Fantastic Negrito: Work With What You Got
Jon D’Auria
Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, who goes by the stage moniker Fantastic Negrito, has already lived many lifetimes in his 55 year-span on this planet. Being the eighth of fifteen children in his family, he spent his adolescence running wild in Oakland, selling drugs, and causing mischief until the day he discovered the music of Prince and decided that he had found his platform to express himself. Sneaking into the music classrooms of Cal Berkley, he taught himself the guitar and piano and set forth on his path, which led to releasing his first album on Interscope Records as Xavier in 1996. Things were looking good for Dphrepaulezz until a near fatal car crash left him on life support and in a coma for three weeks. Doctors didn’t expect him to survive.
After a long break from music while recovering, he reemerged in 2014 with a new outlook and a new persona, leaving his old identity behind and finding his voice as Fantastic Negrito. Despite only having 30% movement of his strumming hand, he continued on with his guitar playing by adapting a fingerstyle strum that varies from gentle and dynamic to violent and emotive. His songs began moving people all over the world, gaining critical acclaim. He won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2017 for his album The Last Days of Oakland, again in 2019 for Please Don't Be Dead, and yet again in 2021 for Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?
In 2022 he released his most personal work yet with White Jesus Black Problems, an opus focused on his family’s past full of passion, musical swagger, and modern takes on blues, rock, and soul. The album resonated so much with him that he decided to remake the songs acoustically, which resulted in his recent release of Grandfather Courage, recorded in one session using three other musicians and two microphones placed in the room. His unique playing style and voice as a songwriter has captivated fans everywhere and has also caught the attention of some iconic musicians, as he recently recorded a record with Sting, and is set to hit the road supporting Bruce Springsteen later this year.
With music so powerful and impactful, Fantastic Negrito requires big tones to match his energy, and that’s where his gear comes into play. He’ll be the first to tell you that he catches inspiration from his use of his Sea Machine and Park Fuzz Sound pedals, which he relied on heavily on all of his recent albums. Those effects paired with his unique strumming and burly, tube-filled tone have become the cornerstone of his sound and the perfect accompaniment to his emotion-filled vocals. As a pure creator at heart who has defied all odds, and even death, his fearless approach to music continues to push boundaries and inspire so many. And luckily, he has a lot of songs left inside him still waiting to get out.
What inspired you to strip down and reimagine your songs from White Jesus Black Problems on Grandfather Courage?
To be honest, that album was extremely challenging for a lot of people. Even just the title made people think that the content would be more polarizing. In naming it White Jesus Black Problems, I think people wanted the bad guy, the victim, the savior, and all the usual characters, but this was so different than any of that. And on the other side, some people were already just pissed about the title itself. I got plenty of hate mail over it. It was so intriguing and interesting for me to peek into the human psyche like that, so I wanted to approach it again and see what happened. I recorded it so fast, probably all within a day. We set up mics and I hit it with my touring band, which was a change because I never really record with them. I wanted to reimagine this material as someone else would. The topic is very compelling, very interesting, and very American. It’s the idea of where we all came from and how this country began and where we are now and what we’re doing with that information.
Did you find some new magic in these already vibrant songs in bringing them to life acoustically?
Definitely. It was way stripped down with no big effects or anything, just four guys in a room with two microphones. My approach was that if I could no longer recognize each song anymore, then I had achieved my goal. The magic was reimagining them to a point to where they were no longer what they started as, in a really WTF kind of way. Different tempos, different feels. I used an upright bass, I used an old out of tune piano, and I got to it. I did those songs as weird as I possibly could. I came up with different guitar licks and different riffs and we did it.
What was the initial writing process like for White Jesus Black Problems?
I stumbled upon the story of my seventh-generation grandparents in the 1750’s doing the most punk rock shit that you could possibly do at that time. They were an interracial couple on a tobacco plantation in Southern Virginia. Once I found their story, I just got out of the way and let those songs write themselves. I always tell people that it was like being on a high-speed train that was going 200 mph and I either had to get on it, miss it or get run over by it. I decided to get on it and see where it took me. It took me to some places creatively and sonically that I never imagined I would go. That’s the beauty of creativity and being uncomfortable with it. If you’re uncertain of where it’s taking you, that’s probably right where you should go.
How do you typically approach songwriting? Does it start with a lyric or a guitar riff, or a mix of both?
I write my songs by staying out of the way and by plugging into the Sea Machine [laughs]. I’m not just shamelessly plugging y’all, I mean that. Love that pedal. But really, I never try to get in the way of my creativity. Inspiration may come in any form, and you need to be ready for it – whether it’s through a guitar riff in my head or some words that come to me as lyrics. You can’t concern yourself with whether you’re going to write a hit record or if people are going to like it, because those are all the bad things. If that’s what you’re trying to achieve with your music, then all the power to you. My thing is letting the process do its thing and not stepping on its toes. This music has to come from life and experiences and meeting people. When I’m just walking around Oakland like I am right now, I might get inspired by a car driving by, a sound I hear in the streets, some conversation I have with a stranger, anything really. You have to be open to it at all times.
As a guitarist and songwriter, what attracts you to the blues?
It is one of the most sincere forms of music and it’s the soundtrack of America. It was music that had a purpose of healing and a purpose of expression in a way that people had to express themselves in order to survive. And even to find the celebration and beauty in all of that hurt and struggle. You can find humanity in blues music, and I respect it down to my core. The purpose of being an artist is pushing the boundaries of what you can. Blues is definitely the base and the grandfather to my music.
You add a very modern edge to blues rock. How would you describe your sound in your own words?
