In 2009, Trent Moorman interviewed bassist/engineer/producer Geoff Stanfield and got him to talk about the time he was summoned to Minneapolis to meet Prince, hang out at Paisley Park, go out to dinner with him, and play some ping pong. How was Prince at ping pong? “He’s fast. He’s badass. He’s wily. And to do it in heels too,” Stanfield said.
Dropping into the interview midway…
And now onto Prince. Rumor has it that you spent some time with him. How did it come bout, what can you say? Please tell me Sheila E was there.
I did have the honor and the privilege of spending time with said royalty, and yes Sheila E was there. There was also ping pong, he destroyed me. I had been called by Prince to come talk to him about the state of digital music. It was pre iTunes times and I was involved with a company that was doing early work in online digital music space. I was summoned, and sent a plane ticket. It was a business meeting that turned into an extremely social hang.I landed in Minneapolis and a car took me to Paisley Park. He was in the middle of a tracking session, the band was there, and I thought our meeting was only going to take like fifteen minutes. But he was nice as could be, engaged, and our visit was prolonged. He’s Prince, there’s no getting around it. Super prolific. I think he has hundreds of records worth of material that we’ll never hear. He’s got an amazing API console in there and he’s constantly recording. Paisley Park is a playpen for musicians.
What sticks out?
Prince does not allow profanity. And his symbol is everywhere. On the carpet, on the walls, on the pool table. There are also caged doves.Was he in his fully clothed get up?
He was dressed casually upon our first encounter. Then we broke for dinner, and when he showed up at the restaurant, he was fully the man, in full Prince attire. Diamond encrusted, platinum ear cuffs, Kashmir serape, heels, and the make up. A car picked me up from the hotel with his band in it. They were all in furs and decked out too like we were going to the Grammy Awards, and there I was in jeans and these old leather moccasin shoes.How was dinner?
There was a little house band playing at the restaurant. Like smooth jazz, fusion stuff. In the middle of dinner Prince gets up and walks over to the stage. I looked up and he’s standing on the floor, playing the guitar player’s guitar, and he’s absolutely shredding. There’s only like fifteen people in the room and he’s just ripping the most incredible solo. He finishes, hands the guy back his guitar, walks over to me, and says, “Lets roll.”Holy shit. Did he finish his zucchini?
I don’t know. We split, and headed back to Paisley Park. Me and the band. We show up and there’s a DJ spinning, lights are going off all nightclub style, a giant movie of Sheila E at the Warfield is playing on a big screen. It was crazy surreal.And then you played ping pong. You played ping pong with Prince.
When we got back, he changed clothes again. He was laughing, busting Shelia E’s chops. We had a great time. Paisley Park is like a Prince museum/studio/nightclub. There’s maybe a five-hundred person capacity room with a full backline and a stage with lights. If you belong to the fan club, I guess they do shows in there.Was he dancing?
He would come up and say something to me, and bust a little move. At the end of the night Shelia E was like, “Geoff, you gotta tell him you need to go, cause he’ll just keep you here.” I stayed there until my plane left. He took me around and showed me the place. He’s super funny, articulate, and engaged. He has a powerful presence. There was some heavy conversation but he did ask I not share details. Hopefully I have not shared too many details.Did you let him win at ping pong?
No.Did he gloat?
No. He’s fast. He’s badass. He’s wily. And to do it in heels too. He’s pretty much bad ass at everything he does. I was able to get a few games off the keyboard player, but not Prince.
Read more of that interview with Stanfield here. Stanfield’s website is right here.
