Vulfpeck is my new favorite band.
You may have heard about these guys back in April when they made waves because Spotify banned their all-silent album Sleepify after it raised $20,000 in royalties, a rather genius stunt where they asked their fans to stream their all-silent album over and over while they slept. What you may have overlooked is that their music is even better than their clever money-making / marketing schemes. After getting a tip from my friend Campbell to check out their track “1612”, I decided to dig more into their history and discography — and once I started I couldn’t stop. These guys are producing some of the funkiest tracks I’ve heard in a while.
They’ve only been around since 2011, and according to a Jambands.com interview, they were formed when Jack Stratton wanted to create a band in the same vein as the Funk Brothers or the German Wrecking Crew. Vulfpeck was inspired by the idea of “live performance clips of Bill Withers or Bob Marley, Curtis Mayfield…all the great ones. Everything we do is kind of a TV performance in that it’s live.” This contributes greatly to their DIY approach -- from self-publishing on Vulf Records to a few Kickstarter campaigns and mostly debuting new material via YouTube. The Sleepify/Spotify trick earned them enough cash to fund a tour where they didn’t even charge admission, which is explained in this hilarious video. And they’ve also earned major street cred within the bass community for Joe Dart‘s contributions to the project. His solos are infectious; check out “Beastly” and “It Gets Funkier” for proof.
Vulfpeck originated out of Ann Arbor, MI where they all met in a German literature class at the University of Michigan, and they’ve recently re-located to Los Angeles, CA. The future looks pretty bright for these guys. They’ve promised to tour more in the future so hopefully our ears will be able to meet their music in person.
The band just recently uploaded “Christmas in LA” which continues to show off the funk, their clever film style, and humor. Check it out and digest their latest EP, Fugue State via BandCamp. You won’t be disappointed.
