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Jennifer Lopez. Lenny Kravitz. Selena Gomez. Coldplay. TV’s “The Voice.” Vocal coach Stevie Mackey has worked with all of them and other big names too. On a recent afternoon, Mackey checked in for a video call from his Los Angeles home. A white piano can be seen in the background of his garage studio. Before becoming vocal coach for superstars, Mackey sang backing studio vocals for artists including the late great Whitney Houston and R&B icon Lalah Hathaway. RELATED: Little Richard’s deep, slightly complicated Alabama roots An L.A. native, Mackey graduated from Oakwood University, a Huntsville, Alabama historically Black institution that’s produced the likes of Grammy-winning a cappella group Take 6 and platinum-selling R&B singer Bryan McKnight. In the late ‘50s, rock pioneer Little Richard attended Oakwood. In conversation, Mackey is articulate, poised and upbeat. At one point during the interview he pauses to thank his pest control guy who’s there today spraying for spiders. Edited excerpts from my 30-minute conversation with Mackey are below. RELATED: From Huntsville’s Oakwood University to ‘Saturday Night Live’ How did going to Oakwood University here in Huntsville help prepare you for what you do as a vocal coach and who you are today? Stevie Mackey: Oh, man. Huntsville. You know, I actually really miss Huntsville. I love it out there and I want to be able to visit every single year, because Oakwood it gave me everything. I always knew I was going to Oakwood because my parents went and they’re like, we’re going to make sure you go to this Christian college in the South and get out of California for a little while and see what it’s like in the rest of the country. I was like, all right, let’s see what it’s like. But you know what I learned most of all is how to just get along with everyone and to appreciate our American music and the history of it. Because you get to hear a lot of the old school gospel and a lot of the old singers, and the music was so beautiful and cool. And you could see how we got so much of our American music from the South. And so hearing the gospel down there and then studying down there, studying opera and studying, they take it real serious. And it was just a beautiful experience. I honestly had never been to an all-Black school like that, and it blew my mind. So much soul, and you learn so much about culture, and that’s what my parents wanted me to do. And I was like, OK, OK, this is real cool. It’s a whole different world than California. READ: The 10 greatest bands of all-time from Alabama Stevie, what was it like singing background vocals for Whitney Houston? My first session was with Whitney Houston, very first studio session for her Christmas album [2003’s “One Wish: The Holiday Album]. And I couldn’t believe I was getting paid to do it. Couldn’t believe anyone asked me to do it. And I didn’t know what I was getting into. But doing the Whitney thing was really special. Was Whitney in the studio at the time or was it you working with just the producer and recording engineer? I think she’d already done her part. And it was another Oakwood connection, though. Mervyn Warren, the founder of Take 6, he was producing that Christmas album with Troy Taylor [who’s always worked with the likes of Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle, Trey Songz Isley Brothers.] And he [Warren] hit me up and said, hey, how’s your sight reading? And I was like, oh, it’s great. I’d just come out of college. I could sight read some, you know, but you always say you could do it, and then you brush up on It. And they didn’t tell me exactly what it was for because that stuff is top secret. So you gotta be able to sight read when you get there. They’re not gonna send you any music ahead of time, and so you got to just get there and say, OK, alright, this is what we’re singing. And you’ve just got to get with the pros, and they know it [the material]. You go over it one time and record it. One of the artists you’re most closely identified with as a vocal coach is Jennifer Lopez. What’s impressed you about her, as someone who’s already a superstar but isn’t satisfied with just that? We’ve become good friends because we’re a lot different as people. I think sometimes good friends complement each other, and they’re not just alike. I mean, she’s a New York Puerto Rican. Like, she’s always ready to go, she works hard. And I’m a L.A. boy, laidback. You know, I’m like, alright, we’ll get to it, take your time, let’s take a breath. Let’s get it done, you know, in this month. And I think we have a good push and pull, and she motivates me. We just have that synergy and it’s a blessing to have in my life. And I mean, of course she outworks everybody. She works so, so hard, and she likes to try different things in life. She doesn’t look back and then pout or complain ever. She always thinks forward and says, what am I doing next? And that’s a smart mindset that I’ve tried to adapt from her of just moving forward in life and go, try the next the thing. And at the end of a life, you’re like, well, I really did live. I wasn’t scared, you know, and so that’s what I get from her. And she teaches so much. She teaches me more than I teach her. Do you think because Jennifer Lopez is such a great performer and so successful, she’s underrated as a singer? Yeah, I think people just want you to be one thing. It’s easy to be one or two things, but once you do more than that, they’re not sure where to place you. And she’s been on this journey