. [laughs] So far all the songs except for one are original; I
even
have a hip-hop version of "The Little Drummer Boy." I'm doing all
the vocals, though I have a few kids singing on some of
the songs. I
program everything at my home.
I've been making music since I
was six and playing in the clubs
since I was nine, so I have an
understanding of chords and melody. My main love is drums, though.
MD: When
did you seriously start writing and programming?
Jonathan:
I've been writing since I was a kid. I got my
first real drum machine
back in '86. I started manipulating that and learning how to program.
Back then everything
sounded really regimented because the technology
wasn't as good as it is now. I have almost two hundred songs at
some
stage of completion - I've just got to find the time to finish them.
Every day I hear melodies that lead to a song, or
a catch phrase that
leads to a lyric or a title of a song. I can't turn it off.
MD: Would you like to write and
produce more, or continue to tour?
Jonathan:
I'll always play drums, and I still have a strong love for them.
But
I've grown so much over the years as a songwriter/producer. I love
playing live, because I get an immediate
response. But I also love
being in the studio, taking the time to create a work of art that will
last forever. When you play live,
unless you record it, it's going in
the air. People take it in their hearts and spirit, but for the most
part it's
gone.
I actually still like the live thing a little
bit more, though, because of the spontaneity. I say that my soul
talks
when I'm behind the drums. People relate to it, they know what I'm
saying. I consider it magic. I think
musicians have a God-given power
to affect people's minds, hearts, souls, and bodies. Hit a beat, and
somebody's
foot is going to start tapping. It's involuntary. Only a
small number of people are given the ability to make that happen, and
I
feel fortunate to be one of those people.
MD: You've toured with so many superstars over the years. Do
you have any tips on preparing for a tour?
Jonathan:
The first step is to be prepared well beforehand. You must
be familiar
with the material. If I hear about a tour and I don't know the artist,
I go out and buy all their CDs. That said,
I've been lucky that with
most gigs I've done, playing live was my audition. People would
hear me on shows
and they'd call me up and say, "I saw you with The
Jacksons'". That's how I got Cameo. Same thing with
Michael's tour,
Madonna's tour, Elton John. In '88, '89 I had recorded Elton's Sleeping With The
Past
album. At the Wembley Arena show in England, George Michael was there
as Elton's friend, just hanging out,
which led to my playing with him.
I did Madonna's tour in '90 and in '91, and then I got a call
from
George's people. He remembered my work with Elton, and Elton's people
recommended me highly.
That's why it's important to do your best on everything that you do.
MD: It's the old line:
"Always play your best, you never know who's watching."
Jonathan:
Exactly. So I was very fortunate. I
still approach auditions and gigs
the same way. When I get the call, I rush out immediately and buy the
catalog that artist
has out. I listen, and I study. And to me it's not
a waste of time or money to buy the CDs and listen up, because even
if
you don't get the gig, you'll have furthered your ability, and you'll
feel good about the work you did. Plus, if
you walk into a rehearsal
knowing the material, you've made 50% of the points already because
they'll feel like,
"Man, he's interested in my music, he knows my
stuff."
And besides listening to the music, you should sit
down
at the drums and practice the material. You have to know the finesse of
the beats, the strokes, the attitude, and the
approach to the writing
and singing. It's more than just learning a beat, because we all play
the same beats. It's
the attitude and personality you put on the beats that determine how an artist sounds.
MD: When you
were playing with Michael Jackson and Madonna, would they pay close attention to the
drums?
Jonathan:
Absolutely, both of them - especially because they're dancers. I heard
that Michael
plays drums. He's never played in front of me, but I was
told when I first got with them that he
played.
MD: How did you hook up with Michael and The Jacksons?
Jonathan:
I came to LA
from New Orleans to possibly work with Jermaine Jackson,
because he heard a tape of a band I was with in New Orleans called
The
Money Band. That was an Earth, Wind & Fire kind of band. We came
out here, but there was turmoil within the
group and we ended up going
back. But a tape of a gig in New Orleans got to Jermaine's ears, and he
asked one of his
friends, who was in the band and who lived out here,
"Who's that drummer?" We talked on the phone a few times trying to
set
up a meeting, but it never happened. Ironically, about a month after I
got out to LA, I wound up joining up with his
brothers.
MD: Perfect timing.
Jonathan: Incredible
timing. It was meant to be. When I
moved out to LA, I used to drive
past the Jacksons' house, which wasn't too far from where I lived. I
used to slow
down and look through the gates and see Joseph's Rolls
Royce, or Michael pulling out in his Rolls
Royce
MD: How old were you at the time?
