Paul Altamirano, founder and host of Funkclone Radio, joins Joe Kelley on "Musicians Reveal" for a captivating conversation about the vibrant world of funk music and its evolution. The episode highlights Paul's dedication to showcasing new and emerging funk artists who often go unheard in mainstream media. Throughout their discussion, Paul shares his insights on the importance of preserving funk music and the positive responses he's received from artists featured on his show. They delve into the challenges of the current live music scene, particularly the decline of venues and the effect of the pandemic on live performances. Additionally, Paul discusses his documentary project on funk, emphasizing his passion for connecting with musicians and capturing their unique perspectives on the genre.

Paul Altamirano, the visionary behind Funkclone Radio, shares his journey through the vibrant world of funk music in a compelling conversation with Joe Kelley on Musicians Reveal. Altamirano delves into the origins of Funkclone Radio, which he began just before the pandemic, and discusses his passion for promoting emerging funk artists who are often overlooked by mainstream media. He passionately highlights the importance of showcasing new talent in the funk genre, mentioning artists like Saul, Sean Bivens, and Trenton Thompson, each contributing unique sounds to the contemporary funk scene. Altamirano emphasizes his commitment to keeping funk music alive and relevant, encouraging listeners to explore the rich tapestry of this genre that has shaped so many artists over the decades.

As the discussion unfolds, Altamirano reflects on his deep-rooted love for music, which he attributes to his family's musical background. He recounts the profound influence of legendary artists like Prince, Earth, Wind & Fire, and the Ohio Players, whose sounds have shaped his musical sensibilities. Altamirano's anecdotes about meeting iconic musicians and his experiences at memorable concerts add a personal touch to the narrative, making it clear that his passion for funk runs deeper than just a radio show. The conversation also explores the challenges faced by musicians today, the shifting landscape of live music venues, and the importance of community support in keeping the funk alive.

The episode wraps up with Altamirano discussing his upcoming projects, including a special show dedicated to funk ballads, which promises to highlight the slower, soulful side of funk music. His enthusiasm for curating a collection of tracks that resonate emotionally with listeners is palpable. This episode is a treasure trove for funk enthusiasts and those looking to discover new music, showcasing Altamirano’s dedication to the genre and his mission to educate and inspire through his platform.

Takeaways:

• Paul Altamirano discussed his journey in music, starting Funk Clone Radio just before the pandemic.
• He emphasized the importance of showcasing new funk artists who often go unheard.
• Paul shared insights on how he connected with artists for his music documentary.
• The podcast highlighted the challenges of live music venues in Los Angeles today.
• Joe Kelley and Paul reminisced about the vibrant music scene of the 1980s.
• They both expressed a desire for deeper appreciation and preservation of funk music.

Links referenced in this episode:

• mixcloud.com/funkclone
• youtube.com

Companies mentioned in this episode:

• Mixcloud
• Funkclone Radio
• Rap Up

Final Neon, he's another one.

I never met him.

I don't know him, but I really dig his stuff too, man.

He's really.

He's a new artist and he's got some great, great funky stuff out there.

Yeah.

One of Prince's last collaborators.

Yes, yes.

I was just telling my wife that the other night.

Yeah, he's the last.

One of the last ones that Prince worked with before he.

Before he left.

Right.

So, yeah, he's a bad dude.

He's a bad dude.

Foreign here on Musicians Reveal is a man who hosts an incredible show.

I've been following him for many, many years.

Even stole a few of his musical suggestions on the show because he's got such great taste in funk, R B, hip hop, Funk Clone Radio on Mixcloud.

And also he is a funk music documentarian.

And he also has another station.

Wrap It Up.

He is out of Wrap up.

I'm sorry.

There he goes.

Wrap Up.

His name is Paul Altamirano.

Finally.

Great to have Paul on the show.

How you doing, Paul?

Good, Joe, man.

Thank you for having me.

I appreciate this.

Thank you.

Doing good.

Yeah.

Yeah.

So Funk Clone Radio going strong.

How many years have you been doing it exactly?

It'll be five years this coming February.

So I started putting together the shows literally right before the Pandemic hit.

It was just coincidental that it came right as I started doing the first few shows.

So, yeah, the end of February is when I.

When I put up the first show.

Yeah.

And what was the Choice on.

On MixCloud?

I was told by some fellow colleagues that MixCloud was really flexible as far as copyright issues and things like that.

That, you know, I didn't want to have any issues with playing other people's music, you know, And I just wanted to.

I didn't want any trouble with.

With things like that, with any royalties or anything.

Copyright issues.

Yeah, they pay for it in the fee you pay to them.

So that.

That's cool.

Pretty much.

That's what they say.

Yeah.

Yeah.

We used to do live365 and for some reason.

Reason, yeah, we've got a mix club, but we're nowhere near the level of Funklone radio.

And Paul, you do it, right?

Yeah, I tried, man.

Thank you.

Yeah.

So if people can go.

Mixcloud Funk Clone Radio, you release your episodes on Friday, like, regular, right?

I promote.

I try to promote every week.

Most.

Most of the time on Fridays.

I call them Funky Fridays.

Right.

And I just.

Yeah, I just try to keep it going and keep it in people's minds, you know, so people don't forget about Funko radio and just keep it going that way.

Yeah, so every Friday I try to promote.

Right.

I, I like how you actually have the huge support from the artists that you play.

I mean you could see the people who, who like your posts and are into it.

What have you found from artists?

Their response to your show?

It's got to feel good, right?

Yeah, I mean I, I, I've, so far it's been all very positive.

Just like thanking me and, and, and just they, they like how I put the shows together and just they, they dig what I do and they just, they keep saying just keep it going.

You know, whatever happens, just keep it going.

