Too Black For The White Kids, Too White For The Black Kids
Chan Maurice Evans Lives Between Musical and Cultural Worlds
“I guess it was The Monkees, man… The song, ‘Valerie’… It’s a rock tune. They’ve got a fuzz guitar [like The Rolling Stones’ ‘Satisfaction’],” explains Chan Maurice Evans, of YOUPEOPL, before launching into a vocalization of the lead guitar part. It does bear a strong resemblance to that famous Keith Richards guitar riff, but longer and with a downward melodic saunter. At around 10 or 11 years old, this song was the impetus for Chan to seek out guitar, and the Monkees’ music in general became the foundation for a lifelong infatuation with rock n’ roll.
This is a fairly common story. Prototypical even – a young kid sees some rock stars playing a catchy tune, it stirs something inside them, and they decide they want a piece of that rock n’ roll action. Sometimes it’s the glamour; the image; the romance; the dream of fame and wealth or just something visceral that compels one out of their chair to dance; or roll down the windows, turn up the volume, and sing along. For Chan, it was the guitar specifically – that indelible symbol of rock n’ roll, alluring in their craftsmanship and capable of producing glistening sonic beauty and devastatingly ugly noise. “I just always preferred guitar solos,” he says of his instrument choice – though this is just one of many he has played.
Also, as with most kids, there comes a time when they encounter the realities of American capitalism. “My parents told me I had to get a job, but all I knew how to do was this. I had to turn this into a job.” Thus, Chan’s commitment to building a life in rock began. “I didn’t want to do anything else.” The remarkable thing about Chan is that he actually did it. A feat unusual in St. Louis in rock n’ roll. Until very recently, Chan taught and performed music, and that’s about it.
Chan looks like he belongs in a band too, but not in an over-wrought bombastic, “rock star” sense. He wears jeans (simple, no sequins or over-the-top stitching) and a tee shirt. He has a predilection toward darker colors, and his clothes fit well. He wears glasses much of the time, but they sorta give him that hipster indie rock look, like he also skateboards or something too. All-in-all, much of the time, Chan looks as though he’s ready for a promo photo shoot. Like one of those where the band is huddled together in front of a brick wall, or on a loading dock or fire escape – something that looks like it was taken outside the back door of a small rock club that you’ve probably heard of but aren’t sure if you’re cool enough to visit. And one more thing: Chan is black.
At this point it’s almost cliché to point out that rock n’ roll has largely been the domain of cis, straight, white guys… Y’ know, band dudes. There are, of course many notable exceptions to this, but the Google search, “top guitar players of all time” (a highly subjective designation, by the way), reveals only a handful of non-white people, and all of them men. The fact of the matter is, despite the roots of rock n’ roll and the obvious absurdity, most people think of white dudes when they think of rock stars. This makes Chan’sposition and that of other people like him (also women, LGBTQ, etc…) noticeable. No one would give it a second thought if he were in R&B, hip-hop, jazz, or even blues. The experience of being a black artist in rock n’ roll is the subject of Chan’s film series, They Called Me a Sellout.
There is of course, the run-of-the-mill racism all people of color experience. In episode 1, St. Louis’s own Steve Ewing (The Urge) points out that when he was driving the tour van, they would get pulled over more, or seeing a black kid at one of their shows getting arrested for a fight he had no part of. But sometimes this comes in a more subtle form, often from people who may even feel like they’re extending a sort of camaraderie. Chan’s been on the receiving end of a lot of “oh, you play rock, you must be a fan of Jimi Hendrix (or insert whatever black rock star)” kind of comments. Undoubtedly, many of these sentiments come from people who are just trying to be friendly and connect, but unaware that they are just placing a box around rock artists who don’t fit the white guy standard. Additionally, he’s been the subject of some amount of ridicule from black friends as well, believing he was “too white,” playing rock n’ roll and not wearing the accepted street wear attire. “They would say, ‘why are you listening to this white boy shit’.” Simply put, Chan confounds expectations and stereotypes and thus exists in a liminal space between culturally “black” and “white.”
Ask anyone not a cis-gendered, white, straight male in a band and they will tell you that when people learn they play, there is a reaction. When I (a cis, straight, white guy) tell people I play in a band, I get “oh cool!” a lot. But when people learned that the other guitar player in the band was a woman, that “oh cool” was delivered with a different inflection. Again, often well-intentioned. Like, a sort of “oh that’s cool you guys are progressive enough to have a girl in your band.”
Rock n’ roll was music pioneered by black musicians. We are not here to discuss the propriety of popular music genres. That is a whole other discussion of racism perpetuated by capitalist interests, among other factors. Anyone looking for some background on this should go watch episode 2 of They Called Me a Sellout with Bernie and Uvee Hayes. They recount being part of the “Chitlin Circuit” during the Jim Crow era. The undisputed fact is that rock n roll would not exist without the contributions of black artists, whose work was often plagiarized. Even back then they were the subject of derision from a more conservative black public that viewed this as “devil’s music” or somehow low-brow and inferior to jazz.
There is no question that Chan should (and does) feel perfectly entitled to play whatever the fuck he wants. With little exception, popular music almost certainly should exist above the imaginary divisions of racial lines. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that it seems like most people, on every side of those lines, seem to feel differently. Or at the very least, people notice and seem to feel compelled to comment. To be sure, many people “don’t mean anything” by their comments, but even the most well-meaning individuals illustrate an unfortunate fact: we still notice when someone in rock is something other than a white, cis, straight male. Even when we see it as a positive thing, which it is. But again, most of this music should be able to rise above the social construct of race. We’ve long spouted platitudes like, “music has the power to bring people together.” Anyone who’s been to a great show would agree with that. This isn’t to say that we shouldn’t notice, but that should be relevant only by the cultural addition to the music, not simply because of the hue of one’s skin.
There are so many discussions around representation in media and the arts these days. Representation is a theme that appears in so many of Chan’s interviews. For many of his subjects and himself, seeing themselves represented in rock was a crystallizing moment. This is absolutely crucial not just to a sense of social justice, race equity, and equality, but to rock n’ roll itself. Minus the major label status quo, rock is a genre that glorifies innovation. Rock musicians will go on and on about who created or best embodies a certain quality or subgenre. The only way to keep that sort of innovation coming is to have as many perspectives as possible adding to the conversation.
Visit Chan’s Youtube channel here. You can also contribute to Chan’s work by giving to his Patreon or the film series’ GoFundMe page.
*Author’s note: This was an incredibly difficult piece to write. I am aware that as a white, cis, straight male, my perspective on topics of race, sexual and gender orientation, and identity may be missing some important dimensions. This topic in particular has so much nuance and is so complicated, I really struggled with how to either a) cover everything broadly to provide the best possible context, or b) focus on a few key points and explore those as well as possible; and do all of this without going too long. The truth is that this particular topic should have more scholarship around it. Chan has ambitions to have these released on streaming services and continue making them in perpetuity. This is important work and is only possible with financial backing. Please support this project and others like it.
