1. Your new record “Party Favors†sounds like a slightly new direction for the band- more P-Funk than the Afrobeat that first inspired the band. Is that a fair assessment?
“Party Favors†certainly represents a new direction for Gov’t Majik! More than anything its just the product of us playing a lot together, absorbing our influences and settling into our own sound – which we like to call Afro-Tech! P-Funk’s my favorite band so you’re always goin to get that with me!!
2.Your songs have matured considerably since I first heard you play. How has the song writing process changed?
We took two weeks to record our first record (Reality (It Hits You…)), and we took about two years to record Party Favors – so yeah we definitely put more time and thought into the new material – glad it shows! We really are band that enjoys collaborating and writing together and most of our songs are a product of everybody contributing something. Our guitarist David Hyman really stepped up and came in with some great songs already written for Party Favors. Also we’re doing allot of singing now, so just having lyrics and working out the phrasing and harmonies is where most of the time is spent together – the grooves are by far the easiest part!
3. You are playing a couple of gigs this weekend with the Majik horns. How does the band’s sound change with a horn section?
This weekend we’re celebrating the release of Party Favors and Reality on iTunes and the launch of the new GovtMajik.com so we’re pulling out all the stops! We’ll have the Majik Horns – Tim Green on tenor sax, and Antonio Gambrell on trumpet – Friday night at Maison. Horns bring a new power, bigger sound and energy to our sets for sure, you add them on a melody and it just makes it huge and deepens the impact. Plus its a given that we’ll play more of the afro-beat hits in our arsenal and just lay back and let those cats blow! Tim Green is one of our heroes and its always such an honor to have him with us!!! Now on Saturday night we’ll be at Prytania Music and Spirits sharing a bill with our great friends E.O.E!!! The title cut of the new record seems to reference our government. Is it a reaction to your experiences with the response to Katrina?
4. The title cut of the new record seems to reference our government. Is it a reaction to your experiences with the response to Katrina?
Party Favors is funk tune that paints a couple of pictures, one is of a man who gets caught up in his greed and lust for power and loses himself to phony notions of success – it could even be W! The other is of the people in this city, state and country who desperately need the services and leadership government should provide but are endemically not getting it… But on the surface it just rides as a rocked out party anthem – after all, we all like to have fun!!! There’s a relationship to my frustrations with Katrina, but I’ve been aggravated with government my whole life.
5. Your bass has a different sound than the instruments favored by most of the funk musicians in New Orleans. What made you choose a Steinberger?
My bass is actually a Status, which utilizes the headless, graphite necks and double ball strings pioneered by Steinberger. I’m a big fan of really thick low end like most afro-beat and reggae players prefer. I like the headless thing too, its got a space age look – kinda “tricky†- that’s just how I roll!