Just keep it going.

So that's what I'm doing.

Not too many outlets.

I mean you probably have the state, the old school R B station out your way and we, we've got them on the East Coast.

But you're playing music from artists who, not necessarily, they might have been big stars back in the day but their new stuff they can't get on those stations.

So, so that's where you come in.

Right.

And yeah, I, I'm showcasing a lot of new artists that, believe it or not, there's new artists, funk artists out there that are doing it.

They're putting out new music.

It's brand new funk music, you know, and, and it's obviously not getting heard on the radio station, not here in LA for sure.

I don't know about other places in the world and it's stuff that deserves to be heard and it's, it's, it's really good and it's a shame that it doesn't get more, it doesn't get played more and more exposure.

But I'm doing my part, I'm doing what I can to help out in that area.

So who are some of the, the bands or singers off the top of your head that the newer ones that have really impressed you?

Oh well, there's one cat named Saul.

He's in England.

He's originally from Romania and from what I understand he, he lived here in the United States for a while and then he moved to England I guess around the pandemic time.

But this guy has been doing, he's been putting out music for the last 12, 13 years from what I understand.

He's, he's one to really look out for.

Another one is a guy named Sean Bivens and he's got a band called the Blackstone Funk Revival.

He's up in the Bay Area.

He's got some really good stuff.

Let's see.

Another guy that I've really gotten into.

His name is Trenton Thompson and he's got a band called Digital Cat Diamond Cafe.

And I really dig his stuff.

He's really good.

And then, and then one of my friends and partner, his name is John Dixon and he has a band called Digital Soul.

And what's that?

It's spelled D Y G.

Yeah, right.

Ey.

Yes.

And he's actually the voice you hear on Funko Radio.

He is the voice.

He's the one that pretty much you hear introducing the shows.

And he's got a, he's got his thing called Digital Soul.

And, and it's, he's got some really good, really, really good stuff too.

And off the top of my head, those are the ones that come up, come up at the top of my head right now.

I know there's more.

Oh yeah, and that's, that's, that's, that's good.

From the top of your head.

Yeah.

Where do you, where do you go to discover new music or do they hit you up?

John, I, I met at a La Maggots party here in la.

It's a bunch of guys, they're all P Funk guys and they get together every summer and they'll have a jam.

And I DJed one of those parties about five years ago and I met John there and we just hit it off and, and that's how I met him and that's how he got involved with Funko Radio.

And then that's how I got introduced to his music.

Saul and the Blackstone Funk Revival and Diamond Cafe were, were told.

Were, were mentioned to me by friends of mine that, that, that knew about these bands.

So I looked them up and I listened to them and I said, man, this stuff is really good.

So I started taking their music and putting it up on.

On Funko Radio.

And they, they reached out to me and they started saying, hey.

Next thing I know, I have an online relationship with them, you know, through messenger and Facebook and things like that.

So that's, that's how that came about.

As far as the, like, those bands that I mentioned and there's others too.

I, again, I can't think of them right off the top of my head.

Mono Neon, he's another one.

I never met him.

I don't know him, but I really dig his stuff too, man.

He's really, he's a new Artist.

And he's got some great, great funky stuff out there.

Yeah.

One of Prince's last collaborators.

Yes, yes.

I was just telling my wife that the other night.

Yeah, he's the last.

One of the last ones that Prince worked with before he.

Before he left.

Right.

So.

Yeah, he's a bad dude.

He's a bad dude.

So.

So.

So let's go back to the Paul Altamirano days when you were growing up and.

And finding this love for music.

Were you born in California?

Yeah, I'm from Los Angeles originally.

Yeah.

Okay, so what kind of music and where did you discover the music you love?

Well, I grew up.

I.

You know, my parents and my relatives, they played a lot of.

They were all into music.

There were musicians on my mother's side of the family that were.

They were horn players and piano players and all that.

So I guess I kind of had the music in me already.

I used to hear a lot of music, a lot of records, played things like that.

I heard different types, different, you know, everything.

I heard Beatles in Chicago and Elton John and.

But I also heard Isa Brothers and Stevie Wonder and Earth Wind and Fire and Ohio Players, and I just.

I heard it.

I heard it all.

But I gravitated more towards the.

The funk stuff, too.

That just really hit me, hit my heart.

And that's basically.

It just went from there.

And then from there, it just kind of snowballed into discovering P Funk and then Rick James and Prince and the time and Cameo and just.

And then it just snowballed from there.

And you've rubbed shoulders with Princess.

Practically everybody in that.

Those camps, whether directly the head ones or the.

Yeah.

And it's really.

It's really an honor to.

To, like, know these guys, you know, or I've met them and kind of develops a little bit of a relationship with them and, you know, to a point where I don't hang out with them and this and that, but when I see them, they go, hey, Paul, how you doing?

And to me, that's like, wow, that's really cool.

These are guys that I used to grow up looking at their pictures on the album covers and reading their names on the liner notes and.

And, you know, years later, for them to, like, recognize me when I'm coming into the room, and they go like, hey, Paul, how you doing?

I'm like, wow, that's.

That's really.

Yeah, that's really cool.

Well, yeah, so I.

I'm.

A couple pictures.

I mean, if you go to your Facebook page.

Right.

Yeah.

You got a lot of Instagram, too.

You got.

Or Instagram too.

Instagram's got a lot of.

Yeah, Instagram.

Paul Altamirano.

You see his name right there?

And we'll put up links in the description when this is on.

On YouTube and also on the outlets, the Spotify and Apple and everything.

But the pictures on two of them that I gotta talk to you about made me really, really jealous.

Okay?

The first one was the guy.

The first one I ever saw in concert, Stevie Wonder.

