Upfrunk Creek Interview

Your background of how you met and formed seems interesting. It says in your bio that you’ve brought together members of local popular bands. What got you together in the first place, and how was Upfunk created?

Grant: All the boys went to the same school, but at different times. I don’t think the younger boys had even started high school by the time our drummer graduated. But over the years there were quite a few little musical collaborations between the boys. Mike and I (Grant) were in a Rock band called Valhalla for a few years, back in the day. And I was also involved in a lot jazz through the school with Gene and Matt, and then later on went on a tour with Dik, Steve and ?uek. We’ve had a few run-ins with Laz here and there over the years at gigs and stuff, and now she’s one of the boys.


Some class you as a modern day Cat Empire, blending elements of Hip Hop, Funk, Jazz, Reggae and Rock n Roll. What’s something new your bringing to the scene?

Laz: I guess its true to say that we blend those ‘elements’, like one might say that the Cat Empire does. But for us it’s certainly not just about creating a stylistic hybrid. I mean, we want to utilise styles that we really like, in innovative ways. But not just stylistically - also structurally, and texturally, and then branching off into many more worldly genres and sub-genres.

We are about getting inside the music. Each genre of music has many elements of its own, and has the capacity to evolve in many ways. We take these elements of, for example, hip hop, and throw them into different contexts, with a splash of things like baroque counterpoint, rock attitude, world rhythms, jazz harmony and improvisation.

The combination of different influences amongst the band all lend themselves to Upfunk’s sound. Notably, our MC, Jamie, is able to adapt and incorporate his own personal writing style, which has been growing for years to work with the band as a unit. But basically, our tunes are our tunes, and Jamie’s words are his words, and our energy is our energy. That’s what we are bringing to the scene.

But this is just the beginning for us. There are a lot places we want to go, and I’m really looking forward to the possibilities.

Any plans on a record deal and is staying independent a conscious decision?

Grant: No plans as yet. The issue hasn’t ever really come up.

But if we ever do become involved with some sort of record deal, we wouldn’t let anyone push us around. We really have a very clear idea of what we want creatively and business-wise, and a lot of strength of character as well!

How did the band collectively feel after the first gig at Lane Cove?

Laz: Well, it was pretty awesome. We seemed to win over the crowd pretty well, which was a huge buzz for us, not knowing exactly what to expect. And we’ve been getting a similar response ever since, which can’t be a bad thing!

Have many of the members had formal classical music training? It seems many musicians in the modern era are self taught, do you think this is a positive step for the industry or a natural progression with the way the media works?

Grant: About half the band has had classical training, and most of us have had training in jazz.
I don’t think it really matters whether a musician is ‘self taught’ or not, as long as they arrive where they want to creatively. The focus shouldn’t really be on how they got there. I don’t think its really a trend or anything, and the media and industry have nothing to do with this process of ‘learning’.

What do you think of the infamous Myspace? Do you find it a useful tool for the promotion of your music?

Laz: It’s definitely a useful tool in the promotion of music. It’s a popular phenomenon these days which makes your music easy to access, as well as gig info and all that. Its like a website that’s really easy to find and share. But I don’t think, by any means, that musicians should become complacent with it. You’ve got to be really active about promoting your music, jumping whenever opportunity arise. But, it certainly is an easy way around things, and people are certainly getting lazier these days.

So the organisers of the BDO approach you, saying give us a 25 word answer on why you should play the main stage this year. What would you tell them?

We are young, we are pretty, we play good music, yo. How many words is this?

What were some of the artists you were raised on?

Grant: Led Zeppelin, The Police, The Who, P Funk. The police are doing a reunion tour this year! I've never seen out drummer mike so excited

Laz: Harry Connick Jnr’s funk stuff, Lauryn Hill, Erik Satie.

Any hobbies and interests outside of music?

Grant: Rock climbing and Sylvester Stallone.
Laz: Morning walks, drawing, dancing and drinking tea.

Top 5 aussie bands that we cant go past?


James Muller
King Tide
AC/DC
Showa 44
Blue King Brown
20th Century Dog
Phil Slater Quartet
The Catholics
Madhead
Exposed Bone
Richard Savery Quartet
Mancower
Valhalla
Medium Brown
Farfinkel Pugowski
Rastawookie
Silverchair
The Van
True Live
Triosk
The Necks
…anything on Jazzgroove Records.

5 is too hard! for a small country we make some mind blowing music