Retro funk comes alive
No matter how gaudy they may seem today, the 1970s are still regarded by many as the epitome of cool. From movies to music to fashion, retro is trendy again, and according to one local DJ, the sounds of that decade have the ability to attract fans anywhere.
'It just feels right. If you look back, the music was so strong then. You had the aftershock of the 60s. What are we going to do now? All of that rush of energy from the 60s made black music really popular to a wider audience,' says funk DJ James Ellerbeck. 'That spilled over and created disco, James Brown became a millionaire, the biggest selling stars were black people. That rush of a new thing on the block, a new energy, that produced a lot of good tunes and pertinent lyrics.' Ellerbeck is perhaps a good example of the extent to which funk music can reach across traditional boundaries. The self-confessed 'Marks & Spencer, middle-class' Briton, who at 26 is too young to have experienced the heyday of funk, is a veritable funk and soul library. He recites names of a variety of obscure funk artists in a manner that indicates he has clearly done his research. He does his shopping on the Internet and wherever else he can find 'crates of old stuff' and then spins them at the recently launched Funk & Soul night at the Jazz Club.
The night has apparently gained quite a following. Some 300 people are estimated to have boogied through the last event last month. Even local Elvis impersonator Melvis made an appearance.
The predominantly 20-something, expatriate crowd are usually there to dance; at the last event they were still at it at 5am.
To add some diversity to his night, now one of several retro nights that have popped up around town, Ellerbeck also asks musicians to join in while he spins.
'Funk music is always live, it's real, so I bring down bongo players.' The use of live instruments works well in the room, he says, because the venue is known for its promotion of live acts. The Jazz Club's airing of jazz concerts on the monitors also adds to the atmosphere.
By day a feature writer for TV Times, Ellerbeck spins funk for the love of it. Not to mention that the money he earns as a DJ goes towards expanding his record collection. An enthusiast since childhood, it was not until he was 20 that the self-taught DJ played his first track on a turntable, Stevie Wonder's Superstition, at a rave party.
Brought up on his mother's Motown collection, Ellerbeck early on developed a passion for jazz. Discovering James Brown was a pivotal point in Ellerbeck's crossover to funk, as were his early days in the pre-commercialised rave scene.
'It made me think about music other than the mainstream. If this is really good and it's not on the charts, what else is there?' For Ellerbeck, music from the African-American tradition has always been his great love. As a result, he is not surprised that pop charts are dominated by hip-hop and R&B, while such cutting edge genres as drum and bass are rooted in classic funk.
'That drum beat, at its roots, is from Africa. Pop music is solely based on black rhythms, but made into a digestible form so everyone can have it. It all stemmed from the need to have drums to communicate in Africa. You'd hear a drum and know someone had broken their leg. You hear a rhythm; there'll be a message, that's where the strength comes from. When you listen to it you're not quite sure why it's appealing. It's got a heart-beat rhythm to it, it's quite touching.' Much of urban music has also stemmed from a history of dispossession, a quality that Ellerbeck finds particularly intriguing within the music he listens to.
'You're expressing something of where you come from. If you come from the ghetto, you've got a lot that you want to get out, tell people about, and get off your chest. That's where the really strong feeling comes from, a lot of people can sympathise.' Hong Kong, however, has been a little bit slower to catch on to the trend. Whereas retro nights have become staples of club culture in most major cities, the genre is still under-represented in the local nightlife scene. Ellerbeck is comforted by the emergence of such popular locals as CE Top, with its various nights showcasing a variety of styles.
'You think you should have some music on your stereo, you just want something you put on and maybe not think about too much. I'm going to reverse that, I put something on and I can't think about anything else. It's gotta be nutritious.' DJ James Ellerbeck at the Jazz Club. Funk & Soul Night Wednesday May 5, 7pm onwards. 2/F California Entertainment Building, 34-36 D'Aguilar Street, Central. Phone: 2845-8477. $60 at the door
