This gentlemen behind me right here is none other than George Clinton.
He has been writing, recording and revolutionizing music for six decades.
With his band's Parliament and Funkadelic
he has produced 40 hit singles, and that's not even counting samples.
He is one of the most sampled artists of all time,
with over 2000 samples of his music being used.
And you can ask him questions by going on social media
with the hashtag Berklee Online live.
And he is also a 2012 honorary doctorate recipient
from Berklee College of Music.
So I'm going to strap on the headphones and chat with Dr. Funkenstein.
How are you?
How are you doing?
Pretty good.
I've been deflead, de-ticked, I've got my rabies shot,
and I'm ready to bury the bone.
Awesome.
So tell me a little bit about--
I mentioned that you're one of the most sampled artists of all time,
and in your book you talk about the artists who sampled you,
but what was the first awareness you had of people sampling your music?
The first awareness I had was De La Soul, "me myself and I."
When that one came out they came to me and asked me, you know, they wanted--
I had heard lots of people rapped to it, but I had never heard a record,
you know?
Even though The Sugarhill Gang did one I hadn't heard it yet.
So De La Soul was the first one I actually heard.
Nice.
And they were the first one to pay me too.
Do you, you know, do you get itemized checks
that say, you know, this is from this sample and this is from that sample.
We're beginning to now.
I've been fighting for years.
But we're beginning to get checks from that now.
Right.
So what over your career has been this the sample that
is, like, netted you the most money?
Do you any idea?
That I got myself?
Yeah.
It would have been "me myself and I."
Oh, really?
Yeah.
The rest of them I never got paid for them.
Oh, man.
That's what I'm saying.
Oh, wow, OK.
It's just now starting to pay off.
Well, that's good.
Patience, patience and perseverance.
Oh, no.
You've got to have faith.
And so all the Dr. Dre stuff, you haven't seen a penny from that either?
Oh, no.
We're fighting right now to get paid for "Straight Outta Compton."
Oh, man.
So now, with the advent of sampling, did that ever change your whole process
for songwriting at all?
Like, did that-- hey, here's a good groove,
maybe this will be a good something somebody will sample.
Did that ever enter your mind in the writing process?
Actually, I actually put out a record called Samples Some of Disc, Sample
Some of D.A.T. just for that purpose.
Movies still do, you know, that's something--
I go through the same procedure myself.
I sampled a song that we made, I sampled a new song that we made.
Tell me a little bit about, I mean, what we're talking about today
is songwriting.
So tell me about your process.
You don't play an instrument.
And how does the--
you're humming for the musicians basically, right?
Basically, we call it head session.
Head stashing?
Head session.
OK, head session.
Yeah.
Just hum the part of the guitar player, hum the part of the bass player,
and then we get a groove going.
Then for the melody with the keyboard player, Owen.
I mean that's one way.
I'm from old school, so I can, like, sit down and write a song in my head first,
and then after I arrange the old song.
But since today is more about hip hop, you know,
I try to do what they do in whatever time period were in.
How does it vary from player to player?
Will you be kind of a stickler for them?
No, that's not the baseline I was doing.
It's like this.
Or will you be adapting to when they play something slightly different?
Both ways, both ways.
If they can't get what I'm saying and they come up with a better lick,
I'll take that.
We called it close enough for funk.
You know, but then sometimes I have to get one musician to interpret it
for another musician, what I'm saying.
Some of them can hear me better than others.
Do you find it varies, you know, you've been in this business
for so long and collaborating with people for so long,
and you work with a lot of younger players
now, like you worked with Kendrick Lamar.
Did you find that working with some of the younger players,
they have a different approach?
Or is it just basically the universal language of music?
Basically it's the universal language music.
You know, with hip hop they just take whatever you do
and make something out of it.
I can just go in there and start running my mouth,
and they'll be satisfied before I get started.
You know?
They're probably easier than actually making commercials.
Commercials they just 10 minutes, 15 minutes, that's all the time you got.
But hip hoppers will do it even quicker than that.
They tell me go in there do what you do.
And I have to figure out, what do I do?
How often are you writing?
Well I'm just getting back into it a lot lately.
I've put the album out First You've Got to Shake the Gate.
That has got me back into the spirit.
And we're doing a new album right now, called Medicaid Fraud Dog.
