- Contributed
Wayne McGregor on guitars.
Chaos, Freelance Writer
Wayne McGregor is a guitarist.
No, Wayne McGregor is a singer.
Stop. Wayne McGregor is a lawyer.
No, Wayne McGregor is husband.
Truth be told, Wayne McGregor is the sum of all of the above and more.
OF SLIGHTLY above medium height and well built, the light in his living room is reflected somewhat from his shaven head. Muscles are prominent on tattooed arms, laid bare by a muscle shirt. Underneath a coffee table at the centre of the room swims a pair of tortoises in their own aquatic universe. Hamsters runs circles in cages to one side and, The Sunday Gleaner is informed, two snakes are somewhere else in the house. "I like reptiles," he said with a shrug.
Wayne McGregor, to put it mildly, is a unique individual. A lawyer with Cable & Wireless Limited, he is also a musician who has been plying that aspect of his life for years. At 28 years old he has been in a number of bands, won not one but two scholarships, gained two degrees, learned to play the guitar, met the girl of his dreams, fell in love and got married. All in the relatively short space of 28 years.
One aspect of his personality can be summed up in the way he proposed to his wife Christina. It was at the second ever 'Harrystock', a short-lived rock/alternative festival here in Jamaica. "I was playing with both Mile High and Soul Case at the time. She (his wife-to-be Christina) loved Creed so I sang Higher. I jumped off the stage and landed right in front of her. The show was being webcast and all the cameras zoomed in on me - we had it planned to a 'T'."
He then asked her to marry him.
Her response? "She cried for an hour... she was totally useless. It was the 'ballsiest' thing I'd ever done." Not to belabour the obvious, but she said yes. The love, affection and connection between the two are obvious to anyone who spends more than five seconds in their general vicinity. They bicker, joke and occasionally kiss, eyes sparkling and lips curled into huge smiles. Their special dynamic is obviously a huge influence on the man in all his incarnations.
His beautiful wife's life was not the only one McGregor has affected with his music.
"In Barbados, this young lady a tourist came up to me after a show and said 'Thank you'. She said 'I was going to kill myself and I thought here was a nice place to do it. You played some nice songs, songs I haven't heard in a long time." It turns out that her husband had left her, amid other struggles, and she had decided that suicide was the final option. McGregor's music may have changed that. "I asked her if she's still going to do it and she said 'Maybe I won't do it', kissed me on the cheek and walked away," McGregor recounted. Moments like this are what inspire McGregor as a musician, and even more to the point in his mind, as a communicator.
Wayne McGregor started to learn the piano at the age of ten, but under some degree of duress, because "... the kids at school who did piano didn't look too happy," he says, despite his interest in music. Eventually he succumbed to his mother's wishes and took lessons from a Mrs. Foster-Davis, who McGregor described as 'wonderful'. Unfortunately, she died when he was about 12 years old and the piano lessons went along with her.
Wayne McGregor's parents played a huge part in who he has become, especially where music is concerned. "My Mom played The Beatles all the time. (In England) she was a regular on Rock, Steady, Go ( a music show) on British TV. She was into classic rock and blues and some of it rubbed off on me.
"My Dad was into reggae... Prince Buster and so on. He was a pretty good singer but never really did anything with it..." So Wayne was exposed to and grew up surrounded by music of two different worlds, worlds which influenced the man he has become.
The graduate of Campion College won a scholarship while at that institution by virtue of doing the scholarship examinations (Government examinations which offer scholarships to successful candidates) on a whim. "I was doing the scholarship exams and did English. The only book I knew on it was Hamlet and I hadn't read it for over two years, but I had seen the movie starring Mel Gibson. Two months later I got a call saying that I was in line for the scholarship... I couldn't believe it. I asked the young lady who called if she was sure and she read out my particulars... I was the only male out of five candidates and I got it," he stated, smiling and shrugging in one instant.
After Campion, McGregor got a degree in English Literature and Philosophy at the University of The West Indies (UWI), Mona, St. Andrew and immediately began pursuing a degree in law, for which he also received a scholarship, this time from Cable and Wireless Limited.
A degree in law involves spending two years at the UWI Cave Hill campus in Barbados, which led to a problem or two, which will be delved into later.
After the piano lessons had gone the way of the Dodo, somewhere along the line Wayne McGregor developed an interest in the guitar. During his time at Campion "I asked Omar (Omar Francis of Soul Case fame) who had a guitar at the time for some tips. He had a Fender Stratocaster... he turned me onto Jimi Hendrix as well.
