Thursday at Xcalibur
Xcalibur Restaurant & Lounge, 2519 Pennsylvania Av NW, Washington, DC 20500

I arrived early so that I could interview Pooh before Familiar Faces started performing. I arrived a little after 8 PM, the upstairs area, where they perform, was nearly pitch black and empty except for the Scottish bartender Annie.

I found an electrical outlet in the alcove leading to the women's bathroom, so I set up on the couch there to conduct the interview. Pooh and Doc were the first to arrive.

Some work men came in (Xcalibur is new) and one showed how nice the men's bathroom was to the other and said that "It's too big; people will be having sex in there."

I interviewed Pooh after he had eaten. He asked me to post it online after I have transcribed it - the only negative was the pre-recorded music playing at the time was rather loud. Here is the transcript (not exact with every um, etc.):

JR: When did you join the group?

DP: 03, like August, around this, almost this time of year.

JR: Where did you learn to play music?

DP: I?ve been playing since I was like five years old. I was playing the choir at five years old. I always knew ever since I can ever remember.

JR: What other groups did you play with besides 911/Familiar Faces?

DP: Before 911 there was Northeast Groovers, Raw Image, Pure Elegance, Obsession, there?s a number of groups.

JR: Do you have any side group that you are playing with now at the same time as FF?

DP: Gospel group Heaven Sent. I play in church, the Union Temple Baptist Church. That?s about it now.

JR: Other than entertainment, what purpose does GoGo have do you think?

DP: Entertain, as far as entertaining?

JR: Yeah, what do you think is the purpose of GoGo? Entertainment is obvious... I mean do you think there's another purpose to GoGo?

DP: Represent DC.

JR: Okay. What do you think makes GoGo so popular?

DP: The nation, the national's capital. DC natives, metropolitan area. If you weren't born and raised on it, you won?t enjoy it. So it's a DC thing.

JR: What do you think about it primarily being a DC thing?

DP: It's a good thing, it's a bad thing. The good - it's always home. The bad - it's not nationwide everywhere like R&B, Jazz, Gospel. It's not like that. It's not like that. I think it should be, but it's not a music that grew on everybody.

JR: Do you think a group of musicians from outside this area can be an authentic, be considered authentic by DC natives as a GoGo group? Like if someone formed a GoGo group of say people from Pennsylvania?

DP: You're asking would it work?

JR: Yeah, do you think it would be possible for them to be considered authentic or...

DP: It wouldn't be the same, it wouldn't be the same vibe.

JR: How do you define GoGo as?

DP: Always related to African music, drums. I think of GoGo drums, Congos.

JR: What instrumentation should a GoGo band have to have?

DP: A lot of pockets. Keep the crowd going. Keep everybody moving.

JR: How do you define Pockets & Sockets?

DP: How do I define them?

JR: Yeah.

DP: It depends on whatever mood I'm in. How I feel when I play. I could be coming out of a song? I may look out and see how everybody's date is sitting around and I try to get them up on their feet. If they're already dancing, I try to get them dancing harder.

JR: Do you think all music performed by a GoGo band is GoGo?

DP: (Laughing). Once it's got the GoGo beat on it, then it's GoGo.

JR: Does all GoGo music have to be dance music?

DP: Hmm, to me, it do. If it has a GoGo beat then it's danceable, you dance to it.

JR: What do you think of the current trend of some GoGo groups like TCB not really playing Congos at all?

DP: It's great because it catches all the younger crowd, high school kids, middle school kids, it's just a generation thing. So they're doing their thing so. When it's on the older circuit...

JR: What do you think needs to be done to maintain the tradition of GoGo for future generations?

DP: They need some guidance. Some of that has lost the touch of the true GoGo. It's not really...

JR: What do you think the true GoGo is that's being lost?

DP: It's not that many pockets being played by younger bands. There's a lot of noise making, it sounds to me... but that's the younger generation that's what they want, so that's what they get. That's what they pay to get. So older crowds, they're not going to go for that. When they get older, the younger generation, I don't know what they're going to expect. I don't know if it's going to be bad for them at one point. I guess it's kind of bad for them because the bands are not motivated to be true to get to the next level.