Where'd you wind up hanging with Stevie Wonder?

I just met him just a few months ago at Vibratos in Bel Air, Beverly Hills.

Her.

Albert owns that place.

Great place, by the way.

Great venue.

And he was there.

Who was the one that used to.

She sang with Prince on the MPG album.

Marva King.

Marvin King.

Yeah.

Marva King, who I got to meet that night.

She was performing that night, and Stevie just walked in, and everybody, just.

My friends go, guess who's here?

And I'm like, I don't know.

He.

My friend goes, stevie.

Steve.

Who?

He goes, steve.

I go, I.

And he goes, stevie Wonder.

And I look over, and there's Stevie Wonder.

He's, like, sitting down with his entourage.

Right, right.

So to cut to the chase, later on that night, my friend, that same friend, he got his.

He got in and started talking to Stevie's people and got to meet Stevie and take his picture with him.

And all of a sudden, I was standing there, and he goes, paul to Paul.

Paul needs to meet him.

So Stevie's guy goes, come on over.

And I just go over there, and there's Stevie.

Stevie Wonder right there in front of me in the flesh.

And I just said.

I just leaned over and I said, I.

I grew up on your music.

You helped raise me.

And he just said, thank you, man, and put out his hand.

I shook his hand, and then we took the picture, and that's that.

Yeah, that's a great story.

And yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I saw him.

It was my first concert, Hotter Than July tour, and Marva was singing background, I think.

Okay.

With Stevie.

Yeah.

So.

Okay.

Yeah, she.

He was there, obviously, because he was there to listen to her.

Oh, I thought he was here because you were.

You were in the house.

Yeah, that would be nice.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I guess I find out later on she's actually working on a new album with him, so.

Singing background.

That's what she told me.

So he just happened to pop in just to check her out her show and listen to her show.

And that's how that went.

Okay.

This the Second picture I'm a little bit jealous of goes even further back.

Roger Troutman.

Oh, yeah, man.

I met Roger in Las Vegas.

I lived in Las Vegas for a year.

30 years ago I moved out there and I found out that Zap was performing at a venue which is no longer in Las Vegas anymore.

I forgot the name of the club, but I found out he was performing that night.

I just, I got to meet him.

He signed a thing for me and we took our picture.

I.

And it was pretty quick because there was a big line of people that wanted to meet him that night.

So that's, it was pretty fast.

And I just said, man, I'm just, I'm so glad to meet you.

And he's like, thank you, man.

And that was basically it.

So.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Another one of those hard working studio guys like Prince and you know, like that.

Yeah.

Just phenomenal.

Roger was, wow.

He was just out of this world.

You know, I've seen Zap since he's passed away.

Yeah.

And it's just.

To me, it's just not the same.

Roger was like, he's the one that.

He was the guy, you know.

Right.

Oh, it's.

That was a real loss when he passed away.

Yeah, yeah.

You hear the talk box still, but then you.

It's just, it's not him.

So.

Yeah, yeah, Roger was.

Roger, man.

It was just, he was, he was just one of a kind.

He was cut from his own thing.

So.

Yeah, yeah, they've still put on a great show, but you know, the, the key element is missing.

But yeah, rest in peace for him.

Yeah, yeah, that's for sure.

Him and his brother, it was a real.

Exactly.

Yeah.

What tragic stories.

So let me ask you about the Minneapolis sound.

We're both huge fans of the Minneapolis sound.

And how did you get into that crazy, crazy world of Prince and the Time and Jill Jones and everybody else associated with Minneapolis?

Well, it's funny because like I first I, I got on the Prince train around 80, 81, 82 for the controversy album.

That's where I got on board.

Okay.

And I remember hearing let's work on.

On the radio here in la, we used to have AM radio.

We used to have R and B stations here in la.

On AM radio there was KGFJ and kace and I don't remember which station, which one it was, but it was one of those two stations and they played let's Work.

And I remember going, man, you know, I was 13 year old kid.

I'm like, man, that's, that's that's really good.

So I looked it up.

I went to a record store, and I.

I bought the 45 of let's Work and then just didn't really know much about Prince, but I liked.

I dug the song.

And then a couple months later, we were at a record store, and I must have saved up my allowance money because I was able to buy the 12 inch of let's Work.

They had it there at the record store.

And now I see a picture and it's the band.

And Prince is in the front, like, pointing his finger at the camera like.

Like, you know, point, like pointing at you.

And I.

And I still.

It's funny because it's like, I dig the band.

The band's name is Prince.

But who's that cat in the front?

What's his name?

You know, I'm thinking, like, Prince.

Like, okay, they named the band Prince.

Like.

Like Queen, you know.

Right, right, okay.

Something like that.

So I'm thinking, okay, this band, this funk band, they're.

They're.

It's called Prince.

Cool, Cool name.

But, man, what's the name of that dude that's in the front that keep that singing?

And then, you know, who is that guy?

What's his name?

And then I'll find out later on, like, reading interviews and stuff, that that was him.

I'm like, wow, that's.

That's really crazy.

So that's how I got into the Prince world.

And then I found out later on that.

That he was the one behind the time.

And then I just.

And then it just snowballed from there.

And then it was Vanity 6, and then it was Sheila E.

And it was Apollonia 6, and it just snowballed from there.

And I just totally got really into it.

I'm like, wow, this is.

He was really, at that time in the early 80s, very revolutionary, you know, especially in the.

In the funk genre.

Very, very revolutionary.

And I just dug that about him.

It's like, yeah, it's funky, but he's like.

He's also, like, really, like, out there doing something new and different.

That's what I think I dug about him at that time.

Yeah.

How about the first time you saw Prince in concert?

First time I saw him was.