"I basically taught myself (how to play the guitar)... I bought and borrowed books, watched TV and tried to imitate what I heard," this after inveigling his mother into helping him purchase a guitar.
In 1993, while at the UWI Mona, I met Graham (McGregor cannot remember his last name), who played guitar and Norman Hill, a drummer. They took him further into the blues and indeed, McGregor played his first 'gig' on the UWI's campus at the Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication's Christmas party, with Wayne playing electric guitar and Graham, acoustic.
Another friend, Shane Forrest, also entered the mix. After McGregor showed him the little he knew about the guitar at the time and according to Wayne "... he grew in leaps and bounds." Soon Forrest was taking lessons from Rupert Bent III, a man formerly of Third World Fame who has influenced countless Jamaican musicians. "We used to watch and drool over Rupert Bent's playing... I was really into classic rock and the blues - Steppenwolf, The Mamas and The Papas."
At the time Rupert Bent III was putting on live shows at Devon House, Hope Road, St. Andrew on a regular basis and one day an emboldened McGregor approached him and asked if he could do a song. Rupert said yes and McGregor went on-stage to perform Born To Be Wild. After his rendition of the Steppenwolf classic, he was approached by Floyd Foulkes, who told him that he had a good voice. McGregor, Forrest, Graham and Hill went on to form 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly', the name coming from their love of Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns.
"For the first couple of shows we did, we had like nine people. Half would like it, the other half would say we sucked," McGregor explained. Later on, they were approached by Rupert Bent III, who told them that although they were talented, their timing, well, sucked, and induced McGregor to buy a metronome a device used to mark time at a selected rate by giving a regular tick which helped the guitarist improve his playing.
Alistair Macbeth was someone who took an interest in rock and promoting the rock and roll scene in Jamaica and, to all intents and purposes, took the band under his wing. "We started performing at various places Zanzibar when it still existed, Carlos' Cafe - doing some classic rock and contemporary stuff like Stone Temple Pilots. In fact, our biggest show was at Strawberry Hill (the hotel), where we headlined and played for like two solid hours. The people loved it." Somewhere along the line McGregor moved from lead guitar to fill the vacant bass slot, which he did for two years before Brendan Fraser joined the band and Wayne was able to go back to his first love, the electric guitar.
The band began to break up eventually, with McGregor declining to go into the details but mentioning ego and substance abuse as factors. (The latter led to hilarity as McGregor and The Sunday Gleaner pondered the logic of living a rock and roll lifestyle before one became a rock star). McGregor's decision to go to Barbados to continue his law studies was the final nail in the coffin and The Good, The Bad and The Ugly pretty much fell apart after his departure. "People were vexed, sure, we all wanted to be rock stars but I had to have that piece of paper."
So Wayne McGregor, with a degree in English Literature and Philosophy (think about it, what on earth can one do with a degree in English Literature and Philosophy except perhaps, philosophise?) went off to Barbados in 1997 but "...the hunger was still there. I met two guys who called themselves 'Level Vibes' who played the blues as well. I started playing out with them, just for drinks and a small portion of the proceeds..."
Another group in the island smaller than the parish of Hanover called Lil' Rock had a sick guitarist and needed a stand-in. McGregor stood in and "... people heard and went crazy. They asked me where I'm from and when I told them Jamaica, they said 'Jamaica? That's crazy!
"Here in Jamaica when I was doing what I what was doing, people were like "White man music! B...y bwoy music! and called me 'roast breadfruit' and so on."
Despite McGregor's efforts to explain the black origins of rock, he still met with the same responses. Barbados was different. "There were not that many hecklers, people liked what they heard, they bought drinks, bought food, the promoters were happy..." McGregor recounted. He then became a member of another band in the small island called Blues Therapy. He auditioned for the role of lead singer and guitarist and two songs in, he was accepted. Wayne got gigs, did advertisements and made jingles, the income helping to offset the expenses his scholarship did not cover. His burgeoning fame almost, but not quite, affected his law studies but in 1999, he finished his studies successfully and then it was deja vu time once more.