JR: What do you see as the future of GoGo as?

DP: I see the future of GoGo almost like, like a rap thing just IN DC. I don?t think it's going to go anywhere because bands; they're not willing to do what it takes to go to the next level.

JR: And what do you think it is that they need to do to?

DP: Bands need to come together and form this area together to get a unit to be able to go around the world or go national. Although people like Chuck Brown they have been over the world, but as far as the younger bands, they don't, they don't have what it take to travel.

JR: Trouble Funk too (has been around the world).

DP: Trouble Funk, EU.

JR: EU, yeah... What do you think about the way PA Tapes are distributed and paid?

DP: As far as listening, the sounds, whatever?

JR: Well, I mean in terms of as a musician, I mean as a member of a GoGo band, how would you rather... You know what the situation is now, you sell the master and then they sell it out and there are no royalties. Beyond that, do you prefer that more PA tapes? How many live performances should be put out by band say in a year?

DP: It would be nice if they put out, because like you said we don't get royalties, it's being sold.

JR: You just think commercial...

DP: Commercial CDs.

JR: Okay, how many studio albums do you think a band should make in a year?

DP: It depends on how they are laying the grooves down. They changing the grooves every couple of months then they can go out in the studio and a do a number of tracks put 'em out. Not bring them out until year to year so it's the same thing, may change up to a few ___s (something I can't hear), but that's about it with that.

JR: What made you decide to join a GoGo band? I mean you've been in a number of them.

DP: What started me off in a GoGo band?

JR: Yeah.

DP: My brother. He influenced me. He played the trombone. Talking about Quentin, which was "Footz" used to play drums for Rare Essence. What he did every show, I had tapes of them and I used to listen to the tapes, played the tapes. So that's how I got started with GoGo.

JR: Okay. What's your primary reason for playing? Is it simply for money or...

DP: Career. It's a job.

JR: So you plan to make this your career? Do you have another job now or is this...

DP: No, no other job. Playing drums.

JR: Yeah, I just know that some of the other guys who... I understand that GoGo like Funk is a lot of people, I mean you got eleven people playing at a time and that's a lot of people to split money between...

DP: Right, right.

JR: I mean that's one of the reasons that Funk went down after the 70s is because it's expensive to maintain, you know, that many people in a band.

DP: Yeah, it is.

JR: What do you think about the amount of cover songs that are played as opposed to original material?

DP: It's cool. It gets everybody warmed up, started off. You know, it's like, it's like exercising. You can't just go out there and go all out, you know, you got to warm them up. Let them tap their feet, nod their head and then they ain't necessarily move out on the floor. By the time they get on the floor, it's time to turn it up, give them what they want.

JR: What other styles of music do you incorporate in your playing?

DP: Gospel, Jazz, a little fusion and that's about it.

JR: What else do you listen to besides GoGo?

DP: All the time Gospel music and Jazz music: Chic Corea, Dave Weckl band, plus some fusion, basically Dave Weckl band, Dennis Chambers, people like that.

JR: What do you think defines a good performance?

DP: What defines a good performance from the band?

JR: Yeah.

DP: The energy in all the music. If the energy's in there once it's set from beginning to end; it's a good night, can't complain.

JR: What do you think is the connection between the audience and the band?

DP: The energy. You feed off, you feed off the crowd and each other. So you see everybody moving, we got some kind of connection going. Have to keep them going to the next level.

JR: How many people in the shows do you think you know personally outside of the band obviously?

DP: Wow! I can't count. Some people may know me, I don't know them, they just know of me, that type of situation, but there's quite a few...

JR: What do you think about the fact that some people associate GoGo with fighting and violence?

DP: I think it's just their opinion. I guess they're trying to label it the same way they label Rap as being violent. But it's all there to me, I mean you don't have to go out and put what you're saying on the CD, it's just music to make you feel good. Bob your head, dance to or something. A lot of people take music out of context these days. I think the artists need to go back in, all artists need to go back in, regroup and think about what they want to put out before they take it to a level they didn't intend it to go to. To prevent the violent thoughts, they need to know what they are saying in their lyrics before they stir up thoughts.

JR: What do you think about how Familiar Faces is right now?

