Bonus Content: Sunny Ortiz on His First Musical Experience, Strangest Percussion Toys and Setlist Favorites
What Do You Ask a Legend?
When you sit down with a musician you’ve admired for years, the questions write themselves. I wanted to know what it felt like for Domingo “Sunny” Ortiz to experience music before he ever played it on stage. What did his first live show look like through the eyes of a high school kid in Texas? And later, what keeps him curious as a percussionist who always has some new “toy” to try out?
Here’s the leftover goodies from last week’s conversations:
Sunny’s First Musical Experience
Me: What was the first band you ever saw live?
Sunny: “James Brown and the Famous Flames in Waco, Texas, at the Heart of Texas Coliseum. I wanna say I’m still in high school, so I’m gonna say ’68 maybe. 1968, yeah buddy. It was incredible. It was great. It was huge! James Brown just ran—and I mean he looked like a madman the way he just moved around and worked that stage.
He had a guy that would come out and put a cape on him, and James Brown would get on his knees and throw the cape off, and people were just screaming and hollering because of his moves, and of course, the band, [especially] Pee Wee and the early years of Bootsy Collins.
Back then, I was just an audience, you know—but the energy is what was exciting because everyone in that arena, in the Coliseum I should say, was into it. They knew that’s where they wanted to be. And back in ’68, there were still a lot of struggles and strife, but the beauty about music is that no matter what’s going on outside in the real world—even for us in Panic to this day—when you come to a show, the whole vibe, that connection between the person next to you, friend or stranger, it’s still critical. That’s the music scene, that’s life: being close to people who have one thing in common—having a good time. We wrote a song about that, too.”
Favorite Panic Songs to Play
Sunny: “You know, I like ‘Fishing.’ There are so many, but ‘Fishing’ comes out. And of course ‘Chilly Water.’ They’re all just in the fond memories of what I was doing, how that came about… just a whole vibe of going back there when we gave birth to it, so to speak, all those songs.”
Favorite Percussion Toys
Sunny: “The Vibra-slap or the Flex-a-tone. Those are great accessories I use. And another two LP products—Latin percussion products—that always have a unique sound. Nowadays, you’ve got so many electric pads and computer-generated noisemakers that are just as cool and different.
Sometimes I’ll pull out the didgeridoo too. It’s hard to get that good sound out of it because it’s one of those instruments where if I get a hankering, I’ll just pick it up and play it. Our sound guy always wants to know in advance because it can shake the whole place. It’s hard to play—you’ve got to do the circular breathing. It takes a lot of practice, which I should do daily, but sometimes I just do it whenever I get the urge. I’ve heard people say it’s a great instrument because it makes that inner part of your body shake and vibrate.”
Closing Thoughts
Listening to Sunny talk about James Brown, capes on the floor, and a whole arena moving as one, you can see exactly why he still approaches every Panic show like it’s sacred. For him, music has never just been about the notes—it’s about that shared spark between strangers in the crowd and the unexpected thrill of throwing in a Flex-a-tone or even a didgeridoo when the moment calls. Nearly 60 years after that first show in Waco, Sunny is still chasing the same thing James Brown gave him: energy, connection and joy that refuses to stay in one place.
🎵 Blog Soundtrack: “I Got You (I Feel Good)” by James Brown and the Famous Flames
