I didn't think I could play in a band. It just wasn't an option - all band members were men, and bandleaders were men.
If you're a musician, there's no instrument that can be withheld from you. If you're drawn to it, develop the talent for it.
Sly always had us rehearsing, and he always had something planned out that he wanted us to do. So it wasn't ever like, 'Well what should we work on?' It was never that. He always had the plan, 'This is what we're going to do today, shoop shoop shoop shoop,' and everybody's minds were in the same direction.
I know the songs that Sly wrote still have the meaning for those that are living today that weren't even around when we started playing before, in the beginning. His lyrics, to me, if you listen to them, they can form a lifestyle that will leave you a happier person, a better person on this planet. It's just lyrics to live by.
I never thought for one second I'd be able to play with a real band. When I was in high school, I went through a lot of bad treatment and was called a lot of names by boys because I wanted to play. Sly was different.
I saw 'Rolling Stone' magazine once, and they were talking about the top 50 songs, and there wasn't one Sly song; how does that happen? But, Sly isn't the type to brown nose for props. He's always known what he had, what he was capable of; I'm just proud that he took the time and effort to put it to music.