Like I said, in the last album we had 33 songs on it.
This one won't be that long, but it's going have a lot of songs on it.
Nice.
With your own contribution to writing, do you
carry a notebook around with you?
Or do you just save it all until you're there in the session?
This phone I got in my hand right now is the best thing that could ever happen.
I can dictate it, and it can even spell the words that I can't spell.
That used to keep me from writing a lot of songs, I couldn't spell the words.
But with the iPhone--
I'm with the phone period.
You just say it and it writes it down for you.
Right.
So when you are going back with those words, how do you preserve the melody?
Do you have a recording device that you're using?
Or do you just look at the words and know exactly--
Yeah.
I got a recording device on the phone.
I could put it on the notes, or I can sing it.
But I won't commit to the melody too quick,
unless it's something really special.
I'll just do the basic atonal type of melody just for the line.
Then come back later on and figure out what I was thinking.
It's interesting having seen you play a number of times,
and it's just a celebratory experience.
And then sometimes on record, though, there's more thoughtful,
introspective works in there.
I guess, how are you--
when you're writing, are you writing for the stage
or writing for the headphones?
Well, basically, you try to write for the stage.
But it's pretty hard to come off, you know,
on all of the Pro Tools and the digital thing, you've got to do it so sterile
that you can't actually get down on the tape, but you do on stage.
We've always had that problem over the years,
trying to do what we do on stage on record.
It;s pretty hard to capture.
So, all right, I'm going to take a few questions now
from the readers who have submitted.
Alex Inquisidor Weinstein wants to know--
oh, this is what I was just asking.
How do you balance between lyrics that are fun and funky and lyrics
with deep meaningful messages?
I don't distinguish between the two.
They all seem funny to me, and knowing how people could take something serious
and that be funny to them or vice versa.
So I'll do it either way just to be annoying sometimes.
I'll make something that sounds serious be really stupid or silly,
or the other way around.
I was calling myself being funny when I said, "free your mind,
your ass will follow."
Then later on I started seeing what people thought of it,
and they made-- oh, OK.
I could see where it could be deep.
But when I did it I was just being clowny.
You know, I would have somebody that would interpret it for me
and say no, that's pretty deep.
And then I got to go back and act like I was deep.
Well, it's funny though.
I mean-- I'm not sure I believe you that it's all silly.
You know, I mean, there's like a song like Biological Speculation,
which that's pretty deep, right?
Yeah, but I was being funny again.
You know?
We could just be a test tube bunch of people on the planet.
I was, you know, biological speculation.
We might not be all we think we are.
And I know how deep, you know, the insinuation is,
but I was trying to be silly about it.
Right.
Well what's the most serious song you've ever written?
Probably Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts.
And I read most of that somewhere.
So I just, like, flipped the concept in my own head.
And changed, you know, words and thoughts I read somewhere in a book.
I was really, seriously trying to say that our minds are messed up.
And we try to straighten things out with our brains, and that's messed up.
So until we get that fixed, you know, we won't be
able to straighten anything else out.
But I really was in my peace and love days then.
Probably some good acid.
What song would you say you want people to remember you most
by and quote the most?
Would it be Good Thoughts, Bad Thoughts?
If You Don't Like the Effect, Don't Produce the Cause.
What line from that, in particular, what would you want people to,
you know, to see on a quote?
"You say you don't like where you're at, but you can
make a change if you accept the blame.
Stay in control of your reactions, it will
determine the effect of any situation.
You have the power to negate any awful cause and feelings
that prohibits you to think."
That's great.
That one right there, I'm kind of proud of that.
Yeah, that is good.
Again it seems a little bit more meaningful than the goofing
around thing that you were talking about.
I think I have to stop being sarcastic about it.
I still try to do it where it's funny.
So we're about at the halfway point, which
is where we do a segment that's called stuck in the middle.
So do you have a song that you're working on right now
that you can't figure out where to go with it?
Oh, man.
One, the [INAUDIBLE] gave me a concept, and I get--
I called him up and he was supposed to have been sick.
I said, man, you sound good.
He said, only you can hear the hi in my hello.
And I told him, I said, if you don't write this song in a week or two,
I'm going to write it.
I said the line in the song, but I never tried to write a song about that.
Tried to write a song about that.
Now have you ever tried to bring that to collaborators and say,
like, all right, come on, let's do this.