My 7-year-old daughter recently asked me that same question and I knew I had to answer her. I told her it’s blues, rock, funk, rhythm, booze, alligator shoes, hand claps, foot stomps and all of that. It’s Americana, it’s black roots, it’s all the good stuff. I usually don’t like to answer that question, but when my little girl asked, I just had to. So you get that answer here too.
Was guitar the first instrument you started on?
I feel like I’m still starting on guitar [laughs]. I actually started playing piano first, but instruments can be boring at times, and I never had the discipline to really play the way I hear some of the players play. I’m just an artist and I could’ve been a painter. I’ve always just needed to express myself in some way and music is the path that found me. This was the medium. I don’t necessarily have a love for instruments, but I have a love for artistry and creativity. I know that’s really painful for some people, especially musicians to hear, but it’s just my need to create something all the time. I don’t want to do it; I just have to do it. When I wake up in the morning there it is, just staring at me. As I’ve gotten older, I see it as being a contributor and that’s a good thing. We’re all searching for what we’re doing here and what our purpose is, and I believe it is to contribute and to assist and aid others. Be productive. We all want to see creation. Why do you think people travel from all over the world to see the pyramids in Egypt or the artwork in Rome? It’s because we want to see what other people have created. That’s why we’re here.
You use fingerstyle and vary your percussiveness in a unique way. Tell us about your playing technique.
Well, I only have about 30% usage of my hands and that’s where my current playing style comes from. I lost most of the use of my playing hand in an accident and I feel like there’s something very true to the blues with that. You know, you gotta work with what you got, and this is what I got now. I would describe my technique as kinda violent or brutal in a way. It’s nasty and it’s ugly. It’s almost insecure because it knows it can’t do all these things, so it just hacks away. I’m not even supposed to be playing, according to doctors. This hand was supposed to be amputated when I was in a coma. I can’t hold a pick anymore, so I use my fingers. I can’t move my wrist and I can barely move my strumming fingers. I think of my grandmother from southern Virginia who always told me to work with what I got. Stop complaining and be grateful for what you have and use it. Where do you think chitlins and soul food came from? It’s all those people had to use in the kitchen, so they made it gourmet.
After almost losing your life and not thinking you’d ever be able to perform music again, how does it feel to win multiple Grammy awards and have your music be so loved by many?
I’m here to contribute and do my part and I’m here to help inspire in any way that I can. I was counted out so many times in my life and I’m not even supposed to be here. But I am here and it’s all possible. None of this is about me, it’s all about the bigger picture and the collective.
Who are your greatest influences on guitar?
Oh boy, that’s tough. Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Rev. Utah Smith. Reverend only made two records, but it’s like damn! I always like unorthodox players and those who do their own thing.
Which EarthQuaker Devices pedals are you currently using?
Even right now as I’m recording new stuff, I’m a student of the fuzz pedal, so it’s all about the Park. I really mean that, I’m so on that right now, man. It’s so beautiful and I used that all over White Jesus Black Problems. I remember somebody asked me how I got the sound in the bridge of “Oh Betty,” and I used the Park pedal through a Moog and it honestly sounds like a damn bomb went off in the studio. It’s kinda this warm bomb, but it’s definitely a bomb. Other than that, I use the Sea Machine a ton on everything I do. I actually just recorded an album with Sting where I used the Sea Machine the whole time.
Wow, what was it like working with Sing?
It was so easy working with him. It was like being with an old friend with no frills or anything. He came to my studio and we had some Japanese food and then got down to work. He came out to west Oakland with no hesitation. I love and respect that. I talked to him on the phone and told him where I was and he said, sure, I’ll come over there tomorrow. And he flew in like it was nothing. It’s a cool record that should be out early summer.
What is it that you love about EQD effects?
They feel like some magic you’d find in a secondhand store back in the 70’s, but in the modern era. That’s what I like about them. They’re made really well, they do their job, and they sound like nothing else. There’s an accessibility about them, but they’re still really far out.
Being a songwriter and vocalist, how can effects and pedals impact your writing?
That’s a slippery slope right there because you have to look at them as tools. Kinda like money. Money is a tool, as I was telling my nephew the other day. But effects are tools that allow you to color things in a little more. I do think that with something like a delay pedal that if you start messing around with them they can take you to a different dream state. I start my music with nothing and then I start coloring. Pedals add some inspiration when needed and colors always.
Describe a Fantastic Negrito performance from your own perspective.
Oh glory, hallelujah, it’s like a church without the religion. It’s like a spiritual soul funk revival. It’s some rock n’ roll shit. It’s different. It has to be a spiritual trip for me. It can be uncomfortable, but I always say that you have to be comfortable being uncomfortable. But in the way that I hope it changes your life and makes you cry, or else I’ve failed. That’s what I want my experience to be.
What’s coming up next for you?
I’m heading out on tour in May opening up for Bruce Springsteen. That’ll be crazy to play with someone like that. It’ll be way different. The old guys like me I guess [laughs]. I’m just grateful for everything in life no matter what it is. I’m grateful for all these opportunities and I’m grateful for having a chance. I’m here making this music when I shouldn’t be and I don’t take that for granted for a damn second. I’m gonna just keep creating until I take my last breath. You can believe that.
Jon D'Auria has been in music journalism for over 16 years as an editor, columnist, staff writer, photographer, web editor, and gear editor. He has conducted over 400 interviews and has been lucky enough to connect with most of his bass heroes. When he's not writing, he keeps busy gigging, running, reading, hanging out with his two huskies, and attempting to teach his toddler slap bass.
