| The outer limits Showbot’s local intergalactic funk Photos and story by Molly Coulter Published on 06/28/2007 |
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| On a faraway planet lives a primitive civilization devoid of music. The race intercepts a satellite transmission of famed American country singer Gil Grady and builds its faith upon his voice, mistaking him for God. Enter Shibubop Bao. The curious scientist introduces funk music to the now established Gilgradians in the form of Showbot, a music machine designed to teach the Gilgradians how to dance and bring in the funk. The Gilgradian government arrests the scientist for treason and forces him to live a life sentence behind bars. Now a freak without a leader, Showbot faces his solo mission to spread the word of the funk and launches into space. A massive vortex near Sedona pulls Showbot’s battleship to Earth. The robot travels north to Flagstaff and begins fundraising in downtown bars disguised as three local musicians. “If you’ve got a robot as your mascot, how can a comic book story not follow?” ponders bassist Marcus Ray of local three-piece funk group Showbot. The band incorporates elements of hip-hop and rock and roll in its sound, but its primary push is funk. The members cite the O-Jays, the Commodores and the Meters as their influences. Showbot covers these groups, as well as Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and atypical funk music from bands like Ween and the Flaming Lips. The story of Showbot weaves into the band’s original songs. Jim Wildermuth, who plays keyboards and guitar and leads the vocals, quotes a movie as he explains funk is an offshoot of soul. “Soul music is songs about struggle and sex. A lot of the songs we cover are about how hard it is to get by,” he says. “The comic book is the struggle. There’s the basic story and all these characters. Like Stink Tank, the alter ego. The song is actually about the comic book struggle but it has ties with struggles in reality.” Showbot formed one year ago as the remaining rhythm section of former local group, the Sundowners. Wildermuth, Ray and drummer Peter Meinel thought they’d take a stab at funk music after spending collective decades playing rock, folk and punk music. “Number one, we’re a funk band and a funk band is hard to come by these days in Flagstaff,” Meinel says. Wildermuth says most of the bands that play funk in Flagstaff do not make the genre their main focuses as they delve into jazz, punk and rock and invoke the jam band feel. “We’re really structured,” Wildermuth says. “We don’t improvise and we don’t sort of let it flow out. We sort of plan for improvisation, but it’s not all improv. Since there are only three of us, we have to practice.” A larger group with horns, DJs or multiple vocalists, the band members agree, can make improvisation its entire routine. “We are more orchestrated,” Meinel says. Wildermuth says the formal structure brings about “things that an audience member can really take with them. You can go out and a see a funk band play and not remember any of the grooves or lyrics, whereas because we are orchestrated you can really take something away from the show.” The band members say they are excited by audience turn-out thus far and are most satisfied by dancing crowds. “The surprising ones are the rock ‘n’ rollers as the rock ‘n’ roll kids still know good music,” Meinel says. Wildermuth says he wants Showbot to attract “music appreciators and people who like to dance.” “Funk music is powerful in that people don’t really want to dance to it—it’s that they can’t help but dance to it,” Wildermuth says. “Your body just starts moving. It’s a very universal kind of music. It’s always accepted on a Friday or Saturday night at a bar because it sounds like a party.” Showbot will co-host an upcoming party with local jazz fusion, funk rockers Livelihood. “We love Livelihood. We’re kind of kindred bands,” Meinel says. “We work well together and we both sound like a party,” Wildermuth says. The party starts Sat, June 29 at Mogollon Brewing Co, 15 N. Agassiz, at 9 p.m. Livelihood will play first and Showbot comes on at midnight. The 21 and over show is free of charge. For more information on Showbot, go to www.myspace.com/showbotmusic. For show details, call 773-8950. Additional photos for this story:
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