DP: Laid back. We?re not the violent type. We're like the cool crew, like the pretty boys. We're not R. Kelly, you know were not that that type of vibe. Just party, have a good time.

JR: How do you see the future of Familiar Faces down the road as doing?

DP: I see the band doing a longevity type road, staying their own identity. It's not like the style will ever die out. I don't know how long each member will stay in the band, but the band should be around for a pretty long time.

JR: Is there anything more you wanted to say or ask me?

DP: How'd you get tied up in?

JR: When I was in college one of my fraternity brothers was a big Funk fan and he was white like me and he took another one of my fraternity brothers who was my closest friend to an Earth Wind, & Fire concert. And so he started listening to it and I started listening to Funk. I was into Funk more than he was. So I read about GoGo and I really honestly have only heard like one PA tape (Note: I am referring to SOULO 2001-06/10 St. Ames Church PA GoGo Slide) that I didn't like. I like music that cranks a lot. Well GoGo does more than any other music that I know of.

DP: So you like to keep moving?

JR: Yeah.

DP: Cool. What do your friends think about GoGo?

JR: Most of my friends think I'm weird and... I have a Cousin who I hadn't talked to in years because she lives far away and I emailed her my website and she?s like, "I didn?t know I had a Black Cousin."

DP: (Laughs).

JR: I was like, okay.

DP: It's cool and do you ever let her hear any GoGo tunes?

JR: Yeah, and when I've told people that this is what I want to do my work on for my thesis people have asked me and I've played some for them.

DP: Who else have you interviewed other than this band, Familiar Faces?

JR: This is it 'cause like I figure aside from the band members, I plan to interview people who are regulars. It's more a matter of logistical difficulty of going up to different people and having time to actually interview them. I am also planning to even though Boolah's not performing with you guys, interview him and Duane Face who sat in while Doc was away.

DP: Right.

JR: I guess I am open to as many people who know about GoGo as possible.

DP: I think it's real cool that you decided to do us.

JR: Well you know I went to the Chuck Brown concert, the one that's out on DVD. That was the best concert I've ever been to and 911 stood out as the best.

DP: They left their energy with you.

JR: Yeah.

DP: That's what it's all about, that's the energy, that's what I was talking about. Once you ___ them out, you can't go anywhere, it's there. It's what you always expect when you come out to see that one band. That same energy that they left with you, maybe like 2001 it's still with you now. I know they didn't sound like this. They're not the band that you're doing your thesis now, you know. I know it's not the same band, but...

JR: I know that like Rah and 32 aren't members. (Rah is supposed to be) The new lead talker for Raw Image (a rumor, but it never happened.)

DP: I heard that also. The guy that played last night (Smoke), all three of us were in Northeast Groovers together with Rah and 32. Also the female that sang last night, Michelle (Blackwell), she played too.

JR: Oh, really?

DP: It was like a Northeast Groovers reunion for me, to be onstage with them two.

JR: You know Duane (Face) said that Groovers is his favorite band.

DP: Yeah, he keeps telling me. That?s a lot of energy right there... by the first song, by the time the first song was over... but I enjoy Familiar Faces just as much. I've got nothing to complain about. I am ___ relaxed guys, Pooh don't need no publicity? (This sentence is really hard to make out, I am not certain of the words).

JR: (Laughs).

DP: I mean all our publicity.

JR: (Laughs). You were twelve last night... (According to Donnell's teasing of Pooh)

DP: My age doesn?t matter... it could be twelve, fifteen, thirteen, the oldest I?ve been is sixteen. It's all cool. So when does your thesis come out?

JR: I have another semester of classes, and then after that I take comprehensive exams, and then I defend my proposal and then I actually work on the thesis. The sooner the better, it may be that there is more stuff that I need to ask and I?ll come back up after I take my exams. I would say attending performances is fun too.

DP: Right. It's cool man. How do you like, enjoy coming out every night? It's almost like you're a band member, you're at all the shows. You're just not physically playing.

JR: I'd love it if I could do it all the time, but waking up on time to go to classes or stuff like that... I am hoping to continue actually working on this after I graduate because I am going to go for a doctorate (Note: I do plan to continue working on this, but I am not going to be pursuing a doctorate.) after this. I am hoping to go to a school in the area, I was looking at GW but their... the head of that... he said that the scores they are looking for are REALLY high.

