Define your genre in five words or less:
New Orleans style-street funk.
So, um… what is New Orleans style street funk?
New Orleans is known to most people as the birthplace of jazz. But as pop music took over the rest of the world, the New Orleans street bands were still doing their thing. They evolved too, as they were influenced by ground breaking funk artists such as James Brown, and Parliament. Bands took the music of the streets into the Bourbon Street clubs. This down-to-earth back-to-basics brass driven funk spawned a whole new generation of bands and musicians, such as Trombone Shorty, Hypnotic Brass, The Soul Rebels, Youngblood Brass Band and of course, the Funk Buddies.
Bearing the terrible clichéd nature of this question, what do you reckon people will say you sound like?
What we are going for is a kind of blend of the heavy groove of the (early) Red Hot Chili Peppers, the energy of Michael Jackson, the rhythm of Tower Of Power, the pelvis-thrusting funk of James Brown (Maceo and Fred Wesley), and the New Orleans heritage of the Dirty Dozen Brass band. We are fronted by brass – we are primarily an instrumental band. A few other bands have tried to go down this road before, but it ended up sounding too ‘jazz’, you know, introspective and self-indulgent. We play funk – music to make people move.
What do you love about making music?
Exactly that – making people move. We come from a range of musical backgrounds, but this is where everyone’s heart is. You can see it on stage. We’re having as much fun as the crowd.
What do you think a band has to do these days to succeed?
Success is not a fixed idea. We’re not out to sell platinum records (we haven’t recorded anything yet!). We are not chasing fortune or fame. We just want to play music that makes us enjoy life, and entertain anyone who wants to come and join the party.
So what can a punter expect from your live show?
A damn good time. We work very hard to find the line between being simple enough to dance to but intricate enough to listen to. You want to dance? Get up and shake. You want to sit back with pint and chill? That works too.
When’s the gig and with who?
We’re playing this Friday April 13, at 303 in Northcote. We’ll be sharing the night with the amazing Captain Groove. So freakin’ funky. Otherwise, keep your eye out. We’ll be around.
