Q’s With: How Music (And The Clarinet) Found Bootsy Collins And Music Will’s Finding Kids

Bootsy Collins is indisputably one of the funkiest, most soulful bassists on the planet — and how could he be anything else playing in James Brown and George Clinton’s bands?

So when Pollstar found out Bootsy was working with Music Will, the nation’s largest music education nonprofit providing musical instruments, teacher training, curriculum, and resources to public schools across the country over the last 20 years and impacting over 1.2 million students, we couldn’t resist interviewing him for our NextGen issue.

Here, Bootsy, who recently keynoted the organization’s 11th Annual Modern Band Summit, discusses how he was inspired to play music and helps kids find their inspiration and why he played clarinet in his high school marching band.

Pollstar: Where are you now?
Bootsy Collins: I’m in Cincinnati.

How did you develop a love for music and become one of the most legendary bass players alive?
Coming up in Cincinnati music was really the thing, music was everywhere. Although we didn’t have a radio or TV, you couldn’t go anywhere and not hear music — plus, my brother, he was 8 years older than I, had a band and they would practice at the house. That was my first draw right there. I loved to watch them practice and that’s what started me wanting to play music.

What instrument did your brother play?
He played guitar. My mother was real positive about whatever we did. She just amen’d it, like “Cool if that’s what you love to do, go ahead and do it.” She allowed us to pursue our dreams and there wasn’t any resistance to us playing music.

What was the first instrument you played?
Guitar. I was 9 years old and sneaking my brother’s guitar when he would do his paper route. Until one time he caught me and that was the end of the story. I made up my mind to buy a guitar and asked my mother, which I knew she couldn’t afford. I told her I would get a job. I got a paper route like my brother and got paid $2.50 a week, and thought it was a billion dollars. So my mother said, “Save your money and we’ll go to Sears & Roebuck.” I picked the guitar out. It was $29.99, a Silvertone Guitar. I thought it was the best-looking thing ever. We tried everything to get the guitar and the guy was saying my mother didn’t have credit and it was policy. I told Mamma, “Let me talk to him.” I was pretty good with talking to people and letting them know that my word is my bond and if I say I’m gonna pay you, I’m gonna pay you. I told him I would bring him $1.50 a week until we paid it off. And that’s exactly what I did.

It’s interesting you had that drive. When you work with some of these kids with Music Will, can you teach that kind of passion?
It’s beyond teaching. Sometimes talents are there that need to be recognized by other people before it comes out, and that’s what I see in kids when I talk to them or mentor them. You have to give them the right to self-expression. A lot of kids have an idea of what they want to do, like music, but as far as it being their thing, they’re not sure yet. A lot of kids need that encouragement, and that’s where Music Will comes in.

How did you learn to play?
I wasn’t really taught. I was drawn in and got a chance to meet and play with people who gave me the inspiration to continue. When I went to school, that helped me even more because I joined the marching band with all the other musicians, so one thing just sparked another. And that’s what Music Will is really good at facilitating. Any time they call about doing something, I’m up for it because I know what that means to a kid, and I know what it did for me.

What instrument were you playing in the marching band?
I wanted to play electric guitar, but knew that wasn’t what was happening in school. That didn’t stop me, I decided at least I can be around people playing music, learning music and reading music. I was fortunate there was a guy on the second floor who played clarinet who said he would help me during the summer. When I told my friends, they would laugh because it was funny I was giving up all this fun and go to summer school. For me, it was like, “Well, y’all just go ahead and laugh, I’m getting ready to do what I wanna do.” I had made up my mind to be the first-seat clarinet once I started summer school, and it paid off.

It’s fascinating you played clarinet and pivoted and took a different path. Is that another thing kids can learn: When an opportunity opens up, seize it?
Yeah, that’s a definite part of my teaching. You could throw your hands up in the air and be done with it, but it made me try that much harder. Music Will has to work extra hard sometimes with kids who give up too quickly. Nowadays, we have to instill that in kids because there’s so many things to distract them. If you really have an urge toward music, don’t let anything stop you because music is the greatest language known to man, and it reaches everyone.