Freekbass is the name of the band and bandleader of a new five-piece group out of Cincinnati. They incorporate in-your-face bass lines with horns and synthesizers, all supported by a tight rhythm section of drums and guitar. The end result is somewhere between old-school funk, hip-hop and techno. Their debut album Body Over Mind was released last June and can be previewed at their Web site: freekbass.com. The band brings their blend of funky, danceable beats to the Memorial Union terrace this Friday at 9:30 p.m. The Daily Cardinal recently had a chance to talk to Freekbass about the band and the road.
Could you describe your band's sound?
Definitely funk. Rooted in the funk, but with more of a modern twist. [Funk] has always been a kind of music of the future and a more cult-ish or underground kind of sound. Right now it feels like all those seeds that were planted in the last 20-25 years of funk now are starting to sprout.
There have been a lot of bands out there lately'especially jam-bands that have incorporated elements of funk into a newer sound. How are you different from bands like The Disco Biscuits, Galactic or Lake Trout?
Well I think a big, big part of it is the Cincinnati thing. Funk, even in the bands you mention, still has a kind of regional [element], depending on what part of the country or what city you're from. Galactic is a really good example. They're from New Orleans and you can obviously see the Meters influence and that whole New Orleans sound ... or Cincinnati, from James Brown in the '60s all the way to the '70s with Bootsy [Collins, bassist for James Brown and Parliament Funkadelic] and Zapp [and the Midnight Star]. In the '80s there was Midnight Star and the Deal, and there's always been a very kind of distinctive sound with the Cincinnati funk sound, just like it would be with Minneapolis or Detroit or wherever.
From your CD and press kit it looks like your band has a distinctive stage persona.
It's kind of an escapist thing. ... I know with myself'this guy you're talking to on the phone on Sunday night, and the guy that gets up on stage'there's definitely a duality kind of personality thing going on. It's an evolution with myself and with everyone else in the group, where you get up on stage and start doing the music thing, and it ... all developed very naturally. It's not like we all sat around and said, \Hey, you be this guy, or you be the guy that puts silver on your head and plays keyboards or whatever"" like Beta-17 is or anything like that.
If you could have your ideal venue and crowd, what would it be like?
Oh man, that's such a hard one. There's so, so many places. Without trying to be too lofty and sound too grandiose. ... One thing that would be really great is to perform on ""Saturday Night Live"" someday.
What CDs have you been listening to while you've been on the road?
We've been listening to all kinds of stuff in the van lately. A lot of up-and-coming groups. Dungeon Family, OutKast, Goodie Mob, Low-Fidelity All-Stars. A lot of people come up to me and ask me if I'm a big Primus fan because, you know, stylistically the way I play some bass stuff. I never was a real big Primus fan, but a lot of the newer stuff that Les Claypool is doing right now, I'm really digging where he's coming from.
Have you had any strange experiences on the road?
Pretty much every day is a strange experience on the road [laughs], you know, moving all the time. Especially once you start traveling more and more, everything starts getting a kind of surreal David Lynch-ish quality to it. The whole thing is pretty much a trip.
