EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH FUNKI PORCINI, February 2010

This interview was conducted by email.  James kindly agreed to answer some questions centered around the new material released in 2010.

Question:  What live appearances do you have scheduled?

There are no live events scheduled as I have never attempted to play live. As it is only me and I am a studio based outfit (i.e. bad instrumentalist) there would be a distinctly and ghastly fake element of any live show as much of the material would have to be prerecorded.  This would leave me on stage pretending to twiddle meaningful knobs in a deep and mysterious way.

Question:  What is the idea/concept behind the new material?  What is the story of the new material?  What sort of frame of mind where you in whilst creating it?

PLOD is part of the result of  years of musical meanderings during which time I have had two children and the death of my father. I expect that music is always an emotional interpretation in some manner and I'm sure this reflects in what I do, however these are just platitudes. I have tried to concentrate on making fairly simple things trying to give them depth without too much pretension. There is not really a concept behind this album, but I am always open to the interpretations of others.

Question:  How was the new material created (eg Cubase? Live instruments etc)

The music is composed using Logic Audio and anything else that comes to hand. I play saxophone and keyboards  and I have tried to give certain tracks a more spontaneous and live feel, so lots of takes and not so much editing.

Question:  Who is the intended audience of the new material?


As to the intended audience, I am afraid I do not know. I live in a fairly isolated place and I do not have many friends who actually listen to my music, so it is always a surprise to find out who likes it. I tend to work on ideas that do not bore me. If a track becomes boring at any point I will throw it away and start something else.

Question:  What is the difference between PLOD and the new Ninja Tune album?  Why would we want both?


I had wanted to put all this material together as a double album but Ninja wanted to do take just 10 tracks and so we have done it this way. I have also wanted to experiment with an independent release in order to see what sort of response there was. ON will be a selection of 10 tracks from the same pool of music and will be released by Ninja on May the 4th. As to which is the better record I will have to let the public decide. I expect they will prefer ON on some days and Plod on others.

Question:  What is your opinion on the current state of the music industry, piracy etc?

It is becoming harder and harder to make a living from music. Ten years ago it was possible to justify setting aside six months in order to make a record. Now there is a serious likelihood of financial ruin in doing so. However I will experiment with parking music at http://funkiporcini.bandcamp.com  and see how it all pans out. Hopefully it will lead to a more creative life.

Question:  Are there any collaborations with other artists on the horizon?

I have been making some music for film recently with the writer/ director Tony Grisoni so things are moving along and we will see what the year brings. There are some singles coming on bandcamp very soon.

Many thanks to James for this interview and to Ninja Tune for their co-operation with me over the years.