Was 93 for the symbol tour, act one tour.

Okay.

And that was.

Yeah, it took a long time for me to see him in concert, but I finally got to see him at that point, and.

And then I saw him about maybe 10, 11 times after that.

I saw him in big arenas where, you know, he was playing the standards that everybody knew.

And you know, and, and it was kind of like not very close to.

To.

To very intimate shows where literally I saw him here in la where I.

I was really.

He was right there.

I was leaning on the stage.

Like it was like at First Avenue or something.

And he would.

He played for like three and a half hours.

And like, so I saw him different ways.

And, and, but the.

But, but I saw him.

I saw him like that at Glam Slime in la.

Here in la, he had a Glam Slime club.

I saw him like that, very intimate.

Then I saw him in another club here in Hollywood.

And literally I was like right there leaning on stage and he was right there playing for like three and a half to four hours, you know, and I paid like $50.

So you can't beat that.

No, I think the closest to an after show I got, but it was for tv.

The, the musicology, Webster Hall.

We were there in New York City.

Okay.

Yeah, that was cool.

And I have.

He did a bunch more songs than you see in the edited version, but I haven't seen the Right.

You know, somebody's got them, but they haven't surfaced.

Yeah, they're in the vault, right?

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I've actually got a few of my radio shows in the vault.

Well, I don't know if they've gone through them, but he requests.

He requested copies of our radio show and I had to fed him, FedEx him to paisley park and stuff.

Yeah, that was crazy.

Wow.

Yeah, so they were in the vault, I'm sure.

But you know, I don't think it's a priority to have those released for the estate.

But yeah, you never know.

Down the down.

You know, in the future you.

They're going to probably pop up somewhere.

Yeah, it's back when we were doing the.

The Prince of Minneapolis special.

I.

I'll tell you a quick story and we'll get back to.

To your console experience, but do you know Derek Kelly from New York New Power?

He.

He ran a fan group, New York New Power.

Anyways, he was one of the guests on the show.

So Paisley park requested a copy of the show.

So back then it was like maybe it was on cassette.

Send it up to Paisley Park.

I send.

Send it FedEx.

I get an email from.

From Prince.

Didn't say, hey, I'm Prince, but it was from an AOL Prince thing.

I noticed on one of the songs, Erotic City, the.

The pitch was a little out of sync and I thought, wow, I didn't think it was out of sync.

I asked Derek Kelly goes.

I didn't think it was out of sync, but wow.

You can't, you know, argue with the guy who created the music.

So.

Wow.

So, yeah, that.

Wow, that's crazy.

So that was him talking about the pitch of his song.

Yeah, yeah.

Wow.

We sent it up there, so that's crazy.

Yeah, well, he'd have the go betweens to get in contact with you, but, you know.

Right, so.

Right.

But anyways, getting back to.

I wanted to ask you about the LA shows at the Forum.

Did you go to any of those 21 nights?

How were they?

They were great.

You know, that was actually the, the second show I went.

That was the last time I ever saw them.

Last time I ever saw him.

They were good.

You know, he did a lot of standard stuff, but just.

But just such a great showman, period.

It didn't really matter.

He was a living legend.

So just to see him do his thing and I think the first show at the 21 Nights, the first show he did, he did like five encores that night.

He came out five times after the.

The show was supposed to have ended.

He came out five more times or four more times and.

And just, you know, stuff like that.

Yeah, he was, he was, he was one of a kind.

You know, he.

That was a true loss when he, when he, when he left the Sir.

True, very true loss.

Yeah.

I don't think that.

I don't think most of us are over completely because he had such a big influence on us.

Yeah, yeah.

As far as me, I mean, if you go to my YouTube channel funk clone last year I did a special video collage about 11 minutes long of, Of Prince and it's called.

It's called Way Back Home Slash Father Song.

So I basically took videos, video clips of his from his music videos and put a collage together under Underneath this Plane, Way Back Home from his Artificial Intelligence album.

And then it goes into Father's Song and it's.

To me, it came out very good and very touching and people seem to really be digging it.

So.

Yeah, yeah, we'll have the link in the description here.

You can click on all of Paul out of Morano's, you know, outlets.

And yeah, was.

Did you meet Prince?

No, I never actually met him, but it was funny.

One night he was here at Glam Slam when he had one here in la.

We were there, me and a group of people and we were there one night and we were about to leave actually it was like two in the morning.

All of a sudden, one of the people from my group, she comes running in, she goes, princess here, Prince is here, Princess here.

And we look outside on the street and there's a limo parked out there on the street.

And then I look over to the VIP area and there he is.

He's like looking over the dance floor and, you know, he's got his bodyguard there in the VIP area.

VIP area.

And they're, they're.

He's just sitting there sipping his drink.

So of course we tried to get as close as we could and then I just kind of waved at him and he just looked over and just kind of gave me a smirky smile and then just stared at me and just then looked away.

That's the closest I ever got to meet him.

All right.

Hey, who knows?

He might have known you were the guy behind Funk Clone Radio.

You never know.

He.

He had ways of knowing about a lot of stuff.

So.

Yeah, it's weird, but it's, but it's.

I, but, you know, but I've met people that did meet with, that did know him and played with them.

I've met Andre Simone, I've met Justin Johnson, Jerome.

And those are some of the people that, when they see me, they're like, hey, Paul, how you doing?

This, and this and this.

So I didn't meet him directly, but I've met a lot of his, the people that worked with him.

So I'm, I'm, I'm just.

Wow.

I'm honored, period.

Yeah, you've got, you've got some great photos on your various social media sites.

You, you mentioned some of them also.

I saw you, you were Jill Jones and Jimmy Jam.

It was the Purple Rain forum, right?

