Today we’d like to introduce you to David Elecciri Jr.
Hi David, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Well, it seems that I started right out of the womb. I came out crying like most everyone else had. I was born to some amazing parents; I definitely wouldn’t be where I was today without them. As long as I can remember and from what my parents tell me, I was always banging on the pots and pans in the kitchen, crawling up to strum my father’s guitar or reaching up to tap the piano keys on our old upright piano my grandfather had given us. Always pulling out my parent’s vinyl record collection and being immersed in the artwork of the artists is where I spent most of my time in diapers. Yes, music was a major part of life in our household. My father bought me my first little guitar when I was three.
He played a little bit too. He was a high school teacher and coach at the local high school and would spend his down time surfing and playing music with our family and friends. I learned a lot from just watching them all the time and knew right away this is what I wanted to do. As I got older, I started to understand the distinction of the different genres of music. My parents listened to everything from Blues, R&B, Jazz, Classic Rock, pop and Reggae Music and had a vast collection of vinyl and tapes. I can remember them taking us to the big Jazz Concerts at Mission Bay in the early 80’s and to the Del Mar fairgrounds to catch all the late great acts of that time. Gloria Esteban, Sade, Paula Abdul, even Milli Vanilli. I mean so many to name.
Being a product of my SoCal environment, I listen to a wide variety of music. I have a sister who’s 4 1/2 years older than me so Id tune in to what she was listening to. A lot of punk rock music, Alternative/classic rock and Rap at the time. “Reggae Music” was the music that really spoke to me though. There was a reggae station on a local broadcast called KSBR 88.5 Jazz. They had the reggae showcase with Dr. Jim Otto for 30 years and for three hrs. each week I stayed glued to my radio listening to all the greats. They really were very knowledgeable about all the artists and records. That’s where I really started my reggae music IQ. with the who’s who and what’s what in the Reggae world. 91x also had a show too Id listen to but it was only for an hr. with Makeda dread and DJ Carlos Culture. I’d make sure to catch both every week. I really resonated with the vibes of reggae music. The deep drum and bass grooves and jazzy horn lines with inspiring lyrics that sang about praising God, having love for one another promoting equality and justice for all. Something my parents instilled in me my whole life up till then and to this very day. I knew right away this is was what I wanted to be. So I played every instrument I could get my hands on, Drums, Sax, Keyboards piano and any kind of guitar.
I learned pretty much everything by ear. Never took any kind of lessons or formal training other than watching other people do it and creating my own style, I guess. So by 11 years old I was on a mission to becoming the best musician I could possibly be. There was a band that I started really studying, a band called Steel Pulse. Their sound was so different than anything I ever heard and I was drawn to them like a moth to the light. So by 13 years old I knew almost every Album, song and about almost every lyric by heart. They were the guys I wanted to be like. Their music was so diverse and had this edge to it that really just made me feel like I was headed in the right direction. So I formed a band in the 10th grade and we would play their songs in front of the whole school. In that time my friends and family would dash down to the local reggae Bob Marley festivals to check out all the greats including Steel Pulse. I just couldn’t get enough of them.
So by the time I graduated High School in ’97 I made the decision to start playing professionally at the local spots throughout SoCal. I auditioned as a Drummer with a local San Clemente reggae band called Black and White. At that time in ’97 there wasn’t too many reggae bands in the area. Not like in today’s market. All the players in the area were about twice as old or even older than I was, so I had to really step up my skills or I’d find myself not having a gig… ha-ha. In that short time of playing drums from San Diego to Santa Barbara I learned how many great reggae musicians we had in the community. A local band called the Rebel Rockers were signed to Tuff Gong in the 80s. The original bass player of Steel Pulse, Ronnie Stepper Mcqueen, was living in Laguna Beach and was playing gigs in the greater area too. Peter Tosh’s bass player, Fully Fullwood was my neighbor in San Clemente and would come jam and talk with my band. So as a young teenager I was already surrounded by these great players I’ve looked up to. Getting in to the recording studio with these guys watching and learning was so key in my development as a composer and really made me want to record music much as possible.
So I kept on the musical journey throughout the years from gigs to festivals and found myself producing my own music singing and playing guitar with bands called The Neighborhood and The World Anthem Band. A unique diverse band filled with amazing musicians. We played all over San Diego, OC and LA. We had some of best touring musicians playing with us at the time. At one time we had four drummers in rotation Dean Butterworth (Good Charlotte) Drew Hester (Sheryl Crow) Rock Deidrick (Joe Walsh) Chuck Morris (Arsenial Hall Show). Guitarist Rodney Shepard (Sugar Ray) and even drummer Taylor Hawkins (Alanis Morisette/Foo Fighters) would show up to jam at the Laguna Beach Sand Piper and White House Restaurant. Some of the best times of my life playing the local scene and the connections I had made were priceless but I knew there was so much more I wanted to do. I didn’t want to get stuck in a place where 20 years goes by and I’m still at the same places. I knew that something bigger was on the horizon. I started producing music for myself and other artists at a place called California Sound Studios in Lake Forest in 2008. Warren G was another producer working in that studio so I started working a bit of production in the HIPHOP/Rap and Pop genre. I learned a lot there working with them and an engineer named Jesse Wright whose family owned the studio.
