SM: How did Erotic Exotic enter the picture?
GC: Erotic Exotic began as a project and not as a band. Actually 3 of us were the back up musicians for the original dance group “Exposé”. I had become very close friends with their producer, Luis Martinee, and their manager, Frank Diaz, who owned Pantera Records. They had a small 8 track studio which they gave me the keys to and I would record there late at night.
One day, we recorded a demo of a song called “Take Me as I Am”. It was a Freestyle 80’s song with rock guitars added to the mix. The original idea was to sell it to one of the Freestyle groups that were up and coming at the time, but once we finished it, we knew we had a hit on our hands and decided to keep it.
We tried to get Pantera Records to record the song in a professional studio, but they felt the song needed more work. So we decided to finance it ourselves and recorded it at Sunshine Studios in Ft. Lauderdale in one overnight session. By this time our band had grown to five guys and Joeyboy Records, which was an indie label in Miami, released the song in 1986.
The song hit the radio and, with a lot of promoting from our friends, it took off. About 3 months later, we were signed to Atlantic Records. We released our 2nd single called “L.O.V.E” in 1987 and it too hit the airwaves in heavy rotation throughout Florida.
Unfortunately the venues that were booking Freestyle acts at that time didn’t have the resources or funds to bring in a live 5 piece band with instruments, roadies and managers, so we were very limited in the cities we could play in. We did however tour South America with huge success, but in the states our popularity remained within a small handful of regions that didn’t contribute to the ability to cross over to the Pop market. Unfortunately on Dec of 1994 our lead singer Eric Thompson passed away at age 34. Even though the group has rejoined on a few occasions for special events with other members, it was never the same again.
SM: You and the other guys made your mark in music history and to this day we see reunion shows with “Erotic” along with other top names in the industry. People remember and are still fascinated with the great music you made with them. When did you leave “Erotic” and what new avenues entered the picture?
GC: I left “Erotic Exotic” in 1991 and joined a group called “Nuclear Valdez” that was signed to Epic Records. Some of the guys were friends from High School and they played modern alternative rock with a light Latin feel. I played with them for about a year as an add-on musician. It was another great experience in songwriting. I later joined the NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) where I got some really deep instructions on the “craft” of songwriting. I also joined “Taxi” and, with the help of screeners and other members, I got an even deeper insight to songwriting. Stuff that I never even thought about back when I was a signed recording artist. That led me to begin writing songs for other artists and, in turn, led me into producing them as well.
SM: With this new chapter in your life emerging, how did that play into television?
GC: About 7 years ago, I heard about TV production music and how lucrative it was for songwriters who were no longer performing live and were looking for other outlets. The music industry was in a down spiral and it was almost impossible to get a song picked up by major artists, so I got me a mac laptop, Cubase software and a Triton LE keyboard and started writing cues. Today I have a catalog of over 350 instrumental tracks with songs placed on TV shows like “American Pickers”, “Pawn Stars”, “Real Housewives of Miami”, NBC's "The Voice" and "Monday Night NFL" just to name a few. One track I wrote about 5 years ago on Garageband is called “Backwoods”. It a simple hoedown bluegrass acoustic guitar track, but it’s played on over 13 episodes of “American Pickers” twice a day, everyday. I love writing for TV and film because there are no limitations as far as what type of music you can write. When I was working as a performing artist, I really couldn’t go from Rock to Country to Latin music. I had to stay within one genre. That limit of writing is gone now.
15