Like the la.

Or they gave, didn't they give an honor to Prince out in la?

You were.

Oh, they did a screening.

They did a special screening of the Purple rain movie Downtown LA for the 40th anniversary.

And Jerome, Jerome was there.

Andre Simone was there.

Jimmy Jam, Jill Jones, uh, David Z was there.

So, yeah, you know, they did like a Q A after the movie was over, which you can find on YouTube.

It's, it was really, a really, really good interview that they did, or a Q A.

And then, you know, then after that, we, you know, I was talking with them and just hanging out and.

Yeah, you know, they're, they're nice people.

Yeah, we.

Well, Andre, he was the first one I ever interviewed in radio 82 83.

We did an interview, phone interview.

So that was a while back.

Yeah.

And Jill's been to the studio.

She performed in the studio life.

So.

Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

Back when she was on the.

The East Coast.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, we've got mutual friends.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

Man.

I'm good friends with.

Going to the other spectrum of funk.

I'm.

I'm good friends with a lot of the guys from Rick James's Stone City Band, so I keep them.

So you know Bryce Miles?

Who?

Bryce Miles.

He.

He.

He joined up with them recently.

He plays keyboards.

He played with SOS Band in the Time.

Oh, okay.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

He's out your way.

Yes.

Bryce.

Yes.

I saw him play.

I was at Paisley park two years ago.

Yeah, yeah, that's right.

He kept on telling me we got.

The Sons of Paisley Maserati thing there for a while too.

Yeah, exactly.

Yep.

And I saw him there that night and I've never met him in person, but he knows about Funcom Radio and he's.

I think we've chatted like, on messenger and things like that, but I've never.

I've never met him in person.

Yeah, he's a nice guy.

I'm sure you guys cross paths.

Yeah, but I keep.

I keep in touch with Nate Hughes.

He was Rick James, percussion player.

I.

We talk all the time.

And I know Oscar Olson, his bass player, and I know Lanny's Hughes, the drummer.

So, yeah, we keep in touch all the time.

Yeah.

Yeah.

When I see the band, you know, we all know the stories about how Rick James and, you know, crazy times like that, but, you know, they're still going strong with the music.

Yeah, I know they've had a couple bumps in the road, but they're.

They're.

They're trying to keep it going as best as they can.

You know, I know they, they.

They put in a new lead singer recently.

About last year, they put in a new lead singer and young guy, and he's got a lot of energy and he seems to be really good, and I'm just glad they're keeping it going.

Him.

Him and Tina Marie's music.

Because, you know, Tina Marie was associated with.

With Rick on a lot of things, too.

Yeah.

Yep.

So, yeah, you know, it's like all these artists, you know, pass away pretty prematurely, but the industry's so tough, I guess, on people.

So, yeah, that's a shame.

You know, music, these.

These are the people that bring us joy and happiness, but behind the scenes, we don't know what they're going through.

That's right.

Right, exactly.

Let me ask you a question of the bands that you've played on your show and never got a chance to see or still want to go to see if they're still.

Still around.

Give me a few of the people off the top of your head that.

That you definitely pay a few extra dollars to see or would have in the.

In the past.

I'd like to have seen Parma Funkadelic.

I've seen them a bunch of times now.

Yeah, and they're good.

But I would like to have seen the classic Mothership Landing stuff in the 70s.

I think I would.

I would have.

I paid money to see that, for sure.

I wouldn't.

I'd like to see that.

I've seen the time a bunch of times, but I'd like to see the time back when they were young and just coming out, you know, 81, 82, 83.

I'd like to have seen them back at that time, you know, I'd pay money to see that.

Right.

Probably.

Maybe.

Maybe Earth, Wind and Fire back.

Back from those days.

I've seen Earth in the Fire once, but like 20 years ago.

But I'd like to have seen, you know, the.

The Maurice White whole thing, the whole show back from the seventies.

I'd like to.

I'd pay money to see that.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You got some great taste in music.

Yeah, thanks, man.

I did see the time on the.

That was the first print show I saw, so that was great.

Yeah.

They're playing in Connecticut tonight as we record.

Are they with Cool in the Gang?

Yeah.

When we used to live in Connecticut, we were at all the shows, you know, but we moved out.

Yeah.

So I'll tell you a quick funny story.

Oh, no, go ahead.

I cut you off.

No, I'm sorry.

Go ahead.

No, I was talking to Tory Ruffin on the phone, and I said, oh, we moved out of Connecticut.

And he didn't know that.

And I said, well, we're up just outside of Saratoga Springs.

And he said, are you close to Albany?

I said, yeah, 20 minutes south.

He goes, oh, we were there last weekend.

Yeah.

Missed opportunity to see him.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Oh, let me mention another band, Isaac.

Okay.

I'd like to see the Oz brothers.

Back in those days when Chris and Ernie, Arvin and all that.

I.

I'd like to have seen that back.

Back for those days, I'd pay money to see that.

Yeah, yeah.

Because to me, to me, it's about, I mean, I'm not, I'm not saying, you know, the Isaac Brothers, three plus three was great, but to me, my favorite parts is Ronald, Ernie and Chris.

That, that, those to me are the elements right there.

You know, those, those three guys, what they did.

Singing, guitar arrangements.

Wow.

Eisen Brothers.

Well, I know as a dj, I've seen pictures use, you know, on the, the turntables, mixing it up.

Do you have, do you have a big vinyl collection?

Yeah, it's big enough.

It's not as big as other people's, but it's, it's.

I have, I have a few pieces.

They're on the other side of the room here.

Right, right.

I've been collecting since I was 11 years old.

Wow.

So I'm 4, I'm 56 now, so I, you know, it's just been a, I've never gotten rid of anything.