I have done that, yes.
But with that one it's just not taken yet?
No, I haven't done it with that one yet.
I probably got a couple other ones like that.
So here is a question, this is from Phil Stracke, it's a great question.
He's just basically paraphrasing the title of your book,
and so, George, ain't that funkin' kind of hard on you?
That's his question.
No, it's not.
Like I said, I was hard when I started, I'll be hard when I get through.
But if you like what you're doing, it ain't work anyway.
I mean, I actually have fun doing what I do.
So no, it ain't hard.
Here's one coming from Billy Z. Other than sex, drugs, and rock and roll,
what inspires you?
Ain't shit else left.
What?
I said, ain't nothing left.
No, I'm just joking.
But when you get 76 years old, kids, grandkids, great grandkids,
stuff like that started inspiring me.
If you haven't been inspired by it before then,
but that started looking appealing all of a sudden.
You know, playing with the kids and shit like that.
Yeah.
You have great great grandchildren, right?
Yes.
I got them on the road right now.
That's great.
Yeah.
When I last saw you perform I think your grandson was doing some rhymes, right?
Three grandsons, three granddaughters, and a daughter and a son.
And are they all involved?
Yes, they're are all on stage right now.
That's awesome.
That's great.
That's what you saw.
I bet when you first started out you had--
did you have any inclination that you'd be doing it long enough
to have grandchildren onstage with you?
No, I never thought of it like that.
But I also never thought I'd quit either.
That's great.
Here's a question from black on black, how do you challenge yourself
as a seasoned artist.
What is the next level?
What do you graduate to?
The new artist, it sounds like he's kicking my ass.
As soon as I hear somebody doing something I wish that I had done--
I'm like the Energizer bunny.
I start all over again.
I didn't do shit.
That must be really gratifying though to continue
to be asked by people like Kendrick Lamar, who are at the top of the game,
you know, to collaborate.
That's what's inspiring about it.
When you hear somebody like that is paying attention to you,
you really want to get back in the game.
Here's a question from Janice Hazel, what was your inspiration
to incorporate the soul gospel sounds of Philippe Wynne on Not Just Knee Deep?
Oh, that one--
Philippe just happened to be in there that day.
Oh, really?
He just happened to be sitting there.
He had wrote his verse up while we were doing the--
we were finished.
He said, bub, sounds great, but one thing is missing.
I said what?
He said, me.
I said, well, go on in there.
And he did just what he did on the record.
You said that was Janice Hazel, she wrote that?
Yup.
Tell her, and our cousin too.
He was also--
Oh, wow.
I didn't even realize that this person is related to Eddie Hazel.
That's great.
OK.
This is from Kim ward, in your autobiography
you wrote about the risks of political songwriting a lot
has changed in the music industry since the release of "Cosmic Slop."
Do you think that artists are now able to express themselves more freely?
Well, like Kendrick Lamar said, if you're on the 30,
he said he got that from Tupac.
And, for real, that's the way it is.
You could probably do stuff like [INAUDIBLE] young or something
like that.
But they do a lot of stuff that you couldn't have done back then either.
Like public enemy, you can't do what they did no more either.
But you can do what Kendrick did, or what Jay-z just did.
Which is one of the most spectacular albums I've heard in a long time.
Yeah, that "4:44?"
Yes, god.
He really peed on that one.
You know, he's my man, but wasn't on top of the list,
but he busted in up there this time.
Here's one from Sargam Sandreni, how do you re-compose
a melody, as in what is already out there.
How do you make changes and make it your own?
Well it's called your interpretation.
You can't own the song if you just reinterpret it.
You can do your own version of it, and make it yours,
which is what covering songs are about.
You know, you have to do a good job and be a stylist.
Aretha Franklin is real good at that.
She'll take somebodies song and you will swear you've never heard it before.
Yeah.
You mentioned being a stylist, and I know that's how you started out,
styling hair.
Is there any overlap there with that sort of creativity?
Yeah.
The concept of doing hair put me in touch with the concept of [INAUDIBLE]..
You know, a cool cat so cool that he can't get his hair wet.
You can't have no fun--
well, I use that imagery and that whole concept--
a lot of the problem is, you know, it's supposed to be cool songs.
like Make My Funk the P Funk.
That was joke talk in the barbershop.
