FUNKASAURUS FEATURE

I caught up with Graham from Funkasaurus to find out more about his club night that he runs with dj'ing partner Tim here in Belfast.



What and where is Funkasaurus?

Funkasaurus has existed for three and a half years in the intimate surroundings of the Basement Bar situated next to the City Hall, in Belfast's city centre. It runs every other Saturday night with myself and Tim playing every week alongside regular guests.


How did u and tim meet and decide to dj together?

We actually met when Tim joined the band I was in as our new guitar player but it turned out we were both into DJing and dance music and got on very well from the start. It was a couple of years after that we got together as Funkasaurus after a couple of gigs playing together. We were both into the same stuff and thought DJing together would be first and foremost great craic but maybe also save us some cash as we were both buying the same records so we could txt each other when we bought some tunes so the other would know what not to pick up! I had been playing at various nights on my own for a number of years so was an interesting challenge to be constantly playing back to back.


What is the idea behind funkasaurus?

The idea I spose is just to basically make people dance. Its not about playing the most upfront tunes and educating people in whats good but just playing stuff that we like and we think the punters will like, its a very friendly and up for it crowd with no pretention at all and that¹s what we love about it. Everyone just comes to jump around and get sweaty and we basically provide the soundtrack for that! Musically it's a bit of a mash of funk, house and breaks and a few other bits and pieces. We've never gone out of our way to advertise it as one specific thing and we think that has worked to our advantage. It also means we can play lots of different types of things throughout the night which is great from a DJs point of view as we are into so many different things!


Can u tell me about the funkasaurus production work?

We've been producing stuff for most of our existence as Funkasaurus but in saying that, the early stuff is best avoided tbh! The way we work is basically I do all the technical side of it and Tim works as basically an ideas man. We think it works really well as sometimes I get bogged down in the technology and its great to have a fresh set of ears at every stage who doesn¹t know how its been done, someone who is just reacting to ideas from a punter/DJ point of view.


Who do u rate in the uk breaks scene and any one to watch out for?

To be honest I think its better than ever at the moment, so much new and fresh stuff around, we almost feel spoilt for choice as DJs. Producers such as The Rogue Element, Far Too Loud, Groove Allegiance, Koma & Bones, Jay Stewart, Groove Diggerz and Boabinga & ID to name but a few have been really floating our boat recently. There has been a massive resurgence of funk into the breaks scene recently with loads of labels putting out stuff similar to Fingerlickin's output such as Splank, Beaking Even, Mofo, Dead Famous, iBreaks Funk etc etc. From a DJing point of view the Groove Allegiance show is great as it combines live guitar and decks and has been a real hit both times they've come over for us. Also the recent Boabinga & ID dj sets have been the perfect mash of breaks, 4/4 stuff, grime, garage and loads more, truly inspiring and future thinking stuff!


What about locally, any dj's or producers that have caught your ear?

As promoters we hear so many demo CDs and see loads of new DJs playing, obviously the ones we like the most are the ones we have down to play for us such as Tim Reid and Barnes aka Senor G. Also we've been really impressed by Jonny Boy from the Global Virus crew in Derry who surprised us with his versatility the first time we went up to play for them. Production wise we've liked some of the Alloy Mental stuff, but there does seem to be a certain lack of breaks producers locally, I think we're flying the flag for that one on our own! There's also some great local bands doing the rounds such as And So I Watch You From Afar who I've been really enjoying recently, very powerful and focussed but genuinely decent blokes at the same time.




What has been your highlight while running the funkasaurus night?

That¹s hard to pick, I guess everytime you get someone coming up to you and saying it was their first time there and they really loved it is always great! Hard to pick on specific night but the night we had Move Ya! playing was really good craic and it confirmed with us that you can play a whole night of breaks and it'll work a treat if the crowd are up for it. I think that¹s what I like about our crowd the most is that they aren't there for a specific type of music, just GOOD music! We also love the nights when we get to do full 5hr sets and play the biggest range of stuff we can.


What for you makes a great club night?

I think it has to do with a combination of considerate DJs and punters with the right attitude, nothing ruins a night quicker than DJs playing for themselves or punters with bad attitudes killing the atmosphere on the dancefloor. I think we've been lucky in that respect as we have a great working relationship with the Basement management who understand the kind of people right for their venue as well as right for the music.


Who would be on your dream line up?

That is difficult as we love so many different types of music, I guess there would have to be two rooms, one for DJs and one for live acts. DJs would be maybe Sneak, Plump DJs, Kid Koala, Boabinga & ID. In the live room maybe The National, The Wedding Present and Super Furry Animals.


Whats in the future for funkasaurus?

The future for us is more releases with new stuff coming out on iBreaks Funk in November and an album for them at some point next year. We also have more house based stuff coming out on Bryan Jones Control and Lowend labels in Chicago. Were also in talks to DJ more outside of NI next year with gigs in Bristol, Brighton, London and France in the pipeline. I'm also keen to try and resurrect the live thing we did a while back with a bass player, now that we have a bigger catalogue of our own stuff. And finally we will be continuing to host the radio show on Ibreaks radio every other Friday night for the forseeable future!


Funkasaurus Top 5 Floorfillers

1. Funkasaurus - Jackhammer/Super Funky Hustler (iBreaks Funk)
2. 30hz Feat Yolanda - Daddio (Myles Dyson Remix)
3. Maelstrom - Makossa (West)
4. LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous (Soulwax Remix)
5. Far Too Loud - Play It Loud (Funkatech)


FUNKASAURUS MYSPACE
FUNKASAURUS RADIO SHOW @ IBREAKS
FUNKASAURUS 'WORK DIS/THE DIRT' Available here