Jonathan:
I was twenty-four. I'd slow down
and look through that fence and say,
"Man, I wish I could play with Jermaine and his brothers." And every
day I would just
drive past and make that wish. A month and a half
later that opportunity magically came along. When I was in New Orleans,
I
felt that something was telling me to come out here. Trust me, I was
afraid to come to LA, because I had never left home before.
But some
force within me said, Just go, trust me, it'll be all right. I'm glad I
listened to that voice.
MD: Did Madonna see you perform with the Jacksons?
Jonathan:
Yes. She saw me on the
Victory tour at Dodgers Stadium in '84, the last
show of that tour. She was in the audience with her manager at
the
time, Freddy DeMann, who at one time was also The Jacksons' manager. I
remember him telling me that she turned
to him and said, "That's my
drummer! Do you know how to reach him?" So he called me up and told me,
"A young artist
named Madonna is going to be as big as the Jacksons,
and she wants you to be her drummer." I didn't know much about
her. I
had only seen the "Like A Virgin" video, but I said, "Fine, I'd love to
work with her." I trusted his judgement. He was
a very successful
manager and he totally believed in her.
MD: Were you playing with sequencers on both
tours?
Jonathan:
Yes. Everybody on stage was always playing, but on Michael's records
and
Madonna's records, sometimes there's four or five keyboard
overdubs, and there's only two guys playing
live.
MD: Luis Conte played percussion with you on the Madonna tour.
Jonathan: Yes. If Luis
was playing congas on a song that he also overdubbed timbales on, he would play one part and program the
other.
MD: How about the drums?
Jonathan: All the drums were live.
MD: Did
you have headphones or monitors?
Jonathan:
Live, I'd prefer my monitors set up. The only tour I used
headphones on
was with Vasco Rossi, in 1998. He's a heavy rock artist from Italy;
he's as big as Michael Jackson
over there. I need a click, and because
I have my drums so loud on stage, to hear the click above that, I
usually have the click
a little louder than my drums. I play strong and
powerful, so I have to have it loud, like I'm engulfed in the sound.
But that
means my click has to be extremely loud, and some artists,
like Vasco, don't like it when the click is really loud, so I had
to
learn to use headphones with him. But all the tours with Michael and
Madonna I had the click coming through a set of
Oratones speakers.
They're little studio monitors, and I have only click coming through
that. Through my main monitors,
I have my drums and everything else.
MD: What do you like to hear in your
mix?
Jonathan:
My drums are predominant. The click is slightly above that. That's the
main priority,
locking with that click. If you lose that, the show is
done. So those two elements are first and foremost. Then it's
mainly
the sequenced bass part, because I know its time is locked in
perfectly. And I'll have the live bass just under
that. Then it's
percussion. Next it's keyboards, and then just slightly under that, the
vocals. Then I have guitar right
under that. It's not great differences
in volume, but it's staggered down like that.
MD: What do you
follow?
Jonathan: Following is still tricky for a lot of guys. You have
to follow the click. And the
percussionist is usually programmed just
slightly behind the click, so the drums have to settle in between,
keeping the time
up with the click but somewhere between the percussion
and the click. If the drums are too close to the click it
sounds
too stiff and sterile. So if you find the space between the
percussionist's timing, which is usually a little laid
back, and the
click, and then you settle the drums in that with feeling and emotion,
that's the perfect place for
it.
MD: Growing up, did you practice along to a click?
Jonathan:
When I was growing up there
was no such thing as a click. You had that
metronome thing. [laughs] My main thing was playing along with a lot of
records
at home. It was very important to me, to be locked in with them.
MD: How old were you when you started
playing? Did you take lessons?
Jonathan:
I first started when I was six years old. I had snare drum lessons
with
a private teacher. I had this big parade of snare drums. I was very
small for my age until I got to be fifteen, sixteen. And I
was always
very thin back then. There's a bit more of me now. [laughs] I had this
one frayed drum, and I was taking very
basic lessons from a teacher for
about a year. After that, in elementary school and junior high school,
I was in concert band.
And then in tenth grade I made my way to first
drummer in a concert band. I didn't like the stuff we were playing,
though.
It was real tired. Everybody in all the other high school bands
was playing hip top-40 radio stuff. At the time all my friends used
to
laugh at me, "You playing that tired beat?" So after tenth grade I had
enough of being ridiculed, and I
quit.
MD: Can you read charts?
Jonathan: No. I don't read at all. I do know how to follow
the bars.
MD: Who were some of your influences?
Jonathan:
John Bonham, Clyde
Stubblefield, Jabo Starks. Melvin Parker, also from
James Brown's band, was bad. One of my favorites was Bernard
Purdie.
