Not long after Scott Martin was diagnosed as a special needs student, he had his first encounter with Mike Adams. The experience did not go well, as the argument over a stolen lunchroom cheeseburger ended with Adams striking Martin in the head with the $40 electric bass he had purchased at the local pawn shop only the week before.
But the bond between the two was undeniable, and once Adams successfully completed a stint at reform school, the pair reunited, with Adams' duct-taped bass serving as the symbolic icon of their friendship and mutual love of music.*
That bond led to the formation of drunkdude69, a life-long journey through every musical genre Martin and Adams could get their hands on. Need proof? DD69's first record, Funk Out With Your Junk Out, is a rip through a well-stocked jukebox, with smooth funk that would have been at home on a turntable three decades ago mixing with a contemporary guitar-heavy party vibe that could have been recorded two weeks ago.
Or at any point between 1998 and 2007. But we'll get to that in a minute.
Funk Out is remarkable in displaying the ease that the double-d-6-9 moves among styles, kicking off a song with meaty guitar riffs before sliding into a reggae groove in the bridge. Witness "Sleeper," which offers an off-kilter reggae base supporting the rest of the song's muscular frame; "FWOP" takes it a step further, gliding from a smoky late-night groove to an angular ska and a respectable shot at white-boy hip-hop. The disparate styles should be difficult to manage – especially within the framework of a single song -- but DD69 makes the adventure seem natural.
The musicianship is solid throughout as well, reflecting – and supporting – the wide range the band is willing to tackle. "Get U Fed" is a rhythmic machine, with bass and guitar meshing perfectly into a razor-sharp edge. That song's weight contrasts nicely with "Advice Again" and its slippery guitar lines or "Cherry Kool-Aid" and its loping reggae background. This is what the Red Hot Chili Peppers wished they still sounded like.
Funk Out With Your Junk Out is a heavyweight record, fitting for musicians who have worked through all the psychological issues displayed by Adams and Martin in the past. Those problems have been treated successfully, with perhaps a touch of completion issues being the only manifestation of their troubled past -- their first record did take only eight years to finish.
Hence, the earlier reference to 1998 and 2007, the dates during which Funk Out was recorded. Hey -- they're perfectionists, OK?
Of course, the record couldn't have happened at all without help from the drunkdude69 collective: amazing musicians in Nashville (Jim Evans - drum wizard), Los Angeles (Maurice Adams - guitar stroker), New York (Joe "Coach" Hanna - drum pummeler) and Cleveland (Jeff Nagel - guitar noodler, Mike Holloran - percussion smacker, Jay Goodman - special sauce vocals). Having exhausted their talented friends with the demanding eight year production schedule, Adams and Martin lured wizened-sage-turned-drummer Charley Newcomer and former hair metal string bender K-Billy into rounding out the full-time DD69 lineup.
Let's just hope it doesn't take another eight to get that next record done.
*This biography is fictional. Except for the parts that are true.
