| All About: Funkbucket | 1ST EVER GIG: The Five Lamps Bar and Grill in 2004 INFLUENCES: The Meters, The Clash, Brand New Heavies, A Tribe Called Quest, Erykah Badu, Quantic Soul Orchestra, The New Mastersounds, Color Climax, The Stranglers, The Roots, The Beastie Boys, Jimmy Smith, Jimmy Cliff, Trojan Records & The Specials. BACKING TO: Daisy B, Yogi, Baby J and Ben E G SOUNDS LIKE: Glenn: "The sound changes with the line-up. This is the best we've sounded, its quite a smooth sound - the Brand New Heavies kind of style - but we can turn on the funk!" |
Nottingham's 'The Social' - a bar and live music venue decked with imaginative and original art prints associated with bands that have played the legendary and nearby Rock City - can be an intimidating location for any lesser known band. It can also be a confidence boosting atmosphere - a place where any on-the-crux local bands finally have a place to shine to an unfamiliar crowd.
For Funkbucket, it’s their first gig outside of Derby. Seven members strong, the Five Lamps Bar and Grill's former house band are now set to perform at the 'Dirt Club' night - The Social's hosting of three local bands on the first and third Monday of every month. There's something dangerously infectious about Funkbucket - you just have to dance. Indeed they had many members of the audience letting themselves go and others unable to resist swaying to their sounds. Something they're famed for is their automatic improvisation - the freestyle jam where the band feed off of each other to create a unique song for the night, complete with spontaneous lyrics from Alex and Amy. Rhys asks Alex what kind of baseline he should play, to which he responds "Anything. Something raw." Then turning his attention back to the crowd; "This is where you get back on the dance floor..." When they say 'Funk', you say 'Bucket!'
 | | From left: Amy, Chris & Hudson |
Of course, before all the energy of the performance ensues we have our business to attend to; and the drummer, Simon, notes that we're conveying the interview around a 'Kiss' pinball machine - rather appropriately the first band he ever saw live in 1984. The age gap becomes apparent as Amy Scott, the newest member of the band wasn't even born then. The interesting thing is that they've all been drawn together because of the varied skills they have to offer the band - Alex Blood the MC, Glenn does keyboards, guitar and bass, Rhys does bass, guitar as well as some vocals, Simon drums, Chris is guitarist, Hudson operates and turntables and Amy does vocals. Freelance agents As a collective, the band's practice has always been to never 'fix' the line-up - members are free to come and go at any time - indeed, ‘step-ups’ inviting audience participation are how the band found Amy and Chris, who was there fixing the pipes. Amy recounts, "So they got a random drifter and one of the bar staff."Ìý
 | | Funkbucket (hover mouse for names) |
Founding member Glenn says on live performances, "We always try make a party vibe and play for the audience - not play for yourself." He also says on the importance of the band being a collective, "It’s kind of the way things are working, the whole kind of funk and soul. Unlike say, rock bands, we don't have a 'blood pact', sign out names in blood - that's just the way it is in the funk/soul/hip-hop world and you become better musicians because of it. That's probably why we've played such a wide variety of music in the past." The future of Funk The band charts back to summer 2003 as a different band 'G-Notes' which ultimately had to bow out when only three members remained, who formed 'Funkbucket,' who retain the collective and open-to-collaborations manta.Ìý The plan for the next year involves more gigs - Hudson says "Make new music, get a new recording done - we're looking to get an actual recording out there."
Glen says the band operates on the principals of the three 'Rs' - "Rehearsals, Recording and on the Road - its kind of a simplified plan - so simple it can't go wrong."
"Are you saying we're all simple?" Simon muses.
 | | Live at Nottingham's The Social |
If this doesn't work however, the band is quick to blame each other! Simon suggests killing the rest of them while Chris adds "-Horribly, in their sleep."
Rhys ponders "I might try cross a dog and a horse together," but Glenn reasons "Because we're in a collective, we'll all be doing music somehow." An enquiry into where the best place they played has been finds Rhys suggesting Derby University's May Ball, when Girls Aloud also played.
Amy says "Well, this is only my second gig - so I suppose here." An energetic performance, full of life - which says a lot about them as people - follows the interview, with the crowd unanimously loving it by its end - the band believe their sound is the best it has ever been and that stems from its current fresh line-up - so if you're after a good live gig, look no further; you've found the Funk. |
