Prince Quick Mix at Funktrust @ The Globe, Syd (29/08/02)
Funk, n. A type of popular music combining elements of jazz, blues and soul which is characterised by syncopated rhythm and a heavy, repetitive bass line.
Trust, n. One in which confidence is placed.
Funktrust, billed as weekly block party, was bolstered by the addition of Prince Quick Mix (NY) to the regular line-up of Learned Hand, Will Styles and friends. But Thursdays at The Globe is not about line-ups, it’s about people getting together to dance to syncopated rhythm and heavy bass lines.
Promoters all over Sydney have been bandying the word “funk” around, using it to describe everything for tech-house to pop R’n’B . don’t get me started on pop R’n’B. Luckily the boys behind Funktrust are honest with their nomenclature and honest with the music. Before and after Prince Quick Mix, who I’ll come back to a little later, were DJs playing in tandem. Or more accurately there was a variable number of guys behind the decks taking in turn to drop funk classics, hip-hop tunes, solid rock ‘n’ roll or one of many bootleg remixes that were played during the night. No song is sacred to bootleggers these days, although hearing Missy Elliott sing over AC/DC’s ‘Back in Black’ was a particular pleasure.
Prince Quick Mix, who has been playing for almost 20 years, is a hip-hop DJ for the attention span of the playstation generation. He seems to get bored of each song after a minute and dumps something else right on top, making sure the crowd never loses interest. He was helped out by a local boy, whose name I lost in the din, doing some fine work on the Mic and in the crowd. Quick Mix produced a few good hours of hip-hop classics and rare grooves before giving way to Learned Hand and friends, who returned to turn the funk up to eleven, and keep it there until the wee small hours of the morning.
The friendly feel of Funktrust is less like a club and more like a good house party. With new songs, from the likes of Kataylst, and old favorites, think James Brown then De La Soul, all lined up side by side. It’s a great place to dance your Thursday night away, especially if, like me, you didn’t have to work on Friday morning.
In the funk we trust.