DP: Oh, okay. Not so good. Extremely high scores. Then again, you know somebody...

JR: Actually, I was born at their hospital, GW...

DP: I was born at GW also. The old one (hospital) before it moved. You know I had to tell Donnell the he can't say I was born last week or something, you know he got a lot of jokes.

JR: Yeah, I don't know if you remember he was talking about when we where here a couple of weeks ago.

DP: About your blog?

JR: Well no, he was talking about his family was reading what I posted and talking about dating Michelle, and they were like, "You can get into trouble for what you?re saying" and he said, "It's just jokes, it's not serious."

DP: Right, he got a lot of jokes, a whole lot of jokes. He's a confident dude, a real good dude. I'm glad I met him. The band got a lot of, a lot of laid back dudes.

JR: You know I feel like in a lot of ways that I'm lucky because I got to work with a bunch of people who are so willing to work with me and to...

DP: There's a lot that won't, they won't give you the time of day...

JR: Yeah, actually I don't know if you read about, there was an article about this rapper named Blyss

DP: Blyss?

JR: in the Washington Post like last month and he's a DC rapper and he's trying to make it big. And so the guy who's writing this article went with him to a show and he was taking notes and they kicked, threw him out of the show.

DP: Because he was writing notes?

JR: Yes. When I went to the cook out, I went to the front and I took pictures of the front of the Mad Chef...

DP: M-hmm.

JR: Just 'cause I was going to put them on my website and they came out, they're like, "Are you a reporter? Can I have your business card?" I was like, "No, I?m just here to work on a thesis..." (I can't hear the rest of the sentence.) That's the same type of thing I think they were worried about that was a week after, a week later was when Ant (lead talker of Elevation Band) died and then actually right before the cook out there was another guy who apparently was a regular (poster) on PA Palace named Kenny who had been killed. After leaving the Mad Chef; he was killed in a drive by afterwards. Apparently it was something that started there.

DP: Oh okay, Wow! Rough.

JR: Alright.

DP: Thanks for the interview.

One of the things he talked about was that he used to be a member of Northeast Groovers; he said that with Smoke and Michelle Blackwell at Wednesday's performance, that it was like a reunion and gave him lots of energy when playing. Doc agreed - he said that all they needed was Rah and it would be like being the Northeast Groovers. We also discussed the ongoing rumor that Rah will be the new lead talker for Raw Image. Doc said that they (Raw Image) are just noise to him, that they have no identity. He said it was better in the 80s when every band had their own identity. I also asked Pooh about what he thought of the name change from 911 to Familiar Faces - he said, "It was new; the members come from all over." Pooh also said that he was comfortable with the interview because he was a communications major. I asked him if he graduated yet, given that he had played three seasons of minor league baseball and he said not yet, that he would be graduating soon.

Familiar Faces
The line up was: Mike, Donnell, Doc, Dwayne (arrived during the second song), BJ and Pooh. Donnell started off the first set by saying "Every Thursday Familiar Faces is here, and Jordan. He must like the food (I was eating at the time). I think he uses the same plate every time." The food is good - I have tried their crab cake and steak and cheese sandwiches. The first set was good.

During the break, Donnell asked me what was up - I told him about interviewing Pooh and he laughed. I talked with Mike, asking why he was called Black Elvis, which I heard here. Donnell said, "He doesn't want people to know he's Black Elvis because Black Elvis said some bad things about 911." Mike said, "I am not Black Elvis, but I know the guy." I asked him about the other nickname mentioned, "Dickie". He said, "That is my real nickname." Donnell told a story about how he called Mike and Mike's sister answered and asked him if he wanted to speak with Dickie. Donnell said that he had to think for a minute that Dickie was Mike.

Mike said that a British Sex Reality TV show wanted to follow him around based on his website, Rearview2.com, which is dedicated to the female buttocks. I told him about the FHM model known for her "perfect" butt - Vida Guerra. He told me about another model (not appropriate to post here). Donnell was familiar with Vida, said that he didn't like her, "She has a face like a cheerleader." I said, "She's not known for her face." I also said that she dated Jeremy Shockey.

