Earlier this year, Consequence, Modern Drummer, and Yurt Rock teamed up in a quest to find the next great funk musician. We began the Who’s Got the Funk? contest by having entrants use a free pack of drum loops created by the iconic Clyde Stubblefield (James Brown) to create a funky, wholly original track. We narrowed dozens of entries down to four finalists, and asked you to vote on your favorite. Now we have our winner: “The Funky FLiP” by Joel Van Dijk!
Van Dijk has been slugging out in the trenches of funk, R&B, Americana, and rock music for a long time, and his win is well deserved. A guitarist originally from Grass Valley, California, he comes from a musical family where his parents both played some guitar and his father played drums. Joel moved to Los Angeles to attend the Musicians Institute 16 years ago and has been living in the city ever since.
In addition to being a busy songwriter and producer, he is a longtime guitarist for Aloe Blacc and is in the process of producing the “Wake Me Up” singer’s next album. He has two sample packs on Splice (with a third in the works), a band with his wife called Mystical Joyride, and three solo albums of his own. His most recent record is a funky and trippy experience called Here Now.
In an interview with Modern Drummer’s Mark Griffith, Joel explains his musical approach: “Over the years I’ve kind of listened to a little bit of everything. I was a metal head, I trained classically, I got into jazz, and funk changed my life. George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic was a major turning point for me. I was into metal and heavy music, then I heard Parliament Funkadelic — which is heavy, but not so negative. Everybody says they listen to everything, but I really do! Recently I have been listening to Hiatus Kaiyote’s Choose Your Weapon, Yussef Daye’s Black Classical Music, and Allen Stone’s APART.”
Read on for our full Q&A in with Who’s Got the Funk? champion, Joel Van Dijk, and check out the winning track, “The Funky FLiP” below.
How did you build the track that won the contest, “The Funky FLiP”?
I started with the loop, obviously. But actually, there were a few loops in the pack that I ended up using. I wanted to get a little more of a grimy feel, so I pitched the sample down. Then I put another one over the pitched down version.
You doubled the drum track?
I’d have to dig back into the session to actually see what’s happening, but that was the essence of it. I’m kind of an audio destroyer, I just do what I want.
After starting with the sample, how did you build it from there?
James Brown is part of my DNA; I spent a good couple of years listening to James Brown and the JB’s. Clyde Stubblefield is one of my favorite drummers, that’s why I jumped on the contest. Everything you hear on my track is in the vibe of James Brown and the JB’s. James Brown grooves, James Brown chords, and James Brown hits. I’m just grabbing from my bag.
You picked “The Funky Drummer” track to use for the contest, tell me a little about the importance of that track to you?
Clyde Stubblefield’s feel, his ghost notes, and his pocket are legendary. On the loop he was playing a lot of open ride stuff, that’s why I pitched it down. I wanted to get a little bit of a more dead hi-hat type of sound. Since the open ride sound was the only option, I pitched it down to get a little bit more of a hi-hat feel. When I built the track and the ride came in, it was more like, “We’re opening it up now!” Then I put the bass part down, a rhythm guitar part, a lead guitar part, and some Moog synths. I used all dominant nine chords like every James Brown track should have. At the end I had to pay tribute to the to “The Funky Drummer” track, because Clyde is the original funky drummer.
Everything is played live; I don’t like chopping things up too much. I do think I hit the master a little too hard. The reason I did that was because I made an Instagram reel for the tune, and I wanted it to sound good on people’s phones. To get your mixes to translate outside of your room, your room really must know what you’re doing, and I have a great room here.
