When and where were you born?

I was born in Los Angeles proper. That is, the actual city, not the sprawling metropolitan area of California that is all typically referred to as Los Angeles. Born in early December 1950. What's cool about that is that it's easy to remember how old I was in any given year. Turned 10 in 1960, turned 19 in 1969, etc.

Steve with his father, sister Patty and brother Carrick circa: 1955/56 at Disneyland.

What was growing up like for you?

I grew up in Long Beach, which is a city in the Los Angeles area. We were fairly well off, lived in nice neighborhoods, and even had an in-ground swimming pool. My parents were not really a very good match, but they did stay together. The result was I didn't develop a lot of usable social skills. Music became my avenue to connect with people.

When did you first begin to fall in love with music and what initially fascinated you about it?

My parent played a little music, my dad on violin and my mom on piano, neither too serious about it. But they did play records, mostly classical, so I was exposed to great music from an early age. I have an older brother who liked Folk and Bluegrass of the 1960s. I wasn't immediately captivated when The Beatles took over. In fact, I was a bit embarrassed watching them on Ed Sullivan with my parents that fateful night in 1964. But I was attracted to The Byrds, because of the vocal harmonies. And then The Who because of the aggressive nature of their early stuff.

Circa: September of 1965 with grandparents.

What inspired you to begin playing the bass guitar?

Not what, but who. Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane. In early Rock, the bass was just an accompany instrument, just there to fill in the low end and stay out of the way. But Jack made it a melodic instrument; something you really wanted to listen to. [Side note: The bass as a melodic instrument has mostly died out. Now it's mostly a percussive instrument, starting with Larry Graham in Sly and the Family Stone at Woodstock 1969.]

Did you go to many local shows in your area?

After The Beatles hit, every kid on the block wanted an electric guitar. Keep in mind, Surf Music was a thing in southern California, so those guys who were already playing started to become the first "rock" bands. It wasn't long until there were lots of local small-time bands around. By the time I got into high school (1966) there were dances and parties all over the place. This was before portable music machines, no iPods, etc, and the only DJs were on the radio. So if you wanted music at your event, you hired a local cover band. Each of the five Long Beach high schools had its own off-campus teen center, with dances every Friday. Different bands played at those.

Where would you go to see concerts and what was the first band you saw that made a huge impression on you?

I think The Standels was the first band I ever saw that actually had an album out. But I don't remember when or where that was. When I got my driver's license I was able to go to real shows in L.A. Between 1967 and 1969 I saw several big-name bands; Jefferson Airplane, Buffalo Springfield, Grateful Dead, The Doors, Country Joe & The Fish, Steppenwolf, and even Jimi Hendrix! But the band that made the biggest impression on me was Blue Cheer in '67. First time I had ever seen a Marshall stack, and they had six of them!

Bob, Don, Ron, Steve, and Jerry. High School graduation circa: June 15th, 1969.

Did you participate in any groups prior to COS?

Yes. My first band was called Smog. It was when me and my friends were first learning, and we never got to the point where we played in front of people. The first group I played live with was Band Of America, which later morphed into High Voltage. I was in Sunlight-7 and High Voltage at the same time. These were all cover bands, playing at the local high schools and colleges, and frat parties at USC and UCLA. In Sunlight, we'd sneak in a couple of our original songs that would later appear on the LP.

High Voltage. New Year's Eve circa: 1968/69.

If so, can you tell me about some of those outfits and experiences?

High Voltage was a power trio with a lead singer format, a four-piece, same as The Who. So it was a much leaner/meaner sound than Sunlight. Sunlight was able to cover a broader range of tunes.

What style of music did you guys play?

Like all the other local bands, there were lots of places to play, and we all did covers of the popular music of the time. It was sort of a Catch 22 situation, in that the only groups that could play original music were the ones who already had some sort of notoriety, while you couldn’t gain any notoriety unless you did play originals. So there was a good demand for cover bands, playing two to four hours worth of other people’s music, but little interest in unknown original music. Kids just wanted to dance to what they were familiar with, this is, what was on the radio. Sunlight had a wide variety of cover tunes and we became so popular at one of the Long Beach high school’s teen centers, that we set an attendance record that was never broken. What’s funny about that is it wasn’t the high school we were students at.

When and where was your first show that you ever played in front of a live audience and what was that experience like for you?

I was 16-ish and Band Of America played a college beer bash, that is, for older kids. I was terribly nervous until we hit the first note. Then it was great!

How did you initially meet your bandmates?