So I've kept all my pieces of vinyl that I've collected over all these years from the 80s 90s up to now.

Yeah.

Do you keep up with the Prince releases?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

I, I got, I think I have all the, I have all the 39 albums.

Right.

Wow.

Plus a lot of the 12 inch single.

All.

Well, not all the 12 inch singles, most of them.

And believe it or not, I got some bootlegs from back in the days.

Yeah, yeah.

I remember the days of people trading them, stuff like that.

Yeah.

Right.

It's just nice that they're now officially releasing the songs now in the Good quality because, you know, a lot of these songs that.

But now they're being released and the best quality.

So it's nice, it's nice to hear them now, 30 years later.

You're like, oh, yeah, now.

Yeah, sounds really good, you know.

Yeah.

I was reading one of Dwayne Tudall's books and I think he had a quote from Prince that said I was a terrible mixer on everything or engineer when he got his hands on it.

So he admittedly said things needed could be improved on the mix.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Well, they're doing a good job.

The estate, whoever's handling it.

I think they're doing a good job.

I, I, yeah.

How much?

I don't See how.

How they could do things different.

I.

I think my only.

My only complaint would be if they could just release them a little bit faster, I guess.

Yeah.

You know, Prince fans, we've been like that forever.

Right, right.

You had the new album in your hand.

A week later, you're saying, when's the next release coming out?

Yeah.

Yeah, man.

That's the way it was.

Yeah, that's.

That's the way it was.

Yeah.

Right.

So let's talk about another big end.

Denver, you did the funk music documentary, which is on YouTube as well, on your YouTube channel.

What was the genesis of that and how hard it was to put together and tell us.

Tell us about the process of it.

It's a huge undertaking.

I'm sure it.

It was.

I just wish I had better equipment.

I wish I had a better camera.

But.

But besides that, it's about the content.

And I'm just glad that I was able to gather all those interviews together.

It took me as a whole from one.

From the first interview to.

To the final edit.

It was about a year and four months for me to do.

Yeah.

And it was.

Wow.

It.

I.

You know, it was crazy.

It was just a thing where I just carried that camera around and I would be at shows or I'd be whatever.

And a lot of it was just like, I would.

Somehow I would meet these.

I would get backstage or I would see them, these artists, and hey, can I get an interview with you?

I'd just whip out that camera just right there and then and just give them.

And give them those three questions.

And.

And everybody got the same three questions.

And the three questions were, what is funk music to you?

Where did it go?

Or what happened to it?

And how can we preserve it?

Bring it back?

Or how can we preserve it for the future?

Everybody got those same.

Same three questions.

And everybody answered the way they answered.

And it's.

It was just.

It's just crazy how the, The.

The different.

The range.

On how.

How the answers varied.

You know what I mean?

I mean, you had people like.

Who was like.

There were some people that were really calculating on how they answered and.

And just very.

You know, they were very.

You know, their answers were like, really were really spread out to people like Lonnie Marshall from Weapon of Choice, where he.

His.

His stuff was just kind of like.

Well, you know, he was just kind of out there.

So it.

I was just glad to get that.

That the different ranges of Different.

How people answered them, you know.

You know, people.

How the artists were just all different and that was very interesting and I don't know, you know, to me it was a very, it was really rewarding to be able to finish it.

There were times where I was just like, I don't know if this thing's gonna be worth anything or it's gonna do anything, but I finished it and I put it out there.

And 11 years later that, that, that documentary grew weight or grew legs and, and grew wings and it's, it's got a lot of hits, so that's really surprising.

So that means the pressure is on to, to formulate the, the follow up documentary with the, the, the new musicians and, and a new camera.

Yeah, you know, if I do it, if I do a second one, it's going to be, it's obvious going to be done differently.

And now that, you know, with the connections I've made since then, I think it would be a lot easier and it'll probably be something more along, along the lines, like how we're doing this right now.

It would be something like this.

It'd be like easier for you.

Yeah, you could definitely do that.

Yeah.

So I don't know if podcasting was really a thing yet at that time.

And I was just honored just to be there in person, in the flesh and just get them on camera right there and then most of them.

So did you, did you find musicians were a little reticent about doing it?

Like they didn't want to get involved?

A couple of them were, but I think once I kind of explained to them what I was trying to do, they just kind of said, all right, let's, let's do it.

And they just went with it.

And that was that, you know, so overall, you know, overall, most of them were just like, yeah, sure, I'll sit down, I'll answer your questions really fast.

So they did it.

Cool.

And, and our, one of our mutual friends who passed away, Julian Stefani makes an appearance in there as well.

Julian was the actual, he was the first one I filmed.

He was the first one that started off the whole thing.

Yeah, I got him at a club he was playing, doing his Prince tribute.

It was here in la.

And I just kind of said, hey man, I'm gonna, I'm gonna finally do it.

He goes, what are you gonna do?

I said, I remember that, that documentary I was thinking about doing.

Yeah.

He goes, yeah.

I said, look, I'm gonna start tonight.

And so he was the first one.

Right.

Wow.

Jarrah Harris too Right?

Oh, yeah.

Jared.

Jared kind of always knew I wanted to do something like that, and so when I brought it up to him, he's like.

He's like, all right, man.

Yeah, you're finally gonna do it.

Let's do it.

So that was cool, you know?

Yeah, it seems like the.

Because I've been following online, Slap Back and Jerry Harrison, and he's your buddy out there.

As far as their concerts, I've seen them at a few venues.

Skyloft and some other.

Mozambique, maybe at another place.

South Orange County.

Yeah, what's.

What's the.

The live music scene out your way.

Lately?

It's.

I don't know.

It's kind of like.

