Reggae-hip-hop band Funkatron defines its name as "the musical creation and expression of five individuals' hearts and souls."
With the completion of their first self-titled, full-length album, band members Cooper Nolan (vocals, keyboard), Chris Storey (guitar), Ian McLeod (drums), Jon Walter (bass) and Grant McLeod (percussion) poured their hearts and souls into the album for all to hear.
Storey, Walter and Ian McLeod started as an instrumental-funk trio in 2004 before Nolan joined the band about a year later. Grant McLeod was the band's latest installment in Aug. 2007. The band also features the talents of Art Goodman as an MC on a few tracks.
When creating new music, the band takes a very laid-back, unrefined approach. Songs can stem from written lyrics or just from practicing.
"Someone usually starts off with a riff," Storey said. "He'll start with a drum part; he'll make a bass part."
"Mostly it just comes from jamming," Nolan said. "We'll play for like a half hour and out of that half hour you'll find maybe 10 seconds that just click. And then we'll just say 'Hey, let's make that into a song. Let's do that next time.'"
The band finished recording in December, and it took six months of mixing and mastering to complete the album.
"Recording is easy. The hardest part was practicing before recording because everyone wants their own creative differences in," Nolan said.
"We spent two to three hours on each song to make sure everything was perfect," Storey said.
"Funkatron" is available on the band's MySpace page for $10, and individual tracks can be also purchased.
Funkatron held a CD release party at the Downtown Community Plaza as part of the Downtown Series on Sept. 19. The band will play at Market Street Pub Saturday before they head out on the road for a Florida tour. They will play in Ybor City, Orlando, Tallahassee and Jacksonville.
Since many of the band members are students or have full-time jobs, it's hard to venture too far from home.
"Some of us are leading double, even triple lives," Ian McLeod said. "We're just getting out there and spreading the word where we can."
Storey said Funkatron members try to dress as "funky" as possible, and crowds sometimes have mixed reactions. Some of their outfits flash back to the '70s.
Storey, whose alias is "C-Nasty," is known to wear an afro, while Grant "Chicken" McLeod got his start with the band by dressing up for their based-on-a-true-story song "How Much Y'all Chicken?"
"I was a chicken at every show," Grant McLeod said. "I wore the chicken suit and danced. That's how I broke into the band."
Nolan, alias "Papa Coop," has a notorious pair of purple and silver platform shoes, dubbed "Funky Sole," that he bought at Flashbacks and wears during the shows.
"I go from the shortest to the tallest person in the band," he said.
Jon "Jonny Boy" Walter and Ian "McRasta" McLeod also sport funk-inspired attire like flared pants and vests.
Check out the funky five-piece Saturday at Market Street Pub. Doors open at 9 p.m., and the show is $6. Hip-hop-rock band Funks Inc. will also play.