Five of us were in high school together, but, being part of the Baby Boom generation, our school was gigantic. Somewhere short of 4,000 kids spread out over just three grade levels. So any individual was surrounded by mostly strangers most of the time, and the five of us ran in different crowds and barely knew each other. I think we were all in the school marching band, also huge, but we were still not that aware of each other. One day, I think it was Bob Morgan, our drummer, showed up at my front door and said he and some other guys needed a bass player. So I went. I don’t recall being auditioned, it was more like “You’re a bass player, you’re in.” As a side note, even though we were together a lot, we still didn’t socialize that much with each other outside of the band. We still stuck to our own different groups of friends at school.

What were your first impressions of them?

Well, since I didn't know them that well, I didn't have much of a first impression. The lead singer, Gary Young, was older than the rest of us, so that seems a little odd. Jerry Griffin, our keyboard player, definitely had the dominant personality, but he had the musical chops to back it up. Bob Morgan, our drummer was kind of a party type and was popular in school. He became our senior class president in our last year there. Don Sain, our rhythm guitarist, was the easiest to get along with, and he eventually joined me in High Voltage. We're still (distant) friends to this day.

When and where did the first jam session take place as a full group?

The first meeting and early rehearsals were at Jerry's parent's house. Later we did some rehearsals at my parent's house, but only when they weren't home.

Don, Ron, Jerry, Carl, Bob and Steve circa: 1970.

What was the chemistry like between everyone?

As a group, it was pretty good. Because we were in high school and had lots of friends, we got a lot of support. After shows, we would usually go out for food. I remember one occasion where we walked into a restaurant and asked for a table for 21. But as individuals, we were not always on the same page. Bob and Jerry were (under age) drinkers and that sometimes got us into hot water, and/or had a negative impact on their playing. Ron Clark, our sax & flute player, was a smoker, which I hated. I harassed him endlessly (and years later he told me I was instrumental in getting him to quit). And Gary, being older, had a different perspective on music. While the rest of us were leaning into the mid to late '60's vibe, he was still stuck in an early '60's vibe. Plus, he seemed to have an unearned ego about himself.

How did you guys come up with the name for the band and what led to the decision to change the name from Sunlight Seven to just Sunlight?

They already had the “Sunlight Seven” name when I joined. So I guess it was something Gary and Jerry had come up with. We eventually dropped the "Seven", because having a member count seemed a bit dated. Kinston Trio, Dave Clark Five, etc. I don't remember when we made the change. But now, all these years later, it's kinda cool again. As the band's archivist, I refer to us as Sunlight-7, or SL-7.

Because you guys never actually performed under Creation Of Sunlight, correct?

That's correct. "Creation Of Sunlight" was only supposed to be the album title. We never played as or referred to ourselves as that. But since it was the only text on the album cover, in our eventual obscurity, people assumed that was the band's name. That error has turned into a blessing here in the Google age. The phrase "Creation Of Sunlight" is easily searchable and leads right to us, whereas just plain "Sunlight" does not. It should be noted that our third (last) single 45, was listed as being by Creation Of Sunlight, but that was just a last-ditch effort to tie it to the LP.

The band playing live at a private party.

So many incredible bands came out of LA as if that’s not obvious enough, but what did you guys want to express and explore with your music that differed from a lot of the other groups around that time?

No real answer to that. We never sat around trying to map out a "purpose". We were just happy to be playing and excited to record. We (like the other million kids) just hoped to "make it" and be on the radio.

When and where was the first gig and what was that experience like for you?

I only have vague memories of a few of the Sunlight gigs, and I certainly don't remember which one was the first or where it was.

The band formed in ‘68 and you guys would release the two singles on Windi Records shortly after in ‘70.

Not exactly. Our first single, as Sunlights' Seven, was "David", backed with a cover of "Judy In Disguise", was released on Entra Records. Our second single, as Sunlight, was "Sometimes A Woman", backed with "Colors Of Love", on Windi Records. The third single, as Creation Of Sunlight, was "David" (again), backed with "The Fun Machine", also on Windi Records. I don't recall the actual release dates.

How did that deal initially happen and can you tell me about writing as well as recording those singles?

Before forming Sunlight, Gary Young had established some contacts in the music industry, among them Bob Engemann of the popular early 60s vocal harmony group the Lettermen. Engemann had left the Lettermen in 1967 to work in the production side of the business out of his own studio, Independent Recording in Hollywood. Engemann was impressed by our potential, and in December 1968 we went into his studio to make our first recordings.

The band and recording engineer Howard Gayle.

What were the band’s activities during that time before recording the LP the same year?

Well, we were still in high school, being nervous about graduating while there was the draft for the Viet Nam War, so we just kept playing local shows and rehearsing new material, including originals.

Can you tell me about writing as well as recording the songs that are featured on the band’s lone LP ‘Creation Of Sunlight’?