Donnell told a story of how Donnell had asked BJ (who ate pasta as Donnell told this story) how the food was and BJ replied "Alright." Donnell responded by saying, "Hey BJ, this is Greg, the owner (who stood right next to him at the time)." BJ denied the story was true (and the food is certainly much better than alright).

Mike said BJ should sing, DeeDee said, "You could save Donnell the embarrassment." Mike responded by singing Stand by Your Man. Donnell said, "People have told me they like my singing."

A couple of girls came up during the break and one asked where the band was, Donnell said, "They're on break." She asked if she could go up to the mic and sing, and Donnell said "Go ahead." During the second set, a group of girls including those came up and danced for a while. Someone was filming, but he was more concerned with customers than the band, it was probably for some type of advertisement. Also during the second set, Boolah showed up, said hello to BJ and sat down by him. When Mike saw him, he said, "What are you, a genie? Did you just pop up from thin air?"
Boolah (sitting in audience), BJ, Pooh, Mike, Doc, Donnell, Dwayne
Later, Donnell joked that "Boolah was stalking them." They appeared to be done, and a guy in the audience with a woman asked them to "Play another song, at least a half-song." They performed an entire slow ballad for them to slow dance to. Then they performed their typical closing song, Prince's Purple Rain. I decided to shoot some videos from this. I was only looking through the viewfinder. Doc walked off the stage with Boolah following. After they walked out, Mike joked about "A band member walking out who needed a breast reduction" (he referred to Boolah, not Doc). DeeDee laughed about it. When I looked up after capturing the movie (it only captures three minutes at a time), during which Donnell said, "Jordan's going to go to Rearview2 and never come back to any of our shows," I noticed that BJ and Pooh had switched instruments! I decided to keep shooting - Donnell said, "Take the picture Jordan, I don't know how much more of this I can take!" Donnell encouraged them to "get all their fantasies out."
Pooh, BJ, Mike, Dwayne (behind Mike), Donnell
All pictures taken by and Copyright - Jordan Rich (Note: Pictures artificially brightened by flash, it was darker than it appears.)
He joked about their gospel style and started to sing a gospel song. When Doc walked back in, Donnell said, "A lot has happened since you left." Donnell said that "BJ even has the drummer's look down."

After the performance, Donnell and Mike talked about Mike's girl "Miss Brown" and her friends at Takoma Station on Wednesday. Mike talked about when he was at Howard (University), he met the girl of his dreams, but she dumped him after he didn't make it on to Star Search. Pooh and Donnell kept joning on how he didn't make it, with Donnell doing fake hysterics - "I didn't make it on Star Search!" Donnell said this was another of Mike's "Fish that got away stories." Mike even knew who won on Star Search, Bo Williams. Bo was the only one to beat some competitor named Stan, who wore white shoes. This got Mike to talk about that scene from National Lampoon's Vacation where Randy Quaid's character gave Chevy Chase a pair of white stacks and thought he was really giving him something nice. Donnell said he had never seen that movie, Mike even saw it in the theatre. Donnell said he understood, apparently Mike went with a couple of his friends and saw the movie after smoking weed. Mike talked about he did perform at the Apollo, but not on TV. This further lead to a discussion on how New York hates DC. Donnell and BJ talked about a show at the Ritz in New York City where Rare Essence toured with Shabba Ranks - the audience threw quarters. Mike said that when he was at the Apollo, they told him to say he was from "Forest Heights, MD not DC" because the audience hates DC. BJ, Donnell, and Mike said that that's because "DC is not on New York's jock, that Baltimore, the West Coast, everywhere else follows New York."

Donnell was curious about the terrible parking in the area, what would happen if there was a huge turnout? Donnell also talked about instead of everyone hanging around waiting to be paid, that they will be paid once a week, maybe starting as early as August 1st. That's unfortunate for me, as them hanging out having these discussions is great for me.

Unfortunately, apparently there was a miscommunication between Donnell and I as I was to meet up with Donnell later to observe him going over the mix of the live recording, but when I got to Night Flight Studio, there was no one there. They had finished before we left, and Donnell and I had not conferred.