Sammyfunk – „Versace Boots“ + Exclusive Interview

1. Thank you very much for your time! Before we introduce your new release to our readers – what kind of drink would you recommend to sip on while they listen to your new music?

– Milk. It’s my favourite drink! But if that’s too ‘soft’ for you and you fancy something harder

– I’d recommend tequila or better yet – mescal. Let’s not fuck about here! Time to trip out !

2. Please let us know about your new album, the videos, tour dates?!

– The album We Are Sammyfunk was made because I had a funk / disco itch I needed to scratch after many years in a hard rock band ( Spain’s Los Labios) . I love rock n roll and many say it’s my natural place, but I also love love love pop, disco , funk , house, psy-trance, electro .. the list goes on ..

The music videos were shot in Spain. The title track was shot in the southern Spanish deserts, because it looks so much like the deserts in the American West, where the song needed to be set. (Check out the lyrics ..) Back in the day many famous Western movies were filmed there, including a lot of the classic Clint Eastwood cowboy films .

What I didn’t think of is that it was winter when we booked the shoot – so it was absolute freezing – below zero degrees Celsius. I nearly died out there, I was so cold,  only wearing a thin shirt and a stupid hat, surrounded by a film crew all dressed up in their warmest winter coats.

The next single, Versace Boots was filmed in a gay bar in the Spanish tourist town of Torremolinos. We had it booked out for the entire day, and it still smelt of lasts nights fun. For this shoot I was incredibly ill with a bad flu – so again it was a massive struggle just to get through it! But what do they say ? – no pain, no gain. It turned out good , and in the final video, you cannot tell I am sick, I hope !

3. Name 5 things we all should know about you as a band?!

– 1. A lot of the music was co-written by the producer – guitar whizz kid Yianni G – who may or may not be the man under the monkey mask … ( shhh)

– 2. Sammyfunk is a ‘concept band ‘ what I mean by that is, I wanted to create fictional ‘, bordering on cartoon-like  ( like ‘characters’ , (halfway to the Gorrilaz?) All the members except me have created names and traits specific to each of their characters .

– 3. we are color coded!!  Dee Dee always wears orange , G.G. Always wears purple, B.B. always blue. And me in black and or white (except the first video where I am of course dressed up as Johnny Depp in the film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. )

-4. The women in the band are all from Spain ( I was also born there in fact) and solo artists in their own right ( well 2/3 are ..) sometimes I can’t believe I convinced them to be involved in this silly high-concept project.

– 5 here is the biggest secret / not secret of them all! Despite the girls being musicians in their own right, the album was actually recorded before they entered the picture – in Los Angeles with Yianni G ( the producer / guitar player on the record / funky monkey ) and  a collection of some of the best young session musicians in town!

4. What fashion style or brand would best describe your music?

– Well we do of course have the single Versace Boots, but I always thought Versace the man himself, seemed like a bit of a wanker. And I find their style a little too much and over the top! Haha so not Versace! Only about half the album is funk / disco- the rest is country ( what??) and British pop/rock so what would that be ? Regular old blue jeans ? A bit boring . Let’s say bright colours, and whatever style you want – which is in essence- punk rock . Vivian Westwood anyone ? I adore her stuff .

5. We live in times of many conspiracy theories. Which, harmless, theory would you wish were true? (For example Dinos living inside Earth or E.T. living in a home in California)

– I was raised by hippies. There was always all this talk of the dawning of ‘the Age of Aquarius’ coming around the year 2000 – when everyone would suddenly become all chilled out and love crystals and be meditating in floppy clothes,  and all be nice and lovely to each other. I was looking forward to it ! It never bloody came though did it? We got 9/11 instead . Super.

6. If you could change anything about the industry, what would it be?

– I kind of wish it wasn’t necessary to have to spend so much time on instagram and tik-tok these days to promote you these days . But that is just the way it is . For now at least ! Sigh.

7. Tell us more about your songs! Topics! Messages!

– start with We are Sammyfunk , the title track, because it – word for word- tell the fictional story of how Sammyfunk was formed (the band members were magic Ravens from outer space !). It is inspired by the wild and crazy songs of Parliament ‘Mothership Connection’ and stuff like that ..