Most of the album songs were written by Gary and Jerry. One was based on a riff I came up with, so I got partial credit on that. Jerry did arrangements were needed, but we mostly came up with our own parts. Two songs were written by outsiders Gary had some connections with.

When and where did recording begin in ‘70 and about how long was that particular process?

Not '70. As mentioned above, the recording was done at Independent Recording in Hollywood. The first tracking session was in December of 1968 and we did three songs. There were three more tracking sessions spread out over 1969, along with a couple mixing sessions. We completed a total of 12 songs, 10 of which made it onto the album. As an interesting side note, were recorded on a 3M 8-track on one-inch tape machine, the exact same model The Beatles used on the Get Back sessions.

What was that experience like for you recording that record and had you been in a studio prior to that?

None of us had ever set foot in a real studio before... It was awesome!

How did you end up working with engineer Howard “How” Gayle and Executive Producers Bob Engemann and Dave Brown?

Howard was the house engineer and Bob was the owner. I never knew what Dave's role was. Probably had something to do with the finaces. Not sure if I ever even met him.

What was the first order of business once the record was released?

The first order was to GET IT RELEASED! When the album was finished, it was hoped we could now land a big-time record deal. Bob Engemann’s brother, Karl, was a vice-president of A&R at Capitol Records, and Bob’s stated intention had always been to get the band signed on the strength of the album. However, around the time we were ready, Capitol signed and released an album by a group called Merryweather, which had also been recorded at Independent. Suddenly Capitol decided it would look like a ‘conflict of interest’ between the Engemann brothers if a second group was signed. That’s it. That's all that happened to seal us into obscurity. It was never about the music, just business politics.

Did you set up any sort of tour, or line of gigs to support the record?

Well, since we didn't get signed to Capitol, Gary and Bob started their own label (Windi) in the hopes of recouping the costs of recording the album. But they had no distribution set up, so we were pretty much dead in the water. I think only 500 copies were produced and I have no idea how many were ever sold. We kept playing for a while, but there wasn't much point. We were all pretty disappointed.

What eventually led to the group’s disbandment?

By this time, us high schoolers had graduated, and all went off to different colleges, if for no other reason than to get the student deferment from the draft. The band just sort of fizzled out. Jerry and I both quit, and Gary got replacements to do one disastrous tour to Oaklahoma City (his hometown), and that was it.

Is it true you guys enrolled in college to avoid the terrible draft?

Yes.

What did you end up going to school for?

The deferment. I can only speak for myself here, but after a couple years I was 21 and there was enough fresh 18-year-olds to kill (they took those kids first), so I quit college.

Did you continue to pursue music, or did you take a completely different path altogether?

Yes. My band High Voltage was back in action, and I also was in a band called Airborne, and one called Weott. None of those ever recorded.

Band Of America circa: early 1972. Kris Showman, Jim Blair, Don Sain and Montague.

What have you been up to in more recent years?

I moved to Portland, Oregon, in 1976, and mainly just worked, mostly in manufacturing. Did still play music casually with friends, but quit performing in the mid-1990s. Since I had started in the mid-1960s, I figured 30 years was enough. But I have continued to produce music, but only as a hobby.

Steve camping with his brother circa: Oct 12, of 1976.

What do you think of a whole new generation taking an interest and appreciation in the band after all these years?

We were shocked. It wasn't until the internet became a thing that I found out the album was now a highly prized collectible. And we had all lost touch with each other before then. Once we all got reconnected, I set up a MySpace account and found we had fans all over the world. Of course, most of the information out there was wrong (such as the band's name) because we were so obscure. Most of that has been corrected now since I got involved. We got a thorough write-up in Ugly Things magazine in 2011. I think the epilog is that we were in the right place at the right time. The music of the mid to late 1960s was a great time of progress and experimentation, and even though we were just a blip on the screen, we've been lumped in with all the big names of those times.

Are you currently working on any projects?

Yes. I'm 71 now and my retirement hobby is doing multi-track audio and multi-camera video for local bands, which I do for free. Portland has quite a vibrant music scene (at least it did before the pandemic), and I like helping out young bands who would not be able to afford this kind of work otherwise. I've done on-location shoots for several years, but now mostly have the bands come into my home studio. The pandemic has slowed it down, but I hope to do more when it's safe.

Is there anything else you guys would like to further share with the readers?

I'd appreciate it if you could include the links to my YouTube channels:

Portland music scene: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL8k_Y0oRK7I0LfY8Abhn9w/videos

Sunlight-7 official: https://www.youtube.com/user/sunlight7band/videos

Also, here's my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sirfun2010/

And the SL-7 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreationOfSunlight/

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