Interview with Tayo Branston of Five Alarm Funk

By Bob Backstrom
4/5/2018

This will be the first of a monthly series of interviews I will conducting with members of bands that are playing For The Funk Of IT.  I used to do band interviews the for Oroville Newspaper and have been itching to get back at it. 

I had the absolute pleasure of taking with Tayo Branston, the drummer and lead singer of Five Alarm Funk.  I am thrilled to bring 5 Alarm to this year’s For the Funk of It. I saw them a few months ago in Chico and absolutely fell in love. They are the highest energy band I have ever seen, and they bring the dirty, hard funk all the way from Vancouver, Canada. Their sound is a refreshing new twist to funk music, it is heavy and magnificent.  If you have never seen them and you love to dance and feel the funk, you MUST go see them next time they come to a city or festival near you.  He was nice enough to spend some time talking with me while he was walking his dog on the beach.

BL: So, you guys are playing the Fillmore soon, have you ever played there?

TB: never played the Fillmore before, we could not be more pumped.  It’s an iconic room. And we get to open for Deli to Dublin.   We have grown up with them.  The last few times we were in SF we played the Boom Boom Room, but now we are playing the iconic Fillmore with Deli to Dublin. We are gonna bring the serious fire, SF better be ready.  It will be two Canadian bands taking over the Fillmore.

BL: What can one expect to see at a 5 Alarm Funk show

TB: At any of our shows you are gonna see some costume changes and some Alligator throwing. Nothing goes untouched at a 5 Alarm concert, except for disrespect.

BL:  Do you prefer to stay in Canada or or tour the U.s and is it difficuly now under Trump to get in to the United States.

TB: Canada treats us really well but it’s time to expand.   President or not, it’s hard for any band to make it or make a living at it.  There is so much competition as a Canadian band trying to come down and make it in the U.S..  The talent level is so crazy in the U.S.  But if you have a good product and deliver it in a wicked way people are gonna enjoy it and you will be successful.    Being in Canada it’s a elcetic mix of worldly tastes. 

BL: Who does most of the song writing in the band?

TB: We do them in smaller groups, it will usually start with one` guy and then he will bring it to a few more, and then takes off as a band project from there. I do a lot of the writing; Will and Gabe also do a lot of the writing.

BL: Have you ever toured Europe?

TB:   We had to hit Canada as hard as possible.  It’s hard to go in with a blank slate, but if we have a repertoire of big fests and playing with guys like Bootsy, then people don’t just pass you off and think you are just another band, this is someone with relevance.

BL: How long have you guys been a band?

TB: since 2003, cooking on 15 years of funk.

BL:  What is your favorite thing about touring?  

TB: It’s just playing the shows, experiencing people out that love music and want to have a wonderful time.  There is some sluggin it out with hours on bus and lack of sleep but concerts make up for any lack of rest.  

BL: what’s the longest tour you have been on?

TB: 33 shows in 41 days, and that took us from Vancouver to Charlestown Prince Edward Island.

BL: do you like playing an indoor venue or a music fest better?

TB: Our goal is to be a touring festival band, outdoor at night to play in front of thousands and thousands of people, but clubs are also awesome cause it is a sweaty compact t experience.  More personal, but we love the fests.

BL: are you excited for FTFOI?

TB:  Absolutely, its always incredible to get a new fest that we never played before, and meeting all the people, we couldn’t be more thrilled,    

BL: At what age did you start playing music?  

TB: I got my first drum kit at 6 years old.  My pops was a fire fighter and they had one at the fire hall, maybe the firefighter band got too busy so my pops brought it home.

BL: So, you just released a EP with Bootsy Collins, how was working with him?

TB: It literally came about, we were sitting in the bus saying, who could we collaborate with that’s in our wheelhouse, what’s bootsy doing.  He is such an icon of the genre, so we literally got our management to reach out to him, we flew over a track and he liked it enough that he wanted to rock on  it with us.

BL: who is your favorite funk drummer, who has influenced you musically?

T:  I don’t dive into players all that much, but Bootsy definitely was someone that influenced me, George Clinton, JBS, Frank Zappa,  Anitbalas,  Tito Fuentes

BL: You guys have so much energy, where does that come from?  For The Funk Of It, I wanted you guys to do a 2 hour set but your agent said you can only do 90 minutes because you exert so much energy.

TB : Energy always come from the music,  high intensity, super searing funk.    Our music is extremely intense and driving and the music must match the performance.   You get up and put as much energy in it as you possibly can, you get that satisfaction from getting hot, sweaty and super funky.  And going back to the hotel feeling good.   At the 90-minute mark I am drenched, my shoes are wet I am keeling over plus I am not getting any younger (34 on July 11).

BL where is your favorite place you have played?

T: I get asked that all the time, but it is impossible, any place that has a incredible crowd.  Everyplace is magnificent, all through Canada, played Asia, they are all tight, if the people are ready to funk, we love it.  It’s all about the funk it makes you feel good.

BL:  Who is favorite modern band 

TB: Lettuce is the tightest, Motet is crushing.  KC Roberts and the live revolution, they slay, a Toronto band.  

BL: After your show at the Fillmore you guys are playing in Redding, why?

TB:  We’ve never been there, you got to route the tour.  Redding is close to a lot of other areas.  It’s a win, win for the band, we get to bring the funk to a place we have never brought it before, and meet a lot of great new people.   On our last tour we ended up in Fargo, North Dakota.  You got to fill the night, you never know, there might be some rad people in Redding.

BL: Windowmaker is one of my favorite 5 Alarm songs, it is an instrumental so is there a story behind the song?

TB:  Not really, not huge stories behind our instrumental songs.   We say, ok let’s write something in this vein and we crush it as long as we can till something comes together.  Widowmaker, came out cause a fest called Shambhala in Salmo B.C.  As we started writing Widowmaker we had a slot at Shambhala and we said this one is gonna drop people on the dance floor.  I am glad you asked about that song.

BL: Where and how often do you guys rehearse.

TB:  We got a little spot in an office space.  It’s an after 5 place cause office hours.   We practice 2 days a week when not touring.  Right now, we do a post winter tour, spring tour, summer tour, fall tour, we take November and December off cause the weather is shit, and take may off to do record, heavy duty, it’s the only way to make it these days especially for instrumental funk.

BL: How many songs are instrumental compared to with lyrics?

TB: Its about 50-50 but our vocal tracks aren’t that heavy on vocals, 50% instrumental, 25% sparse gang vocals, 25% heavy vocals.  

BL: Anything else you want everyone to know?

T: Just let everybody know we are pumped for For The Funk Of It and can’t wait to funk with everybody.

After interview

He is just such a nice guy, and they are truly a great band.  Go see them at The Fillmore and of course don’t miss them at For The Funk Of It!

http://bit.ly/FTFOI