MOTHER.FUNK

If you are looking for a new band that lays down a jammy, funky sound then the Tuscaloosa, Alabama band MOTHER.FUNK will be right up your alley. You may not have heard of them…yet, but they have been playing the bar and club scene around the University of Alabama since they were formed back in 2010.

After stumbling across this band I decided it was time to do a little research and see what the buzz surrounding them was all about. The first place I started was YouTube and after a quick search of the band name I had the opportunity to listen to a few tracks. Some live performances and some studio.

I’m gonna focus on the live performances because to me that’s where you really get a good look at the makeup of a band and how they work together to create music. Aside from looking at the musicianship and interaction between members of a band I want to see if they look like they are enjoying what they do or if it looks like they’d rather be anywhere else in the world. As crazy as that sounds to most people I’ve seen plenty of bands perform that don’t look like they are having any fun at all. This alone can ruin a show for me. Who wants to see a performance that isn’t engaging and ‘all in’ after all? Certainly not this guy! But that’s not an issue with MOTHER.FUNK. From the opening notes of the few performances I found I can see the guys in the band having fun and more importantly the crowd at each performance seems to be eating up what the band is laying down.

Where to begin? Ok how about their sound. Before doing any research at all and just listening to a few jams I can hear influences of Phish, Trey Anastasio, Slightly Stoopid and maybe even a little MOE mixed in with some southern rock. After digging into google a little deeper what I had heard was confirmed by members of the band in an interview they did for a newspaper article. This is a very good start because that list of musicians includes some of my personal favorites. But don’t get me wrong as these clearly aren’t their only influences and even more importantly they don’t sound like a cover band or rip off by any stretch. Although the influences are evident I can say with confidence that the band has their own unique sound.

Based on the name alone you know what the sound is going to be. With a name like MOTHER.FUNK there had better be some serious funkiness going down. The guys pull it off and it doesn’t sound forced, rushed or bad at all (believe me I’ve heard plenty of bands trying to sound Phishy or to a broader extent jammy and if its not done right it comes off as lame…not the case here). The tight grooves and solid drum beats drive the music leaving plenty of room for the guitars, bass, keys and other instruments to experiment, stretch out and play around to see where the jams will go.

I can imagine packed college bars or frat parties raging to the music they put down. If you close your eyes you can just about see all the kids jamming and feeling the good vibes being showered down on the happy crowd.

I’ve reached out to the band and hope to get some time to do a more in depth interview and really see what they are all about but for now I’d definitely recommend checking out some of their YouTube vids and if you happen to be near the University of Alabama you should try to find out where their next gig is. I have a feeling you won’t be disappointed.

Hopefully MOTHER.FUNK continues to expand their touring area and maybe they will make it down to South Florida where I can get the chance to see an entire show live. In the mean time their new album Coastal is available for download at iTunes and you can find more info about them on the MOTHER.FUNK facebook page. Check them out and let us know what you think.

If you’ve seen MOTHER.FUNK perform drop us a comment and let us know what you thought and don’t forget to give us a like on facebook and follow @guitarnewsdaily on twitter. - Dave Abrams

TUSCALOOSA, Alabama -- Self-proclaimed funkadelic band Mother Funk is a five-piece Tuscaloosa band that is ready to bring what they call their "musical fusion" to Jupiter Bar Thursday night.

Mother Funk includes Josh Ferrell (electric guitar and vocals) Burnham Hawk (lead electric guitar and vocals) A.C. DeMoss (keyboard and vocals) Carter Elliott (bass guitar) and Casey Peranich (drums, or as Josh Ferrell calls him "Keeper of the Rhythm").

They will play Jupiter Bar this Thursday with DJ D Ranged, and Ferrell says it is one of their "biggest shows of the semester."

Ferrell has dual roles in the band, also serving as the liaison between the band and venues and helps them book new gigs. We spoke with him about how the band formed, their songwriting process and where that unique name came from.

Coti Howell: First of all, I have to know, where did guys come up with the name Mother Funk?

