"Zed Hed" was a fantastic album, did its sales and reception meet your expectations?
The reviews were exceptional and the response from people was absolutely tremendous. The reviews were so good I thought my Mum had written them! (laughs) It's still selling now so I would say Zed Hed exceeded my personal ambition for the record. Although I would prefer world domination!!!!!!!!!!
Was there a temptation to produce a sequel that was in a similar vein or did you always know that you wanted to travel a different path with the new album?
Yes. I suppose there was an option to recreate Zed Hed but I went with my gut instinct, which is what I've done with all the records. I wrote a bunch of songs and FUNKPUNK is what came out. I just followed what felt good, I stayed out of my own way and let it flow.
How quickly did the sound take shape, was it a case of the song writing influencing the sound or the sound influencing the writing?
The sound took shape quickly, the dub bass, the solid beats, less straight-ahead hackneyed musical tricks, the aggressive attitude all came naturally. The songs were written before I went in to record but once I was in the studio the sound influenced the writing and I started creating new tracks on the spot. So it was a bit of both; the songs influenced the sound and then that blueprint influenced some new songs.
What artists were you listening to while writing "FUNKPUNK", did you look for inspiration?
Like all of us I have eclectic tastes, so down through the years I've always liked Parliament and Funkadelic, James Brown, Prince, Rick James as well as rock music like The Who, Led Zep and punk; Pistols and The Ruts plus reggae - Sly and Robbie, Marley, Steel Pulse and FUNKPUNK just grew out of those influences. It's subliminal not deliberate and definitely not what someone would expect from a punk rock tub thumper. The legendary session drummer Jeff Porcaro was a mentor, he gave me a lot of great advice and he was all about "the groove" so there's grooves on the album. My publisher is a punk rocker and he said he didn't own any records that sounded like FUNKPUNK and I said "yes you do", The Clash's "Magnificent 7", "This Is Radio Clash" maybe even "Rock The Casbah" plus Talking Heads, Ian Dury and the Blockheads. He felt it was a very odd combination of styles; funk music and punk rock but to me it was perfectly normal. Trouble Funk used to have punk rock bands support them all the time. Also why would I want to try and recreate 1977 or something RT-Zed had already done? What's the fucking point of that? I just went my own way and thought fuck it; I have to do what I feel comfortable with.
You got Jon Astley to master the album, he has one hell of a CV so that must have been a massive coup for you. How did he get to be involved?
Yes, he's a legend among legends. I didn't know him at all; he heard the music through the engineer on the album Jamie Masters. Jon costs a fortune and I could never have afforded his usual fee but he loved the album and offered his services because he was a fan. I was highly honoured and very encouraged by the fact that he agreed to master the record. He's mastered The Who, Zeppelin, Townshend solo stuff, Bad Company, ABBA - all sorts of artists but all of them million sellers so for him to master FUNKPUNK was fucking brilliant.
No - I was tired of explaining to bass players to "keep it simple" and leave room for the grooves to breathe. In the end I played the bass on the whole record, largely due to necessity. I used all the reggae dub tricks; flat-wound strings, foam dampening at the bridge, to wound off, bottom wound up, play with your thumb and keep it groovy with the drummer - like a proper rhythm section. Jonesy played some great lead stuff and bought some real flair to the whole proceedings. His sd is muscular and aggressive without being cliched "Rock geetar"! He wasn't always around so I covered all the funk guitar parts and synths - I just got on with it. We may use guests next time - we know enough fucking people; we'll see. I like doing everything ourselves as it means we don't have to explain and waste valuable time negotiating with people.
How easy was it to fit in writing, recording, mixing and generally everything that made the album happen in a time of increased activity and a resurgence in popularity in Stiff Little Fingers?
It was easy really. Even though Stiff Little Fingers have been incredibly busy I was still able to use time off to work on FUNKPUNK - I play all the time, I don't see it as work - It's pleasure so when I had some SLF downtime, I was in the studio.
"No Conspiracy" featured on the live album "Crunch" albeit in a more raw form and devoid of the wonderful funk guitar of the new version, was this the only song to be reworked for the "FUNKPUNK"sessions?
Yes, it's the only song that was reworked because it was never really finalised. We recorded it on the live album Crunch because we were a song short and the rest of the band said lets do "No Conspiracy". I was never that pleased with it so this was the perfect opportunity to record No Con the way I heard it.
When did you decide to make the release a Pledge campaign?
Siren who manage SLF suggested it and it was good advice. It's going extremely well.
Have you been surprised at how quickly you achieved your Pledge target?
Yes, my fear was we wouldn't reach 100% and look like fucking idiots but we got there in 9 days. It was a relief and very exciting!
Have you got "stretch" goals in mind now you are fully funded?
We aren't fully funded - we just chose an amount that we felt we could reach.
Will there be any possibility of live dates and if so is this likely to be another one off or might we see a short tour?
Yes, we'd like to do gigs but there will be no tour unless we can get a good support slot.
Have you considered whether the songs from "Zed Hed" would be played "straight" or would you be tempted to give them a funk vibe live?
No, the songs are the songs - we'll play them the way they are.
We spoke before about the possibility of a dub version of "FUNKPUNK" or maybe a couple of dub mixes, is this something you've given any more thought to?
I'd love to but I'm not sure there's enough of a market to make it worthwhile.
For those that follow you on social media some of the lyrical themes won't be that much of a surprise (conspiracies,Police brutality/misuse of power, religion, animal rights/veganism) is this a case of writing about what interests you or do you hope that listeners will question the status quo in true punk fashion?
Well, firstly it's about self expression. I can't see the point in writing about anything else. I abhor animal cruelty of any kind, I'm anti-religion, I feel our governments regularly lie to us, so I distrust them enormously. I think the Police are often out of control and corruption and racism is rife; look at the Stephen Lawrence case plus all the shit that's going on in the U.S. Police look like Militia under the pretence of protection when it feels like mass control. I'm anti-Royal and the Civil List that accompanies them; I'm pro free speech! I'm not trying to teach or preach but if the songs touch people in some way then great but the lyrics are my opinions - make of them what you will.
One of the highest tier Pledge rewards is a snare drum that you used in both The Alarm & SLF....what can you tell us about its history?
It's a rare Dennis Chambers (Parliament/Funkadelic) signature snare that I've used on Alarm records and shows plus SLF records and a track on the new RT-Zed album. I don't use it anymore and thought it would be something someone would like to own.
This is a great opportunity for a fan to own such a unique item, was it a hard decision to let it go?
Yeah it was a hard decision but if it finds a new home, that'll be fantastic.
How do you ensure "FUNKPUNK" reaches as wide an audience as possible?
No idea! The music industry is fucked so I'm as lost and confused as everyone else.
What are your expectations for the album?
I have no expectations - I just want people to use the music. Enjoy it and have fun with it - that's my desire. I stopped having expectations years ago.
Steve Grantley, thank you very much!
Great interview Steve, can’t wait to hear the results.
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