Exclusive interview with Doug Wimbush/Living Colour

Doug Wimbish hails from Hartford, Connecticut. He grew up to the sounds of the 60s and 70s music strumming in his ears and became inspired with exposure to such greats as Miles Davis, Sly And The Family Stone and George Clinton. Doug was given his first guitar at the age of 12 and played both guitar and bass, but by the age of 17 the bass was where his passion lived. With Doug's thirst for music, his mission began. He attended workshops at the local Artist Collective and studied theory at the Hartford Conservatory. It was there he met Jackie McClean, Jaki Byard and Skip McDonald. Directly out of high school, Doug began playing with a local band Wood Brass And Steel, who released an album in 1976 entitled, "Welcome To The Party" for All Platinum Records.

His career took off, as many do, in New York City. There he cut his teeth as the bassist in the house band of the legendary rap label Sugar Hill, backing Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five on their epochal "The Message" album, among many others. As the '80s wore on, though, Sugar Hill found itself overtaken by hip-hop innovations outside its stable of artists, and its house band had already formed a productive relationship with British dub reggae experimentalist Adrian Sherwood. Wimbish, guitarist Skip McDonald, and drummer Keith LeBlanc began working on a variety of projects with Sherwood, including backing ex-Pop Group member Mark Stewart on his solo recordings and issuing their own 12" singles under the name Fats Comet.

"Major Malfunction" was released