So yeah, I use a lot of the barbershop.
And not only that, but in my appearance.
A lot of it was anti-cool, a lot of it was cool.
"Funkadelic" we tried to be as dirty as we possibly could be.
Diapers, and diapers, you know, that kind of thing.
Here's a question coming from Bennett Varsho, and he sent along a video
actually of him giving $10 to a guitarist who
is standing on the street busking to play "Maggot Brain,"
and the guy did it.
But anyway his question is, in Cleveland you kept the crowd going for 20 minutes
after they pulled the plug, what is the longest you've done that for?
For about 20 minutes and they turned the electricity back on.
We did it in Philadelphia--
we did in Philadelphia about 20 to 30 minutes.
And people wouldn't stop, so we just banged on and kept singing.
Here's a question from Stephen Zackos, being one of my biggest inspirations,
I've always wanted to ask what advice you
can give to an aspiring Funk drummer.
Keep it on the one.
Keep it on the one.
You know, but-- the only way I could say to anybody aspiring
to do anything really is, do the best you can and then funk it.
As far as the Funk, like, where do you reach for the Funk from?
Like when you say, and Funk it, like, where is that metaphysical place?
Just let go, like, use the force Luke, just let go and jam.
And just settle back.
Don't try to show off.
Just get in the pocket with everybody and jam.
Funk can take over itself.
Let's see.
Here's another from-- this one's from Duwan Brown,
are we ever going to see all of the living members on stage again?
All the Funkadelic and Parliament all stars who are still alive
and not playing again?
I'm sure you will.
I'm sure.
That happens every now and then, you know?
But everybody's got their own things.
A lot of them and not here with us anymore.
But like you said, the remaining ones, we come together every now and then.
Here's one from Carlton Solomon, who, in your opinion,
is really bringing the Funk today?
I think you answered that with Kendrick and Jay-z, but is there anybody who,
outside of the hip-hop scope, and just straight up Funk, who's doing that?
Well, I guess you would call Flying Lotus, the Thundercat,
that crew is, you know-- they're jazzy.
But they got, like, the freshest Funk because they're
mixing it with the DJ scene.
So you got the best of both worlds, a band and a DJ.
They had a lot to do with Kendrick's album.
Yeah.
As far as you're currently in that movie that Flying Lotus has done,
are you hearing a lot of feedback about that?
Don't watch it while you're eating.
Right.
That's what everybody says.
Did he have to ask you twice to be in that?
Or were you right away?
Well, no.
It's funny because he--
I'm always talking about got that doo-doo, got that shit, you know,
the doo-doo chasers, the band, so I'm familiar with the concept.
Talking shit.
So you were on board right away then?
Yeah.
But, you know, hell yeah.
Aliens coming out my ass, yeah.
I could go for it.
Is there ever anything that you are asked to do, collaborative wise,
that you just wouldn't do?
Oh, there's a few of those.
Yeah?
I don't even want to talk about them.
Well, moving on then.
OK.
Here's another question from Jason Landry,
having worked in the music industry for quite some time,
is there something you wish you learned early on in terms of music education
could have helped you today?
The drugs didn't work after the first time or two.
So in the spirit of the less serious things,
I have a silly question to ask of you.
Can you guess why once a week for the past 20 or 30 years
or so, I get a flashlight in my head when
I'm taking the garbage to the curb?
Flashlight?
Yeah.
Damn, I don't know.
I can't answer that one.
It's trash night.
Oh, it's trash night.
Anyway--
That's pretty funny.
Trash night.
Every week without fail, it's garbage night, and then it's like, trash night.
I had to do something like that [INAUDIBLE]..
I did that with Gonzo.
Yeah.
What did you and Gonzo do?
I said it was a flash some-- to me.
It was something like--
I forget what it was.
I got to look it up again.
Yeah.
Well, look that up.
Well George, thank you so much for your time.
And, you know, keep on keeping on, and thank you so much.
Roof.
Roof.
Thank you.
Thanks.
OK.
Thank you.
Thank you all very much for tuning in, and a special
thank you going out to Chrissy Walter, Josh Chagani, Jesse Borkowski, Kayley
Kravitz, Tim Scholl, Jana Jackson, Mike King, Debbie Cavalier, everybody
at Berklee Online really, and Benji Rogers and George Clinton himself.
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