Josh Ferrell: There is the million dollar question. You know we actually came up with it one Friday night after we played a show at The Red Shed, just joking around, spitting out possible band names kind of just for the heck of it. At that point in time, we were calling ourselves Tin Penny and nobody was in love with that name, so we were already set on changing the name if we came across one we deemed worthy. All five of us were sitting around at the bar and our drummer Casey Peranich just spit out "Mother Funk," we loved it and it has been this way ever since!

CH: How did you form Mother Funk?

JF: Well, Mother Funk kind of just happened. We are all members of Phi Gam here at The University and we all had a passion for making music so it just made too much sense. We've been playing around Tuscaloosa for about two-and-a-half years now but our group has done a lot of changing. The newest member of the band, lead guitarist Burnham Hawk, has only been with us for four months, so yeah, we're changing.

CH: On your Facebook page, you call yourselves "funkadelic." Where do you get your inspiration?

JF: Our inspiration comes from all over the place. All of us have some different musical preferences and tendencies but as a group I would say some big driving influences are guys like Animal Liberation Orchestra, Phish, John Mayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Dispatch. I mean the list just goes on and on.

CH: Tell me about your songwriting process.

JF: We tend to create our best "musical fusion" when A.C. DeMoss, keyboardist and vocalist, and I sit down with our acoustic guitars and start writing. From there, we kind of share some ideas with the rest of the band as to how we are hearing it in our heads and let Burnham, Cater and Casey feel it out. After jamming it out for a while, we've got a song.

CH: What does your spring look like in T-town as far as shows?

JF: Well, slowly but surely we're getting booked up. It gets really competitive around this time of year when all the bands are calling the bars up looking to get some shows in the book. It's looking like we'll be making our routine stops around Tuscaloosa as well as a few stops in Birmingham and Auburn. We do have one road trip booked to play Sigma Nu at Arkansas for their Row Week party in April, so it's looking like a promising semester for us.

CH: Where do you see Mother Funk in five years?

JF: You know, it's hard to say because every band hopes they're going to the same place, to the top. Of course we want to be playing Bonnaroo, The Hangout Festival and all those places that every musician dreams of playing. Realistically though, in five years time if we've established a name for ourselves around the Southeast and are getting booked Thursday, Friday and Saturday of most weekends that we want to play, I think we'd all be really happy with that.

The doors for Mother Funk and DJ D Ranged at Jupiter Bar open at 9:30 p.m. There is a $5 cover and the show is 19 and up. - Coti Howell

A.C. Demoss (Vocals, Keys) of Mother Funk spoke with us about Mother funk’s debut album, “Coastal,” an exciting mix of jam-infused songs designed to capture the bands live performance tendencies in a studio setting. The band’s wide array of musical influences is apparent, track-to-track, a characteristic they hope will attract a wide array of listeners. “Coastal” is set to release on all major distribution channels this Friday, February 28, 2014.

“Spaceman is a Mother Funk original about a man who’s lost in space. No matter how hard he tries he can’t fit in with the universe. Spaceman reflects how we are always longing to fit in with our environment and be accepted by the people around us, but even though we might try as hard as we can, we don’t always belong.” -A.C. Demoss

About Motherfunk: Mother Funk is a band from Tuscaloosa comprised of 5 members. Josh Ferrell — guitar and vocals; Burnham Hawk — Lead Guitar and Vocals; A.C. DeMoss — Keyboard, guitar, percussion, and Vocals; Casey Peranich — Drums; and Davis Hudson – Bass guitar. The members met through their fraternity of Phi Gamma Delta at The University of Alabama, and started out playing music all around Tuscaloosa and the greater Birmingham area. In 2012, they’ve expanded into incorporating A.C. DeMoss on the keys and Burnham Hawk on guitar. Their showmanship and skill in music caught the attention of a major booking agency, Music Garden. Music Garden signed the band in early 2013 to play at venues all across the Southeast. Mother Funk fuses your favorite “bar” songs into funkadelic jams that will blow your mind.

Coastal Song List:

1)Ladies & Gentlemen

2)Cajun Lady

3)Spaceman

4)Yeti

5)Slip

6)Head Games Pt. 1

7)Head Games Pt. 2

8)Pilot

9)Instrument of War

Facebook.com/motherfunkmusic - Andrew McConnell