It's not what it used to be.

There used to be a lot more venues that used to be open, and a lot of them have closed.

I don't know if it was from the pandemic or just because city.

The cities or whatever decided to change their minds about certain things.

But there.

But there used to be a lot more venues that have just closed up, and they're not here anymore.

The ones that are open, I don't know.

It's just.

It's a different vibe than it was even 10, 12 years ago.

So, I mean, you have places in LA, but as far as live acts, it just seems like a lot of that's just kind of going to the wayside, and if you want to see a live act, you got to pay a lot of money to see them.

So that's.

That's kind of the shame of it, you know, Again, you know, I come with me.

And you come from those days where you didn't have to pay a lot of money to see a good show, you know, now you have, like, these big festivals where you spent.

You pay a lot of money, and you got like 100 acts on this bill, and it's like, well, I mean, how many.

How long is each act gonna.

How much time is each act getting?

Like 10 minutes.

You're only gonna do, like, two or three songs, and then they're done.

I don't.

I don't.

I'm not a big fan of stuff like that.

I want to see a band stretch out and do like a half hour, 45 minutes.

An hour.

That's right.

I come from those days.

And that's a lot of.

That is kind of like few and far between.

Now, unfortunately, it seems I was watching Raphael Sadiq's appearance at the Essence Festival.

It's online.

I don't know if you've seen that And I guess it actually starts with a clock, digital clock behind on the screen when he starts to set the, the festival.

And like 20 minutes into it he goes, I gotta speed this up because they only gave me 30 minutes and I've done 35 years of music, you know, so he kind of, he, he told him how he felt, but it was true.

Yeah, they sure change.

And.

Yeah, yeah, that to me is just like, come on.

I saw a really good show of his five years ago when the Jimmy Lee album came out, the day that it was released.

He did, he did a show here in LA on that, on the day it was released.

And he actually did the album front, first out, first song, the last song.

He did the whole album in order.

And it was just the one, One deal, one show like that.

And that was one of the best shows I've ever seen.

Great, great show.

Great.

His guitarist, Rob Bacon, that guy's phenomenal too.

Yeah, he was there that night.

Yeah, he was there.

And that.

Yeah, that was one of those unforgettable shows.

I, I hopefully they filmed it and maybe they'll release it or something or put it on YouTube.

They should, because it was a, it was a memorial.

It was very.

That show was just, it was, it was heartfelt.

Great show.

Great show.

So are you a, a Las Vegas Raiders fan?

I don't have a team, man.

Okay.

Because I saw a picture of the stadium you had when you were out in Vegas.

I figured maybe you, you migrated to follow.

I, I just like taking pictures, you know?

Okay.

Kind of look cool, you know?

No, I, I just, I've never even been inside that place.

I just saw the outside and it just looked intriguing to me.

And I took a picture when I was out there.

Yeah.

So I'm not, I'm not, I don't really have a fan.

Yeah.

I've only been.

I guess I'm right.

I guess this year I'm rooting for the Lions because there's been the underdogs for so many years.

Yeah, that would be a great story.

Yeah.

Of course.

Minneapolis, they're, they're, they're.

Maybe they'll run into each other.

I don't know how.

Yeah, yeah.

So when you went out to Vegas, it's like a three hour drive from your way, right?

About three and a half, four hours.

Three and a half to four hours.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

When I was out there, one of the nights, it was a private party, but two, two hotels from where we were staying, St Paul and the Minneapolis All Stars were playing.

Oh, so I, you know, I didn't bug anybody to, to let us in, but I saw him in the.

In the guide.

I said, wow, go figure.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Vegas has gotten crazy.

They've.

That place has just changed so much, you know?

Yeah.

Where did you stay.

Wind up staying when I, When I.

Went out there recently?

Yeah.

I think we stayed at Caesar's Palace.

We were out there last year.

My wife were out there for our anniversary.

Oh, congratulations.

We actually saw Seal play.

We saw him at the Venetian.

That was a great show.

That was a real good show, right?

Yeah, yeah, that was.

Yeah, Seal was good.

Yeah, we.

We were at the Horseshoe.

I was, I was in for a tournament for horse.

Horse Players Championship.

Really?

Yeah, I was.

That's why I'll be back doing the same thing in March.

So.

Okay.

Next door it has the.

The Parrot.

Is it the Paris?

Right?

Paris is on the Strip.

Yeah.

We were the one connected to it.

It was the Horseshoe Casino.

Oh, maybe.

Yeah.

Okay.

It had a different name before.

It's the one years ago had a fire there.

Oh, yeah.

It was Bally's and then.

And then it was MGM years ago.

Right.

It turned into Valleys and now it's something else.

That's right.

Yeah.

The Horseshoe.

Okay.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, it was, you know, I, I liked it, but it was like, you know, I haven't been back since.

I'll be back in March.

But it was.

I went to CVS to get a razor just to shave and everything's locked up.

Yeah.

That's crazy.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's crazy.

Yeah, I guess it's like that around a lot of places.

Well, come to la.

Yeah, so, yeah, you know all about.

Yeah, right.

Yeah.

So tell us about some upcoming plans for Fun Clone Radio.

You got any stuff in the can you want to maybe preview or on the Fly?

I'm just gonna keep putting out new shows, but I've been wanting to do.

I want to put together a show on.

On funk ballads.

Like, like some slow music type deal.

I think that's going to be my next one of my next new shows will be like a funk on funk ballads because, you know, like Isaac Brothers, Ohio Players, Ready for the World, Prince, all these.

All these bands have such great slow songs that are funky, you know, that I think I need to put the show.

Put a show together on all that.

I think that would be really cool.

So I think that's my next plan for a new show.

Yeah.