McGregor was again a member of a successful band which he had to leave in order to complete his studies on the way to that 'piece of paper' he would need if he ever '...grew polyps on his throat or broke his arms' to use his own words. So it was back to Jamaica and he discovered that the alternative music scene he had left behind two years ago had changed. It had started to falter, with the audiences being more poseurs than fans. Enter Harry's Bar on Constant Spring Road, where, with Soul Case guitarist Omar Francis, McGregor became one half of 'Two Guitars'. "People liked the intimacy... it was fun, the crowds were getting bigger and the owners happier..."
Enter stage left Gordon Scott, who, with the duo would form Soul Case, which resulted in McGregor taking a back seat with regards to lead vocals, something which though he understood, he was not entirely comfortable with. In 2000 he met Lydia Bennett and Jason Morris, who with McGregor, Gillian Castle, Richie Cunningham and Craig 'Flea' Lee, formed 'Tantric', which soon became Mile High. So McGregor was now in two bands at once, providing back-up vocals and guitar for Soul Case, which had more of a reggae-rock feel, and playing lead guitar and sharing lead vocal responsibilities with Lydia. Things went very well for a while, until, after his over-the-top marriage proposal and subsequent marriage, in addition to a job as in-house counsel with Cable & Wireless in 2001, his life again underwent another transformation. "I said to the guys, 'Things look very serious (after the release and modest success of the cover Real Love, and I don't know if it's fair for me to be lead singer... if we get a contract, I couldn't drop everything and go on tour'," he explained.
So he relegated himself to playing guitar and, with the addition of Paul Chang to Mile High's line-up, the decision was made that McGregor could no longer be part of the band. "It was done very nicely, the band was going forward... it was very friendly and business-like, we met as friends over drinks..." he smiled, somewhat wistfully, but without a hint of regret or betrayal in his voice. "We're still all friends," McGregor says, a fact borne out by a performance he and Lydia did out of the blue recently at the Village Café, Liguanea, of the aforementioned Real Life.
Now Wayne McGregor is a freelancer where music is concerned. He gets calls to play and invites any number of friends to join him, such as Paul Chang and Craig 'Flea' Lee. He says he felt 'incredibly honoured' to open for Andru Donalds and Andrew McIntyre not once but twice at Carlos' Café on Belmont Road. He played with Harold Davis two weeks ago on the latest instalment of Davis' 'Moonlighting' series and is a semi-regular at the Village Cafe's 'Open Microphone' nights.
McGregor believes that music is not merely about the technical ability to play, but also the ability to communicate, to express feeling and emotions, the ability to evoke emotions in his listeners. He also believes that audiences do not merely go to events to listen to music, but come to be entertained a subtle difference, one that he is not above making an ass - but not a total one - of himself in his efforts to please. He had been known to use the sole of a young lady's shoe or a bottle to play his instrument. His philosophy in this regard can be summed up in one line of his own words "The minute you stop reaching people, what's the point?"
Amazingly enough, this interview has progressed so far and no mention has been made of McGregor's voice, which on a good night can call the birds down from the trees and on an excellent one, quite possibly raise the dead (not that anyone would really want that, considering the smell and all), with the help of his electric guitar on which his skills are even more impressive and that he describes as a beautiful yet brutal instrument.
McGregor has two very interesting tattoos, one on each shoulder, which he designed and that have very specific meanings. One is a dark sun with four arrows pointing towards it which he says represents 'triumph over adversity', with a Maltese Cross in the middle, a nod to his Catholic heritage. (For the record, yes he does believe in God and is spiritual to a certain degree not that you would be able to convince one irate old lady in a supermarket of that fact). The other is a nod to the Scottish roots of his surname, featuring a dragon with angel instead of bat wings representing strength, power and nobility on a Celtic pillar, with the dragon holding in one set of claws the scales of justice (representing his law career ... and in the other, a white Fender Stratocaster guitar"...just like the one Jimi Hendrix played at the Original Woodstock," he explained.
With regards to his legal career, McGregor is totally in love with his department, and describes his boss as someone who is "... happy to know that you have other things on the side - as long as you get her work done." He loves his job and a move to doing entirely music is doubtful. "If music does not 'buss' I'll be fine if I'm 60-odd and still able to touch people," he smiled.
"What is important is balance, family, music... in no particular order. I always try to achieve balance... I just want to be the best that I can be the best husband, the best musician, the best lawyer and in the event of a family, the best father that I can be," he says.
Wayne McGregor will never stop playing music, regardless of the circumstances. If he did it "... would be like someone chopped my left arm off."
Just for the record, Wayne McGregor is right-handed.