a long time and I think people have a hard time keeping up keeping up with her. You also go out on the road with Jennifer Lopez as a vocal coach when she tours? Yeah, because we’re such close friends. I just like to be around her, and we have fun, and I’ll warm her up before every show. I’ll go out with her. I’ll go out with Coldplay – I love working with Coldplay. There’s a few artists I enjoy going out with, you know, just a few, because otherwise I would like to be at home teaching. When you were a kid growing up in Los Angeles, was there an album or an artist whose music your family played around the house or something you heard on the radio where you’re like, I don’t just want to listen to great singing, I want to do great singing? Yes, of course. My parents would play Luther Vandross and Take 6, and then I remember this guy [then-young R&B singer] Tevin Campbell coming up. That’s cool. He sings like me. He has a high voice and could do the runs and stuff. I said I could do that, you know, so there was a couple singers I would see coming along that I saw myself in like, you know, I want to try that. But I also took after a lot of the gospel singers, like the Winans, Commissioned, the Clark Sisters. Several secular artists sprinkled in there, the Whitney Houstons and the Michael Jacksons you know, but it was mainly church singing. I grew up on church music. Lenny Kravitz is another super talented, longtime star who’s still really got it. What’s been interesting working with Lenny as a vocal coach? Lenny Kravitz is magical. You feel that when you’re around him, and he’s so kind, and he loves people. He wants to be at his peak and forever – he’s just like pristine. [Laughs] He just keeps working, keeps working. But the magic of him, really, when it comes to singing, is that he is a rock and roll guy, but he is also a crooner and a church boy, too. And he has both sides to him. He’ll go real smooth, and then he’ll go real big with his voice. So that kind of dynamic takes training. So the voice has to be really trained and stretched carefully and worked before you get up on stage because that’ll take your voice out. So he’s willing to put in the work, and he’s just a great guy, so kind. And you realize how humble people are when they’re willing to learn and change. You see the humility in them. Selena Gomez was the first major artist you worked with. What’s special about her as an artist and a little about your chemistry with her? Yeah, yeah. I mean, her being so humble and driving over here and saying, I want to sing, and let’s start. She’s so gifted. One of her real gifts is just connecting with people. She knows how to connect with her audience so well. And that’s something that’s hard to teach. I can’t really teach that part. I can’t teach you how to have electricity or be interesting. And she’s so sweet and full of talent, from acting to singing and all of it. I started working with her probably 2013 or ’14 or something like that, so yeah, it’s hard to believe it’s been that long. You’ve also done a lot of work on the “The Voice.” What’s something interesting about the behind the scenes workings of that hit TV singing competition? I mean, “The Voice,” I was there for so many years. I was in the band, and I sang in the band, and we would get other singers to come in, and we would try to make each song the best it could be. Whatever it took. Sometimes we were a whole choir. Sometimes we would arrange a song to be, you know, a different style and to make it cooler. What really goes on behind the scenes is they vet very well. The coaches are excellent people, from everyone from CeeLo [Green], John Legend, Reba [McEntire] to Ariana [Grande] to you down the list of Gwen [Stefani] and Blake [Shelton] and Pharrell [Williams]. Adam [Levine]. Christina Aguilera. So there’s been so many great celebrities up there, and you become family with them, and you see them working. But behind them, there are great coaches on that show, like Trelawny [Rose], the main vocal coach of “The Voice.” She’s been there, you know, for a long time, and she’s put in work with each contestant, and you’ll never really see her on camera much, but she coaches everybody on there. Trelawny, she has a team of other coaches that work under her, so you never really see that part. There’s always coaching going on. Even when the camera’s off, there’s coaching going on. And you see these kids and they come on there and some of them afraid and scared, and you have someone who’s a good coach comforting them. That’s the part that you don’t see much of. Your lone album as a solo artist so far is a Christmas album with guests like Jennifer Lopez, Boyz II Men and Take 6. What do you want to do next as a solo project? And are you already chipping away at that? I am, I am. I’m pushing myself a lot to write. I’m not a big songwriter, but I’m getting better. It’s something you have to exercise, like anything. So I’m meeting with songwriters and working with them. And what kind of album? I love Disney music. I love soul music. I love R&B. I love hymns. I love spirituals. I even love dance and EDM. I love all kinds of music. So if I did another project, it would have to be, I would have to say, a soulful R&B album with choir roots in it. I love choirs. I love the sound of them. And then I’d want to do a Disney album of me playing piano, my favorite Disney songs -- I think they’re beautiful. And then an album of spirituals. So if I had a free year of not having to do anything else, I would record three albums, and those would be the three.