I like how you, you have themes to a lot of your shows years or, you know, you did a Ready for the World Jesse Johnson, so that's cool.

Yeah, yeah.

Also, let's touch on Wrap up the second show.

Yeah, it's another channel on mixcloud and it's all rap.

It's all just rap and hip hop.

And I'm just kind of going through the years as well as well, like I did with Funko Radio, I'm just going through each year.

And John Dixon from Digital Soul, his brother who goes.

But he's a rapper and he goes by the name Half Breed.

And that's H A P H Breed.

He's the one that helps me out with the Wrap up show channel and so he's a part of that.

And Sean Bivens, who I mentioned earlier, who's got a band called the Blackstone Funk Revival, he's also got a rap act called Shiny B Fresh.

So the two of them are helping me with the Wrap up channel.

So again, it's all just straight rap.

Rap and hip hop.

So who'd you grow up?

Who'd you grow up really digging in the hip hop world?

The first.

The first group that I got into was Run dmc.

And then I got into like UTFO and LL Cool J and Beastie Boys and Houdini and then Public Enemy came out and then Eric Beam, Rock him came out.

So there's a lot of rap groups that I.

I've dug.

NWA I saw them when they were just.

Just starting out in 87.

I saw them at the very beginning of their beginnings.

86, the infamous Long Beach Riot.

I don't know if you.

Have you ever heard about that?

I've heard it.

I don't know those particular details, no.

So tell us about it.

At the Long beach arena was a Raisin Hell tour for Run DMC and the mic.

This was like.

This is the summer of 86.

And to make a long story short, it turned into a gang riot where the gangs got into whatever and it turned violent.

And I was there.

I was just fresh out of high school.

I was 17 years old and had never seen anything like that ever in my life and.

And hasn't seen anything like that since.

And yeah, I happen to be.

I happened to be there that night.

I was.

I was a witness of that.

That's.

How'd you.

Yeah, how'd you stay unscathed?

I don't know how we did.

I was there with two friends and they were still in high school and I had just graduated high school.

I don't know how we got out of there, but we Were all ran out of there.

At one point, it got to a point where we all had to run out of there.

Run DMC didn't even get to perform.

We all had to get out.

We all had to run out of there.

How we got out, how we ran out, I can't remember.

But we got out of there.

It's crazy, crazy time.

Yeah, you.

You brought up Run dmc.

I was a freshman in high school at nyu and little did I know.

I found out this years later, and I didn't know when he was.

Rick Rubin was living in our dorm, the same dorm I was living in, and he was setting up, developing Def Jam Records.

LL Cool J and Run DMC were coming to his dorm room.

There's a documentary online.

I don't know if you've seen it, but it's the Weinstein.

Weinstein, you know, Hall.

That was the dorm I lived.

Yeah, I think.

Yeah, he had the thing, you know, his roommate walked in or something and there was his bed.

The roommate's bed was gone and.

Yeah, yeah.

Library.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly.

That's the one.

I mean, I wish I knew he was in there, you know, he would have been a good guy to keep contact with it.

So you never met him?

I've never met him, no.

I.

I didn't know he was living in our dormitory and starting Def Jam Records back then and having LL as a kid coming in.

Yeah, that was.

That was.

That was a wild time too.

We.

I was visiting my girlfriend at the time back in Connecticut.

I came back that week and two people got shot and murdered in our dorm.

It was.

There was like an Asian dance that was downstairs and they.

They came in and got.

Got into it and two people got shot and they wound up in the laundry room.

Yeah.

So.

Yeah, we don't want to go back to those times, though, the 80s, and shoot them up.

The music was good, but it was a crazy time.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, I mean, you've seen a lot on the west coast and east coast had its share of stuff, so.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So, yeah, I gotta thank you.

Oh, go ahead, Paul.

No, I was.

I put that up.

So it's been about two and a half years.

So that one, I've.

It's been struggling a little bit more, but I was trying to get.

Get that one out there more and so people are more aware of it, that's all.

But that one's coming out good too.

I think those shows are coming out really good.

So.

Yeah, you still got the passion, you still got all the music.

No shortage of music in your collection.

Action.

No, man.

And you know, and I'm.

I'm the guy that I keep everything.

Like that's my CD collection back here.

I Right.

I keep it all.

I don't get rid of this stuff.

It's like to me that it's tangible to keep all the records and the CDs.

To me, it's like it, it's your.

It's like your badge that you wear versus.

Oh well, I just stream all this stuff.

It's like, ah, well, you know, it just seems.

It just doesn't seem real to me.

This is real.

Yeah.

Who's gonna get all the collection when we're all long gone?

Who's gonna get it?

I don't know.

My wife.

Yeah.

There you go.

Hey, Merry Christmas and a happy holidays to you and your wife.

Yeah, same to you, man.

Same to you and yours.

Yeah, been going good so far.

Yeah.

So, hey, I gotta thank you, Paul.

We've known each other for years, sent decades.

But really appreciate, you know, you support in our show.

And we love what you do on the mixcloud funklone radio side.

And you got to come by, we got to have you come by more often.

I'd love to go out there.

I would love that.

Yeah.

Let's see.

Let's see if we can make that happen, man.

For real.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Thank you so much.

Or when I go to the west Coast, I got, I gotta, you know, tiptoe into California now.

I know somebody there.

Come on down, man.

Come on down.

A lot of us, we'll all hang out, man.

Right.

You and Jera and everybody.

That's right.

Jerry Harris.

What's up, Jara?

He's coming out with some new stuff.

Yeah, let's do that.

All right, Paul.

Thanks.

You enjoy.

Enjoy.

Thank you.

Thank you very much, Joe.

I appreciate you, man.

Thank you.