JPG: This is very, very, much a party record, whereas Evolution, I don’t really want to say dark but maybe lyrically…
BSW: (laughs) No, no, no. Actually that’s perfect. Evolution is pretty dark, man. You had a few like “Coffee Pot” and maybe “Tweet,” the fun songs, but for the most part “Evolution” was dark, man. (laughs) You hit the nail on the head. That’s the description I give. That’s why I’m saying with this one, we’ve got to bring the party back. We’re a party band. We’re a fun band. We’re a dancin’ band. That’s what we want you to think about. This is where it’s at now, man.
JPG: Was it a matter that it’s been four years between that album and this one. Were you like, “I got that out of my system. I don’t want to go there again” or is it the anti of what’s going on now and the tenseness of the times?
BSW: Evolution, I would say, it was probably what was going on at that time and also, I got it out of my system. Not to say that I would never do a rock album again but I don’t know if it would be that dark. Maybe, if I’m in a dark place in my life, maybe, but from what I see right now and from what I’m seeing in the future of Big Sam’s Funky Nation, it’s all fun, man. It’s all dance. It’s all celebrating and having a good time and enjoying life. No time to be complaining and feeling down about this and that. Life is too short for all that. So, we want to celebrate it while we’re here, you dig?
JPG: When you sing “Don’t give a damn about Donald Trump,” that’s followed by “Everybody just shake your rump.” So, you go positive with it.
BSW: Yeah, we’re not trying to…Nothing we can do right now. He’s still in the office. Seems like nothing going to happen to get him out of it, so just have some fun. We’re going to rebuild America and make it even better than it already is. We have a lot of things left to do to make the country better. He is not one of ‘em.
JPG: It reminds me of that line, “When they go low, we go high.”
BSW: Exactly. Exactly.
JPG: The album is called Songs in the Key of Funk: Volume One. Do you have songs that are already recorded that are going to be on Volume Two? Do you see this as part of a series?
BSW: It’s going to be a series. We recorded 13 songs originally for this album. We only put out 10 and some stuff is ready to roll right now. And we’re still writing. Me and the rest of the band, we all have songs that we’re still completing but we already have an idea for Volume Two.
So, of course, I want to make it a whole series and keep it going. Guess what? If I want to make a left turn every now and then, do a “Maggot Brain” or something like that, it still going to be put out. But, this is going to be a series so stay on the lookout for more.
JPG: Good to hear. The songs, they’re very compact, like the old idea of singles not being much more than three minutes. Was that intentional because you can, obviously, stretch them out when playing live?
BSW: It was intentional, man, because I listen to some albums and it’s mostly like jazz albums or jamband albums where you hear one song and it goes on for eight or 10 minutes. I’m not in that place. I want to play the song, have people catch on to the hooks, enjoy the music, and then the song is over, move on to the next one. By the time the album is over, guess what? You want to press repeat again. You want to hear it all over again. You don’t want to sit through 10 minutes of all of the movements and things like that.
There are some bands that do that but the way that I’m seeing it right now we should play the songs and just have fun with the songs and move on to the next one.
JPG: It’s kind of fun and interesting that you end the album with “What’s My Name (Big Sam)” with a big shout-out to yourself.
BSW: (Laughs) I had to, man. We travel a lot and we’ll play shows all over the world. I could say the name of the band 23 times throughout the show. I can have the name on the drum kit, on the [bass] drum head, and some people who don’t know us, seeing us for the first time, they will still come up to us and say, “Hey, what’s the name of the band? Hey, what’s your name? You guys are great.” I’m like, “Big Sam.” “Oh cool, you guys are great, man.”
Matter of fact, one show we did at Bonnaroo. This new person, they loved the show and they called me somebody else’s name. I was like, “Man, that’s not me but you at my show when I say who I was. You know what? I’m going to write a song and help these people out, and let them know what I’m about. This is how you can identify who Big Sam is.”
JPG: By the way, Big Sam, how big are you?
BSW: 6’ 2” 250 pounds
JPG: That’s pretty big.
BSW: I’m not gigantic. Pretty big size.
JPG: If you were that big in grade school, that would be quite big.
BSW: Well, I was. I stopped growing. At one point, back in my Dirty Dozen days, I got up to 350 pounds. So I went on the Ovaltine and I got down to 217. And I felt like, “I got to put some weight back on, so here I am now at 250.
JPG: You went off of “Apple Pie” and Pokechop” (both are song titles off the new album).
BSW: (laughs) Ain’t nothin’ wrong with some apple pie. That’s always good.
JPG: You mentioned about jambands playing long songs on record. That’s always been a thing for bands that have been into playing live and having a live reputation and then going into the studio and trying to get that right. It always seems to be hard for them. Is it easy for you or do you see other artists’ approach in how to separate one from the other — studio versus live?
BSW: It’s a helluva feat, man, because for me it’s easier to go into the studio and play 10, 12 minutes on one song because I am a musician. I came up playing jazz.
We can stretch it out and go into all these different movements and variations of the songs and have fun with it. So, for me it’s actually hard to have the discipline and control to say, “You wanna cut this back because after three-and-a-half or four minutes, it’s the same thing. So, we don’t really need to go anywhere else or it’s not that kind of album or we’re not that kind of band. So, let’s cut it short. Let this be the song.”
For other bands it works and it’s great. I do shows like that when I’m with special guests. No big deal. But, for Funky Nation, we have these songs. This is what it is and we’re going to have fun with it. Live, we stretch out a little bit longer but it’s still not 10 minutes. Move on to the next song. That way you get to enjoy the show and you get to experience so much of our repertoire. We have so many songs. So you get to experience all of that.
JPG: Is that something you developed over time or do you rely on the producer or the arranger to tighten it up?
BSW: That’s pretty much me, and I’d say my band members, too. We’re on the same page. We know what it should be. And we’re all in agreement on what it should be and it shouldn’t be. That’s why all of them are exactly the way they are.
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