Big Sam’s Funky NationHBOTremeEvolutionSongs in the Key of Funk: Volume OneJPG: Your current tour must be to your liking.JPG: Nice. They’ll remember daddy that way. You probably heard that George Clinton said he’s going to retire next year.
JPG: Well, that’s what he said. I was thinking about that while listening to your new album. With George Clinton retiring, he could hand the funk flag over to you.JPG: “Pokechop,” “4 da Funk,” the beginning of “I Like the Music” are all very very P-Funk influence on there.JPG: I remember how you brought it when I saw you play at Bonnaroo at one of the small tents [in 2010].JPG: I remember it was funky but it was more brass funky and that’s what a lot of people think of when they think of New Orleans funk, brass-led funk. This album, it’s brass but it’s also George Clinton and it’s Prince and it’s Bootsy Collins and it’s probably two or three other things that escape my mind.JPG: When you were playing with Dirty Dozen Brass Band, you started Funky Nation. Was that your original intent with Funky Nation or did things change along the way?JPG: Back to George Clinton, is it the idea that he basically showed the way that you could be funky but you could be free? That in a sense you could do “Maggot Brain” and you could do “Atomic Dog?”EvolutionSongs in the Key of Funk
JPG: This is very, very, much a party record, whereas Evolution, I don’t really want to say dark but maybe lyrically…EvolutionJPG: 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?EvolutionJPG: 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.JPG: It reminds me of that line, “When they go low, we go high.”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?
Volume TwoJPG: 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?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.JPG: By the way, Big Sam, how big are you?JPG: That’s pretty big.JPG: If you were that big in grade school, that would be quite big.JPG: You went off of “Apple Pie” and Pokechop” (both are song titles off the new album).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?
