DJ Mag Canada 013 - January 2014 | Page 20

BRITISH COLUMBIA - LOCAL ARTISIT SPOTLIGHT GALIANO ISLAND & NANAIMO, BC HOMETOWN: CURRENT TOWN: GENRE: VANCOUVER, BC ELECTRONIC FUNK, SOUL & BASS MUSIC FACEBOOK: WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/THEFUNKHUNTERS SOUNDCLOUD: TWITTER: BEATPORT: SOUNDCLOUD.COM/THEFUNKHUNTERS @THEFUNKHUNTERS WWW.INSTAGRAM.COM/THEFUNKHUNTERS INSTAGRAM: WWW.BEATPORT.COM/ARTIST/THE-FUNK-HUNTERS/225074 OFFICIAL SITE: WWW.THEFUNKHUNTERS.COM Define funk: Funk is nearly indefinable. For us it’s so much more than a genre. It’s a feeling, a sound, a look, a vibe. It’s something that instantly brings a smile to the face and a bounce to your step. It boosts the soul and always has it’s own unique groove. It could also be summed up as the inability to refrain from dancing! For those readers that haven’t heard your music before, how would you describe your sound? We like to take our audiences on an adventure; sometimes we call our DJ sets a “genre-party” because we’re inspired by and passionate about so many different tempos and genres of music. So for us, “hunting the funk” – whether that’s by producing it ourselves or relentlessly seeking it out – isn’t about focusing on anyone genre or tempo. Our sound definitely incorporates a wide range of Soulful Bass Music but we frequently move through Glitch Hop, House, Disco, Drum & Bass, and everything funky in between. You like to incorporate live instruments into your sets. What do they add? We really believe live elements enhance the show. It’s why we still perform 100% of our sets on 4 turntables and why we also now mix all of our own visuals while we are performing. But yes, this year we’ve really stepped up our “live” game and have introduced a whole bunch of instruments into our show. We’ve been blessed to be able to put together an amazing band that we are now working with both on stage and in the studio. So depending on the size of the show and venue, we always do everything we can to bring some of them with us. Whether it’s just some live guitar or saxophone or trumpet or one of our vocalists, they truly add another dimension. At the end of the day, the majority of the music we are hearing at festivals or in the clubs is being produced and presented digitally. It’s 0’s and 1’s being pumped from laptops into the speakers, and so adding the human touch with a real analog instrument or the human voice, just adds a whole new depth to the sound and the experience. The whole aesthetic changes, our emotional attachment and connection to the music changes, our ability to see its creation in front of us changes, and the subtle nuances of human improvisation or error is something we are so badly missing in this new digital era of music. Don’t get us wrong, we employ a tremendous amount of technology in our performances and in the studio too, but using live instruments is a great way for us to bring back that organic element that’s so often missed in the electronic scene. Your music is 100% modern, but it has a throwback vibe. What is it about retro soul and funk that inspire you? Funk Music is just something we’ve both always loved. It resonates with almost everyone in such a positive way. The retro soul and funk sound, especially the stuff from the 70’s, is some of the most amazing music ever recorded. From an engineering standpoint, that rich warm often thick and saturated analog sound is something we really love. But also the music itself, it’s percussive groove, funky horns and it’s ability to instantly make you just want to jump up and down and shake your booty is really quite fascinating. It’s played a huge role in shaping and defining what kind of sound we love today, and what kind of reincarnations are possible for us moving forward as we continue to evolve and refine our own sound. 020 djmag.com FUNKHUNTERS DUNCAN SMITH & NICK MIDDLETON NAMES: You’re about to embark on a tour through Australia, and you’ve been all over the world. What is the biggest difference between the electronic music scene in Canada vs. other countries you’ve been to? We’ve been to a lot of incredible places with strong scenes but it always feels like we have something very special here in Canada, especially on the west coast where we live. The summer festivals here have a real community vibe and boast some exceptional venues, production, and lineups. At the same time, there are an unbelievable number of smaller markets here too. Ski Towns and smaller cities that are still able to bring in big name acts and run cutting edge clubs. It’s led to an incredibly smart and forward thinking audience. The people out here are just so into the music, they care about it, they know about it, they’re passionate about it. From the crowd on the dancefloor to the club promoters and the festival bookers, the whole scene is just really well educated and in tune with good electronic music and come out to support the shows, even in unlikely places. And it seems like there’s just no slowing down. Music here doesn’t seem poised to fall victim to VIP dollars or a slave to the bottle service industry like many other markets now are. I guess you could say it’s actually a very democratic market. Most of the festivals and clubs here are actually still privately owned and that’s a real impressive feat in such a booming corporate industry. You’ve played Burning Man, how would you describe that experience? Burning man is an experience like no other and one that is impossible to describe without going. We played 9 or 10 sets when we were there in 2012, from moving art cars, to giant stage camps, to groovy cocktail bars. There is always so much going on the playa and it’s about so much more than just the music. There’s also mind blowing art installations everywhere you look and almost everyone contributes to the festival in some way which makes everyone a participant rather than just an attendee. If you haven’t been and ever get the opportunity to go to the Burn, we say do it! What do you prefer playing, festivals or venues? Why? Each has their benefits but if we had to choose just one, it would be festivals all the way. The intimacy of smaller venues is lost (which we really love sometimes) but there’s just so much more gained. Th