Click to read a great interview with Chuck Wild about his music – and the extremely popular Liquid Mind project. The interview was done in April by webpage Localbandforhire.com;
Chuck at what age did you begin to play music?When I was 4 years old, I was diagnosed with a congenital hip problem that required me to not bear weight on my right leg for 2 years. You can imagine I became a bit fidgety at that age, so my late Mother and Father hired a wonderful gal by the name of Edna Amos to take care of me during that period. Edna would carry me downstairs to the piano every day and teach me simple pieces like Chopsticks and Heart and Soul. As well, my Mom had studied music at Wellesley College and was an accomplished pianist, so I had the treat of hearing her play often. I started piano lessons at age 6 as soon as I was healed from the hip problem. I studied piano for 10 years, and started singing in church choirs at the age of 6 as well. Though my college degree is a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from the University of Kansas, I always took lots of music courses in parallel. I’ve continued my music education at UCLA Extension over the past 20 years, studying composition, harmony, counterpoint, composing to picture, orchestration, etc.Your earlier career includes studio and live work, how did you break into that?After serving as a Navy officer from 1968-72 (ages 21-25), I was anxious to give earning my living from music a try, so I joined a band in Kansas City, which eventually went on the road. After a few years on the road, I wound up (out of work) in a small town (300 population) called Bailey, NC, where there was actually a wonderful and well-equipped recording studio, mostly used by blues and R&B bands. I offered to work full time for them practically for free, in return for cleaning the studio, and some engineering lessons from the owner, Richard Royall, who was a fine producer/engineer. So, in short, it was offering to intern that was my first break. I actually lived out of my van for a year during that period, sleeping in the van or the recording studio office in a sleeping bag, and showering in the studio bathroom.
Read it all here.