Interview with Nathan East
Thursday / October 1, 2026
About Nathan East
Session bassist from Philadelphia who has played with Eric Clapton since the 1980s, co-wrote Easy Lover, plays in Fourplay and played on Daft Punk's Get Lucky.
Source: Go with Elmo Lovano on YouTube
These answers are taken from Nathan East: Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Get Lucky, Session Stories, Perspective, Drummers, Quincy on Go with Elmo Lovano's YouTube channel. You! Backstage did not conduct this interview.
When did you start playing music?
I'm in a tuxedo with a bow tie, sitting on stage with the Love Unlimited Orchestra in Madison Square Garden, sold out, and Barry White is singing, and I'm thinking, this is kind of cool. Is this a career path? I'd only been playing bass for a couple years.
[Barry White] came down and heard this band I was in, a local band called Power. We backed up all the Stax recording artists, Rufus Thomas, a bunch of people. They called us up to his office in Beverly Hills the next day, the whole band, and he said, "I want you all to go on the road." We played Kennedy Center, Detroit Cobo Arena, all these iconic places. We played the Apollo. And I just remember thinking, okay, I'm in.
What was a great moment for you as a musician?
I think it was destined. When we were doing Easy Lover, Phil Collins took me out to a pub one night and Eric was there, so I got introduced then. But then I was doing Live Aid with Kenny Loggins in Philly, and after I came off stage, Eric was on the side of the stage: hey, great, you want to hang out? He said the first thing he noticed was how loud I was. It's very humbling. You come off stage and there's Clapton saying, ah, sounded great, you want to hang out?
Then when the Behind the Sun album was being recorded, Warner Brothers called us for a session: Steve Lukather, Greg Phillinganes, Michael Omartian and Jeff Porcaro. Eric comes in and it's just serious mutual admiration. We're all intimidated with each other. Some of those songs that we recorded, we're still playing to this day on tour. He recognizes music that comes from the heart, and players that come with an attitude from the heart.
How did your career as a musician unfold?
We went to Crawford High School together. We were basing ourselves off of Earth, Wind & Fire, Kool & the Gang, Tower of Power. We were a horn band, and we had a lot of gigs. Cannonball Adderley took note of us. He liked us, and we toured and opened for him on the West Coast. That was the first break for Power. And he said, you know what, I'm taking you up to Quincy Jones's house. We went up to his house and played for Quincy. He loved the band, and immediately there were talks of, let's make an album. And then he had the aneurysm, so that was kind of it.
Barry White came back around and called me for many of his records. I think I was about 19, 20 by the time I started coming up to L.A. Back in those days you had the guys that were working for scale, but then the double scale guys were so booked that they had to charge double. And some of the guys took me under their wing: okay, here's what you do, here's how it works.
What advice do you have for new musicians?
It's a lesson that you learn from a lot of great people. Listen. A lot of people that arrive at that level, you ask them for one piece of advice and they listen. That means in a conversation, or especially to the music, because nowadays everybody just wants to roll in and show you what they got. There's some beautiful Olympic chops. Scroll down any Instagram feed and it will show you that.
But like Quincy Jones used to say, God gave us two ears and one mouth, so you can listen twice as much as you speak. With music, a big part of the reason it ends up being this magical thing that resonates with so many people is because we're responding to each other. You hear a lick, then I'll respond to that, and then they respond to what you play, and so it becomes a big dialogue in this beautiful circle.
Think about a demanding producer, bandleader or collaborator. What made them difficult, and how did you work with them successfully?
Pretty soon I had a conflict. I took a date and then Barry called me. So I said, oh, I might have to ask him for double, and the guys were like, don't ask. I said, yeah, but I'm getting these gigs and I don't know what to do. So I went in there and I said, "Barry, I have some other gigs, and if I could get double scale, that way I can turn them down." And he looked at me and said, "Nate, if you want that, you got that." But I was sweating.
That was one of the times where I realized that it's like a stock. The value goes up, it goes down. But when you talk to the big leaguers, they say, yeah, pretty soon you have to do double, and then they're gonna respect you a little more. I said okay. I do it for the love.
How do you keep communication clear with the band and the people you record with?
Drums and bass, I always equated to the foundation of a house. The cement gets poured and then you build the house on top of that. John Robinson Jr. and I used to call each other wife. We'd see each other more than we see our wives, literally hours and hours, 10,000 hours of sessions all over this town. Every session we were on, we just spent most of the time laughing.
Of all the records and tours you have done, which is your favorite?
The most fun, and that was the last song. Philip Bailey said we still need one more song. We went up to the piano and literally came up with that in about 20 minutes. I wish they all came like that. He said, boy, I think the label still wants an undeniable single. We literally wrote the track, and Phil Collins was singing, and we put the track down as sort of a demo because it really came quickly. The next day Phil had written some lyrics, and he started singing those, and I'm going, well, you sound good too. What about a duet? It wasn't supposed to be a duet. That was magic in a bottle.
I got back to L.A., back when a lot of radio was going on, and I remember just switching dials and I heard it on three radio stations at once as I'm riding down the 405. We've played it live forever and it is good fun.
Who is your favorite musician, and why?
Vinnie, I don't know what else to say except just the top guy of the game. Play anything and make it feel good. I saw him with Sting at the Hollywood Bowl and I was just smiling the whole time, how great he made those songs feel. Vinnie's known for everything, from the best chops anybody ever has to the best groove, and very few people can cover that much territory. For me he's right up there with Jeff Porcaro.
Jeff and I would just start laughing when we'd walk in the studio and see each other, because we knew we're not going to have to go to work today. He was such a champion when I first moved to town. He recommended me for so many gigs. I loved him with all my heart.
And JR, before I actually met him, I used to put on those records he did with Quincy and George Benson, and I would just close my eyes and only focus on the drums. I think I may have visualized playing with JR before we actually got to play together.
Tell me about a record or a part that was hard to get right. What was it and why was it challenging?
Those guys are like scientists in the studio. We did the original track at Conway Studios, full rhythm section. It was just sort of a chart with the chords: play a groove. That particular one went back to New York, Nile put his guitar on it, then Pharrell, and by the time it got back to L.A., I said, well, if Nile's on there, can I have another go and just do my Bernard Edwards impersonation? Because once I heard that Chic vibe, and I had the benefit of hearing the lyrics as well, the melody there, I'm saying, let me dance around that. They just turned the Pro Tools on and let it roll, and I did what you hear, as a bass part, kind of homage to Bernard Edwards.
At the Grammy party afterwards, one of the engineers who was editing everything says, "Your bass part, I didn't edit it. That's one take, straight top to bottom." I just want to do my best.
Tell me something I may not know from reading your credits.
I'll never forget the first [Barry White] record I recorded. I got it home, I was telling everybody I'm on a Barry White record. Let's see: produced by Barry, arranged by Barry, conducted by Barry. No musicians' names on the record. I called the manager and said, what happened to putting names on the record? He said, oh, he doesn't want anybody to steal his sound, so he doesn't put the names on the record. Ray Parker Jr., Wah Wah Watson, David T. Walker, all these guys are in the ensemble, but no names. So there's literally no proof except what you hear.
And Quincy called me for Off the Wall. I had just taken the tour with Kenny Loggins. Kenny called me and said, hey, I'd love you to go on the road, and literally the next day Quincy calls. Oh man, I just took this gig. Got to honor the commitment. But the Quincy calls kept coming.
Nathan East's Full Biography
Nathan East was born on 8 December 1955 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He is an actor and composer, known for Hairspray (2007), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) and EastEnders (1985). He is married to Anita East. They have two children.