_
Wall Of Funk - |wol uv fungk| - n.
A substance made of the emotions, ideas, beliefs, deceptions, corruption, filth, love, beauty, honesty, and the general random elements of life, society, and struggle of mankind. It can be built up and torn down. It is the constant wave of good and evil. It is our existence, what ties everyone and everything together. However, the interpretation is entirely up to you.
Without any specific genre to properly fit into we have effectively created our own brand of Wisconsin Funk Metal. Using unique combinations of influence from musical greats such as Pantera and 311, and mixing the intensity of Rage Against the Machine and the bass riff influences of Primus you find Wall Of Funk. The originality and musical drive of these influences has pushed us to create a truly unique sound. We pride ourselves on mixing music from all ends of the genre spectrum and coming out with an honestly distinctive tone, style, and message.
We strive to play our own music in our own way and to be individuals among the muck of what is popular music these days. We know who we are and what we want to be and nothing else matters. Our goal is to break out of the box with our music as well as challenge our musical skills; striving to set a new standard in music. We want to open people up to a new variety of music and help them understand what music is truly about, passion and connection. Our vision and reason why we play and enjoy music is because of the ability people have to relate music to their own life. While we may have certain things to say, we want people to take their own interpretation and apply it to themselves. Although we may be very serious about writing our music, we like to consider ourselves a “seriously unserious band”, and intend to always put on energetic, comical, and interactive live shows, aiming to entertain any crowd.
We have just finished up our debut full-length album titled Vital Hiatus, and will be releasing it late this summer. We feel it’s the best representation of our current sound, which is constantly evolving. We’ll be continuing to play shows and promoting the new CD to see how far we can take our sound. We’re definitely not you’re typical funk band. Our sound is beyond an easy definition, it’s like our name, contradictory yet similar at the same time. Our music is simply all about enjoying the tunes, banging your head, and rocking out!
Wisconsin Funk Metal - Giving you a New Experience!
Full Bio:
Reigning from their stomping grounds of Cambridge, WI, Wall of Funk blends energetic and heavy-hitting tones with melodic hip-hop screaming in creating their signature, cross-genre ‘Funk Metal’ sound. Comprised of Joe Marsden (Vocals/ Guitar), Lennon Baker (Bass/ Vocals) and Cal Lamore (Drums/ Percussion), Wall of Funk has been playing as a collective band for more than two years; however, each member embarked upon their musical journey during their most poignant, childhood years. Lennon describes, “We’ve developed a much deeper musical connection between all of us, especially Joe and I, mainly because of growing up playing so much different music together.” Over the years the W.O.F. members played in the local school bands (Concert, Wind Ensemble, Jazz, and Pep Band), and contributed their individual musicianship to various other jam groups, rock bands, and duos, enjoying the range of musical experiences they’ve had together. Also, they are definitely influenced by their favorite industry artists such as Primus, Red Hot Chili Peppers, 311, Incubus, Mudvayne, and Pantera.
Wall of Funk’s debut EP, Hot Insight, produced and engineered by Joseph Marsden, was released at the dawn of 2008. The local success of the EP spawned favorite singles including, the fun-having funk rock of, “Monkeys Anonymous,” the floating, day-dreamy “Void”, and the thrash groove of “Punch.” Accordingly, each song is created with lyrics that reflect the trials, tribulations, and triumphs that frame our daily existence. Joe, Lennon, and Cal strive to deliver ambiguous messages that can be interpreted in different ways depending on the listener’s current state of mind and being. “We like to combine our personal likes, dislikes, and emotions into not only how, but what we put into our music” explains Drummer Cal Lamore. Wall of Funk completed production of their follow-up demo, produced once again by Joe Marsden, in mid-2008. Orange Room Sessions compiled some new songs in the working such as the swinging tune, “Mirage,” and a loud and heavy live-show favorite, “Bat in Your Face.” This demo was released as an interim recording to give fans an idea of where the band’s first full-length release would be heading.
Cooperation and collaboration for the funk metal trio’s songs has been adventageous, being penned by all members of the band, each track delivers a different layer of their wide variety of innovative sound. Their goals of artistic creativity and combination of an unusual musical vision, has provided them with opportunities to showcase their music in many small, intimate venues. In early 2009 Wall of Funk won the opportunity to be featured on the 105.5 MMM (Madison, WI) Joshua Tree Sessions (a U2 covers compilation album) for their original cover of U2's “Bullet the Blue Sky.” They have also been featured on the Pop Sensation Hour on WSUM, the local college radio station in Madison, WI. Recently headlining a slew of their growing concerts, W.O.F., has been getting excellent response from venue owners. “A must see band,” raves the owner of The Possum Lodge. “Something the drunken rock lovers really get into!”
Currently Wall of Funk is in the process of mixing and mastering the final material for their first, full-length, studio album, Vital Hiatus, due in early 2010. This time they decided to get help producing their new CD, finding local networking to prevail when they got together with and old friend and Engineer, Leeland Petz, as well as his good friend and Graphic Artist, Travis Mancl. “This CD is our brain child and we intend to have it turn more than just a few heads. I never thought we could make our songs come together the way they have and sound as good as they do, but our hard work is starting to pay off. We’ve been getting great pre-release feedback, so we can’t wait to put out Vital Hiatus for the public!” exclaims enthusiastic front-man Joe Marsden. Wall of Funk aspires to make a living playing live, and creating quality music and records. Ultimately, Joe, Lennon, and Cal hope to inspire the lives of people from around the world, as they continue to create music and venture to maintain a cutting-edge, dare-to-be-different sound.
