I asked Dam-Funk what made him sovereign and without hesitation he responded "dedication". In our brief conversation it was pretty easy to gather that dedication and passion are two words closely associated with Dam-Funk. Damon is the student, Dam-Funk is the teacher. His dedication to not only learning but mastering his craft took him from an avid vinyl collector working odd construction site jobs to an artist creating fresh, intricate music from a genre deeply rooted in tradition--on a record label noted for its nonconformist approach. That same dedication manifested itself into hours upon hours of studying the greats and the music that defined the genre. Now with over a decade worth of "paid dues", his passion for the genre has placed him in a position to illustrate and teach the world about funk. Lesson one: Funk is a genre not an era.
Shep: Can you explain what you mean by continuing the funk?
Dam-Funk: I think funk is here to stay but over the years it has been chiseled away at. Whether on purpose or inadvertently, it's a music that seems to be always used and abused both enjoyed and thrown to the side. What I mean by continuing is changing the way its perceived in a way this generation can actually look at it as a respectable form of music and not an act...It's not about rainbow afros and platform shoes, flower power and doing 'the bump' and that's what it's been relegated to. I'm trying to bring it to a modern atmosphere.
S: Do you mind taking me through your process for creating funk?
D: I see the music. It comes to me. When I sit down in my studio, and I put on the keys. Most of it is analog instruments. The sound, it comes from my mind. I don't sample so that's one thing that makes it a little bit different. I don't have anything against sampling. Actually the only thing that I have done is on a couple of tracks i'll take the drums and loop the drums. But for the most part I don't rely on sampling for my music. But that's my particular approach, it's nothing against other peoples approach because sampling is an art form and I definitely respect that. We got cats like Madlib, Pete Rock and Premiere and those are some of my favorite artists. So I definitely respect sampling but with my particular slant on things, when it comes to making funk, I just try to keep it where the tradition and musicianship is still used and then take it into the future with a more electronic chords and such.
S: What other genres influence you? Are you influenced by hip hop?
D: I'm influenced by hip hop to a certain degree. It's freedom based music and there's no change in the music. So as far as my hip hop and my influences come...I like producers from down south like the geto boys and that kind of vibe. Cats playing with live instrumentation. West coast artists definitely...like Dre, Quik and those kind of cats that influenced me. It gave me confidence to know that funk has good roots, good anchors and that you can build on hip hop with the funk as well.
Hear the rest of the interview down below...
Dam Funk speaks on how he connected with Stones Throw, the difference between producers and musicians, and other topics
Space and Time with Dam Funk by shep1980
Download Dam's new EP
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Funky!
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