He's one of the most musical drummers that you could ever want to hear.
Another is Danny Seraphine from
Chicago, and then Bobby Colomby from
Blood Sweat & Tears. Buddy Miles was a big influence too, as was
Billy
Cobham. Then there was a guy named Sandy McKee, who had a
different technique, very interesting. He had an album in the
'70s
called Sissyfuss that was just extraordinary.
MD: Do you prefer using one bass drum or
two?
Jonathan:
I used one bass drum most of my life. I didn't start getting into
double bass until the
'81 Jacksons tour. That's when I got my first
double bass drum kit. I just started learning it then. And in '84
I
used two separate drums on the Victory tour. On Madonna's first tour I
used one bass drum. Then in '86 with
Jermaine Jackson I used two bass
drums again. On my first tour with Cameo, in '82, Larry Blackmon,
Cameo's
leader - he was also the drummer - would have me play on his Tama
kit, which had concert toms and double bass
drums.
I like the
colors of sound you can get with different drums. I don't use them all
on every song, but if I
want to do something melodic I have enough
notes, like a keyboard has, to make a statement. I love colors in
cymbals too.
That's why I have a multitude of cymbals. I can paint a
more detailed picture of rhythm with that.
MD: Did
you ever use a double pedal?
Jonathan: Vasco Rossi's tour in '99 - my second with him - was the first
time I used the double pedal. And I'll use one now.
MD: How about electronic
drums?
Jonathan: I used a Simmons kit for a while.
MD: What gear do you use
now?
Jonathan: DW drums, Zildjian cymbals, Pro-Mark sticks, Remo heads, and Sennheiser
mic's.
MD: Do you have time to practice at all?
Jonathan: Recently I haven't had an
opportunity to practice as much, but I do love practicing.
MD: What do you
practice?
Jonathan:
I try to expand on what I already know. I don't sit down with records
like I used to.
I've been more into the artistry of developing and
establishing my sound, attitude, and approach to rhythms. I try to
create an identity.
I still love learning from other people, though. I listen to other cats. But I try to practice what
I
do as much as I can. I'll do different things with some new things I've
heard, and then manipulate those by
turning the beats around, or
starting on the upbeats. I'll experiment with articulations and
dynamics, turning a groove
inside out, incorporating cymbal catches,
playing different bass drum patterns, and using ruffs and rolls on the
bass drum. I
try to manipulate all of those elements and change the
attitude. As I said before, everybody plays the same patterns - it's
how
you apply them. Our own personal expression is what makes the music
unique, colorful, different, and
fresh.
MD: Give us some more examples of how you would make it different.
Jonathan:
I
might do a ruff on the bass drum or roll in a certain place. Or I can
change the emotional intensity of the pattern. It could be a
simple
beat, but it's according to how hard I hit the bass drum, the hi-hat,
or the snare - and the ghost notes in between.
I may change the stroke,
or play the same continuous beat but vary it.
MD: Are there any drummers out now
who you're digging?
Jonathan:
John Blackwell - he's my boy! John's phenomenal, very
inspirational. His
personality is just so incredible, as well as his artistry. John's got
a beautiful heart and personality.
He's just a great person all around.
We need more people like him, because he's so positive and glowing. I
also
like Gerald Hayward, Ronald Bruner, Jr., and John Parrish, who's
been playing with Earth Wind & Fire - he's
bad. Lil' John is bad.I
like Thomas Pridgett - he's amazing - and Tony Royster Jr.,
another
phenomenon.
MD: Any last words of advice before we wrap it
up?
Jonathan:
Drummers need to be aware of the songs. Drumming is wonderful, but
being a songwriter and
understanding songs is very important. Learn the
artistry of songwriting so you can understand the application of drums
within
a song.
Preparing yourself for the future is also
important. We all want to drum all our lives, but songwriting is a
key
to a lucrative music career. So I would advise young guys, as they're
learning the songs, to listen to the melody.
Listen to the chord
structure and progressions, because you can incorporate those things in
your drumming. Then
you're more of a musician, and you'll stand out
from the rest.
Also, stay clean. The body is a temple of
God,
and we should respect it. So for that reason I take care of myself to
be a strong drummer, and do what I do on drumset
to the best of my
ability. I can't have my body poisoned with things and expect to have a
great career. That's one
reason I've been able to carry on so long. All
my life I've been clean and pure. I never smoked, drank, or did
drugs.
So I'm able to carry on playing strong. I would say I play stronger now
than when I was twenty - I notice it. You
must take care of yourself,
because drummers are athletes. Think about self-preservation as well as
self-inspiration and
development. You need to take your business very
seriously - it's your life.
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