Soulful Heroes

Chico’s Slow Car Crash makes original music that emulates the greats and forges new paths.
By El Muerto

"You got your heroes, but you can’t be your hero" – Omarr Escoffie

Slow Car Crash—consisting of the core group of Omarr Escoffie, Paige Holmes and Christina Brown—have released a new CD called Ambivalence. The group is anything but ambivalent, as attested to by these stunning tracks. Within this effort you will hear the indefinable sound of Slow Car Crash. At times metallic, then sweetly expressive, Omarr and "the Girls," Paige and Christina, don’t always wear their influences on their sleeves, but in this CD, as well as their rare live shows, they express a sort of romantic funkiness that is unique and reflects a gift for meaning and a talent that is hard to come by. I sat down (in mid-afternoon Duffy’s, so please excuse the interruptions) to talk to them (accompanied by near-constant laughter) about their plans for the future, their CD release and some (don’t miss ‘em!) upcoming shows.

What makes you so funky?

Omarr: I’m the kind of person who, over the years, I’ve been into one thing or another. In ‘93 or so, I met a drummer from Memphis, and he turned me onto a lot of what I listen to—a lot of Fusion, a lot of Motown. My first love is old school rap, especially KRS-1, but I love a lot of different music.

I noticed on the first track of your CD, it sounds like a live drummer...

Omarr: That’s the same guy! Actually that drum track was recorded around ‘95/’96—somewhere around there—in Burbank. I re-mastered it, brought up the sound levels a little bit... He’s a great drummer.

It seems like you guys pay a little tribute to the old school, especially live. You seem to acknowledge the greats.

Omarr: You should see the live shows now, we’re getting our moves together... like this movie we saw, Shindig, it’s a variety show type-thing from the ‘60s.

Paige: We’ll be bringing up the moves on stage!

It’s obvious that you’re minimalists both in your live performances and on your CD.

Paige: Now we have just the two girls and Omarr—I think it’s going to add to the shows. Before, when we had the extra people, it was just too much energy to actually do what we’re trying to get across.

Christina: We’re the core, less is more!

The average Joe, it seems, doesn’t always get it, when you’re trying to pull back and let the beat keep rockin’. It’s really powerful, but it has to be handled the right way in terms of sound. One of the best shows I ever heard you do was at Stormy’s, partly because the bass and the overall thump was right up in there, the way it should be.

Christina: We got a great response on that Stormy’s show.

Omarr: I agree. I’ve only heard only good things about that show. We really filled it up, everybody showed up that night.

So you’re dropping the turntablist for a while?

Paige: We’re really narrowing down to true professionalism. Everyone that we’ve worked with has been really great, we’ve had a good time with all of them, but we’re on for bigger and better things.

Omarr: I’d like to maybe, someday, get a full band, maybe add some strings, something that changes the sound in different ways, not a traditional band sound. It’s a vision thing.

Christina: I like the fact that we’re not just another "rock band," we’re really growing right now. We’re excited about that.

Do you feel that sequenced beats fully reflect the vision of the band vis-à-vis using a live drummer, a live band?

Omarr: My influences have a lot to do with the hip-hop and R&B, which doesn’t employ a real live band. There’s a lot of sampling and there’s a lot that a drum machine can do that a live drummer can’t—modulated drums for example. But that’s not to say that that’s not something we’ll get at some point. It’s an era of the band; maybe in a year or two, we’ll change it. I’m not about sticking to one thing forever. Reviewers say that we don’t stick to one style...

To me, that’s a compliment.

Christina: You can appeal to all sorts of people... you can add elements.

[Interview is temporarily interrupted by the appearance of a local TV newsman. He makes his way over to our table, presumably to rub shoulders with the band and to pump the girls for info on some assorted hotties]

What about falsetto?

Omarr: On the CD, that was an attempt. That was a bit of Smokey, Marvin Gaye, definitely Prince. Falsetto’s tough. I try to have really high highs and low lows. I like to have variety.

Christina: That wraps up Omarr’s personality, too. We all have a bit of the perfectionist in us.

Paige: That’s our goal: To work on our stage act, take it out of town.

Omarr: Except for getting hammered.

Christina: We’ll do a show for Betty Ford...

Paige: If they give us free beer! "Are the drinks free, do we get a bar tab?"

I heard you played at the Elks Cub.

Christina: [uproarious laughter] It was OK. It was really a different kind of crowd. They were more like into playing volleyball, barbecuing. People gathered around now and then and danced, but we were sort of like background music.

Omarr: It was a scar that you recover from eventually.

Paige: We gotta work on that backyard party thing.

Omarr: We took our shoes off..

Paige: There was an eight-year-old singing Garth Brooks... he was great!

Christina: How about that time when we had to censor our show?

Omarr: We were over in Orland! We were playing for some "don’t do drugs" thing. Later I regretted it. We should have just left all the "damns" and "bitches" in.

Do you guys hold hands and pray before your shows?

Omarr: We do the football thing. You know, "Break!"

Paige: We drink tequila.

Christina: It’s like holy water!

Before you do a show, do you fill your hearts with love for your fellow human beings?

Paige: I’m usually really scared and freaked and wanna drink a lot, but all in all, yes.

Is the message of your group positive and meaningful?

Christina: Most definitely. Just have fun and forget everything else.

Paige: Lyrically, definitely. We have a lot of hope—give or take a few…

I notice a lot of Philosophy going on...

Omarr: That’s what’s going on in our name, you can take it a lot of ways: like a love affair, a tragic death. My friend’s dad was dying of cancer and he told me, "My family’s going through a slow car crash." That was an ode to him and his father, because they were good to me, they were like my extended parents.

[Omarr excuses himself to go the bathroom, pausing beforehand to order more beer (that’s dedication). In his absence, the girls confide their utmost admiration of him and his musical vision. It’s clear that this is no ordinary group, and that their devotion to each other and to their music will prove more than fruitful.]

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