A lot of amazing artists, musicians, and producers came through that place from Warren Gs 213 camp (Snoop NateDogg Warren G), producer Ronnie King (TuPac, Offspring, Pennywise, Death Row) Ellis Hall (Ray Charles, Tower of Power) to name a few and eventually me bringing in David Hinds of Steel Pulse. I had a large catalog of music I had been creating for the past 12 years. Originals to Remix’s of every sort. In 2012 Steel Pulse came to the Coach House San Juan Capistrano and at that time my family and I were taking care of my grandparents that were living in the community across the street. I knew the owners Gary and Clyde over the years from playing and opening up for the international touring Reggae artists that would come through. They were just really cool guys to talk to. So much music history in that place. On the day that Steel Pulse was scheduled to perform I happened to be at my grandparents so I walked over and went in the early afternoon to talk with Gary and Clyde. I found Gary in the upstairs office and he told me to make sure to come back for the show and to sit up top.
As I was leaving, a young man named David Baruch Hinds (David Hinds Son) came in the office to check in the band. That is when we first met and started talking about music right off the bat. He told me to grab some of my music so he could check it out. So I ran across the train tracks to grab him a CD and came right back to hand to him. After the concert he again approached me and complimented me on the music I’ve been doing. He then brought me up on to the tour bus and introduced me to the band as David Hinds and Selwyn Brown were half naked changing their clothes’-ha! I was quite scared really, didn’t really know what to say, I was speechless standing amongst my musical hero’s. I didn’t say much other than, thank you. So, fast forward to a few months later to the Del Mar Fair concert of 2012. I was invited to come back stage and hang with them. David Hinds heard one of my remixes of their song Wild Goose Chase I composed for his son “Baruch”. Next thing I know David Hinds gives me a call and asked if I could do something for him.
He sent me an accapella of one of his newly written songs and asked if I could put something to it. I did what he asked and next thing I know David calls me and asks to come stay with me so we can do more recordings. The song was “Thank The Rebels”, which is now on the band’s latest 2019 release, “Mass Manipulation”. He flew in to San Diego Airport and I brought him to my place by the San Clemente pier on Victoria Street. There he stayed with me for at least a week and we pumped out more new tunes, which the songs are now on the latest album. My understanding was he was looking for another producer to work with because he wasn’t finding what he was looking for with the other producers he’s been working with. So all in all it was perfect timing when we met. We both were looking for the next big move in our careers. The intentions and vibes were set from day one and we haven’t looked back since. David didn’t really know much about me at that time other than what his son had told him. So when he found out that I sang and played guitar he started to have me come jam with them on stage at some concerts such as the OC fairs PAC AMP in 2013. So all of 2013 I was producing new music with David for the bands next record, which was still so surreal to me at the time.
In March of 2014, David invited me on a USA winter tour with them. We were touring Colorado when David ended up so sick, he had to walk off stage after the first song. We were at a sold out concert at The Belly Up Aspen, when the music just stopped. The tour manager at the time, Derek Gordon went to go check what was going on. David told them that he couldn’t go on and to have me sing for him. So in that moment, I did what I had been preparing my whole life for. As nervous and scared as I was being put on the spot and to lead the band that night, I knew deep down I could do it. First song I sang was “Rally Round”. and by the end of the song I saw David Hinds watching from behind the corner. Next song was “Body Guard” and the crowd really started to go off. I could really feel their energy. People were so happy to hear their favorite songs and that the concert went on.
By the 3rd song, David Hinds came back out, not to sing but to play his guitar. We finished the night off and the Vibes were Higher than High. I felt like I could touch the sky. We pulled it off. I saw my whole life flash before me on stage that night. The production manager of the Belly Up Aspen happened to be my old band/roommate from OC, Jay Vatuk (Common Sense, Lead Guitarist). He couldn’t believe what just had happened. He knew how important this was and just stoked for me and to be there to watch it all go down in that way. So, the tour continued and Selwyn Brown and I kept on singing lead for the rest of the tour. From then on, I’ve been with the band Non-Stop and now an official member and writer/record producer. In 2019 we put out the bands long awaited and Grammy Nominated album, “Mass Manipulation”. That is another story in itself for another time.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s definitely been a rough road with some smooth paved spots here and there. Balancing everything in your life, family, friends, finances, your art and health is challenging and very hard at times. You really have to be focused. At one time I had five jobs because I knew I had to do whatever it took to provide and make music my full-time job. Also, being in a band with a group of people is very hard. To know who’s truly your friend and that you all have the right intentions and share the same vision of where you are going. Not everyone is on the same path. Egos will and do kill great bands. I’ve seen it and I’ve been a part of it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Steel Pulse is a Reggae band that is committed to bettering mankind through music. The band continues to be revolutionary in engaging controversial topics of racial injustice and human rights on a global scale. Our musical stance and conceptualizations are as potent and relevant today as they were at the beginning of the bands 45 yr. career. The New album ‘Mass Manipulation”, is a uniquely thematic approach that provokes thought as it presses forward, toward humanities unification. A manipulation of our minds has been influenced by a New World Order currently dominating humankind. Steel Pulse reappears at a fated moment, armed with compassion, encouraging all people to reject false ideals, set higher goals, and demand more from themselves to further this unification.
We’d be interested to hear your thoughts on luck and what role, if any, you feel it’s played for you?
Good luck has played a major role. Good luck is being blessed. When you get lucky you must capitalize on that blessing and know it’s up to you to make the best with what you have been given.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.SteelPulse.com
- Instagram: @David.electric
- Facebook: SteelPulse
- Youtube: Steel Pulse
