Manuel “Loose Caboose” Tristan

1. Where are you from, and where does your style/flavour come from?

Well, that’s a hard question.

I think it starts with my family and growing up in the hood. We were almost like the Jackson family. My mother raised twelve kids in a shack on welfare, with no father around, but we were loving, respectful to others, and our whole family was talented in almost everything connected to music and dancing.

One of my older brothers was great at everything he did, at least in my eyes. His name was Freddy G, and he was my mentor.

He taught me everything he could because I wanted to be like him. Everywhere he went, he would light up the room. To me, he was the greatest soul dancer.

So yes, Freddy G is where I got my style from.

He was also the one who gave me my name. He gave me two choices. He told me to pick either Hot Chocolate or Loose Caboose.

Well... you know which one I picked.

That was in 1973, and that was when the name Loose Caboose was born.

2. What are your reflections on the Locking scene today compared to when you started?

The difference, to me, is that we lived in a very different time.

We came from the days of Martin Luther King Jr., the Watts riots, and life in the ghetto.

The Lock dance was an escape.

There was love and meaning behind every move we did. For us, Locking was about telling a story through the dance.

The new school can imitate the way we locked, but one thing they cannot completely feel is what we felt, because they did not live through the same time we did.

But they have their own experiences and their own way of using the dance to escape, express themselves and feel free.

3. What do you think about mixing different styles in one solo?

Well, I think it’s all good.

Some other people don’t think it’s good, but for me, I was a drummer before I became a dancer.

Growing up, a lot of dancers danced to the music. But Loose Caboose was once told by Flookie Looke that I danced with the music.

If you want to use different styles, you have to blend them in at the right moment, when the music changes.

It should be like motion and water. It has to flow.

That’s the way I see it.

4. Tell us about one of your most memorable shows, battles or events.

Well, one of them happened in 1995 in Osaka, Japan.

Loose Caboose did the Butt Drop and actually broke the stage in front of all the kids.

It scared me at first, but when I saw the look on the crowd’s faces, it pumped me up.

And that wasn’t the only stage I broke. I did it in Los Angeles in 1982, and again in Seoul, Korea, in 2009.

Some of the OGs, like Mr. Sundance, used to make fun of me and call me: “Mr. Housequake.”

5. Is there someone you feel should get more attention or recognition?

Everybody, to me, is equal.

I love everyone.

6. Are you still active? If so, in what way?

Yes.

I’m still active as a teacher, choreographer, soloist and judge.

7. What do you think about crews?

That’s a very good question.

Being in a crew was a brotherhood.

We ate together. We hung out together. We practised together. We even stood up for each other when there was conflict.

One of the greatest feelings was getting ready together before showtime.

The sad part is that many of us originally started as soloists, and when the brothers came together, we became a crew.

Today, it feels like almost everybody is a soloist again. That’s one of the things that hurts me the most.

8. What’s your favourite music to dance to?

Soul music.

What everybody today calls Funk.

In old-school terms, what you all call Funk was simply part of Soul music to us.

9. Do you have any recommendations for younger dancers and funkateers?

For me, I always told the kids:

Dance and practise to your favourite song again and again and again... until you can feel the music in your soul.

It should almost feel like chills running up your spine.

That’s when you know you’re really feeling it.

10. Anything else you’d like to point out?

There is something that has been troubling me, especially as we have lost some of our big brothers: Fred Berry, Big Dave, Boo, Joe Chism, and most of all our big brother Cam Jr.

To me, Greg gave all of us so much of what we do today.

No disrespect to Mr. Don Campbell, but people need to stop trying to claim ownership of an art form that should be free.

Like Loose Caboose says:

To be a Lock dancer, it’s blood in and blood out.

You can also go to my Facebook page and look through my pictures. You can tag yourself in any picture you want.

And go to YouTube and search for Loose Caboose. You can use the videos and put them on your website.

Loose Caboose