‘I’ve used hairbrushes, spatulas, car keys, apples ...’ Sheila E on drumming with Prince, Marvin Gaye, Michael Jackson and more
When did you first know you were a drummer?axolotlyI still don’t know if I’m a “drummer”! Sometimes people mean percussion – like congas and timbales – and sometimes they mean drum set, which wasn’t a thing for me until I played with George Duke in the mid-70s. My dad [Pete Escovedo, a well-known Mexican American jazz percussionist] played and practised at the house every day. I’d have heard him while I was in my mother’s womb. I couldn’t reach his percussion instruments so my mum would put the pots and pans on the floor and I’d bang along on those. I played with a local band when I was 15 and I learned a lot from Billy Cobham, and would play his drums for a minute, but sitting in with George Duke for one song was enough to start me playing drums.
Was there anything that stopped you progressing as a female musical artist and have these problems lessened today?Whovian79Growing up in Oakland, California there were a lot of jam sessions in the streets and parks. A lot of young women would bring shakers, djembes and such. Once I knew I could play, I’d go to concerts and ask if I could sit in. Lots of times they said no so I’d go to the other side of the stage and get someone to say yes. Once I left home and started flying to Los Angeles to play with other artists I did experience male chauvinism – “You’re a girl. Girls don’t play drums” – until word of mouth was that Sheila Escovedo can play. Now there are more female drummers and percussionists all over the world. I message them on social media and just say: “Hey, I’m a fan.” There’s so many that I reach out to on a daily basis.
Is it true that you and Prince went straight into the studio in the middle of the night and recorded the amazing Erotic City directly after seeing Parliament-Funkadelic live?Bauhaus66We did go see
Parliament-Funkadelic. I don’t think we went into the studio right after, but Erotic City was the first song we recorded together. I had just moved to LA and hadn’t even finished unpacking when I went into the studio to sing that song. Obviously you can’t begin to guess that there will be so many more, but we played together for a long time.
It must have been incredible to play with both Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder. What are your favourite tracks of theirs to play?axolotlyAin’t No Mountain High Enough with Diana Ross – “Miss Ross” at the time – and anything from Stevie’s Songs in the Key of Life. He created and played a lot of his drum beats but he let me play whatever I wanted and we played really well together, just jamming. One time he called asking if I remembered playing on a particular song on one of his records, and I said: “I think it’s you.” We sat there arguing over who was playing. I went away to listen to it and called him back. I still believe it was him and he thinks it was me!
Is it true that you played water bottles on Michael Jackson’s Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough?VerulamiumParkRangerI did. Quincy [Jones, producer] called me and said: “There’s some sounds that Michael is making in the studio. We have no idea what percussion instrument it is, but maybe you can figure it out. Bring all your stuff.” I showed up at the studio with cases of gear, listened to Michael and decided to fill small bottles up with water and tune them to the track. That little “dink dink” is me, playing on the bottles using the metal piece used to play a triangle. I’ve used hairbrushes, spatulas, things from the kitchen, my car keys, the compressed air sprays that blow dust off computers as a hi-hat. Once I bit an apple, sampled it and layered it over my snare drum to make it sound more crunchy. I think what’s kept me in the business is thinking outside the box.
What are your abiding memories of playing with Marvin Gaye?DaveSimpsonI used to play [along to] the rhythm to What’s Going On and on the school bus the kids would say: “Play that beat on the window.” So finally getting to play that conga beat with Marvin was pretty incredible [she played with him on his final tour in 1983]. During rehearsals my brother was in the percussion section. I started playing that rhythm and the whole orchestra started dancing. It felt so amazing I hit an extra beat. Marvin was such a softly spoken, gentle and kind man, but he suddenly yelled on the mic: “Hey! What is that? Someone played an extra beat.” Twenty-six people in the orchestra turned around. I was scared to death and blamed it on my brother. But that was a crucial lesson: it’s important to know when not to play.