Bring on the Funk!

College band brings new sound to small town

Story and photo by Jen Dunkerley

With their laid-back style but hot sound, a local band brings a new funky sound of old tunes to the Plattsburgh area. Covering classic hits from James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Gloria Gaynor, Eat. Sleep. Funk. has SUNY students buzzing about the energy they bring to the open mic nights at the local bar, the Monopole.

Over the summer the band has taken the stage and has taken Plattsburgh by storm. “They’re so much fun, It’s a definite change from the regular bands we see in Plattsburgh,” says Katie Guay, a student at Plattsburgh State University.

Vocalist James Ward and guitarist Shawn Parrotte pump the crowd up for old favorites. Originally from the local band, The Slow Natives, Ward and Parrotte teamed up with keyboardist, Dan Andersen from WQKE  and their drummer Guy Szalkowski who they met through the Plattsburgh State jazz band. The quartet has been working together over the last few months in order to produce the band that students can’t stop talking about.

"Everybody brings something different to the group and it makes their sound that much stronger."

It may be a new style of music to open mic, but it’s one that the guys love and have been "well versed" in for a while. “Its a shift to 70’s style with a funky beat.  Its just really cool to be able to go up there and play good music,” Parrotte says.

Although Eat, Sleep, Funk usually plays together, the band encourages other Plattsburgh talent, including Jamie Armstrong of Lucid, and other musicians from the SUNY Plattsburgh jazz band to play with them. “These guys are great because even though they’re all from different bands, they just all get together and jam. Everybody brings something different to the group and it makes their sound that much stronger,” says Corey Parks, a senior at SUNY Plattsburgh. “I love listening to them because everyone knows all the words to the songs they play and it’s more fun because they get so into it,” Parks continues.

"Its just really cool to be able to go up there and play good music.”

With half a dozen original singles for Eat, Sleep, Funk and many more covers, the band continues to work on songs that will keep the crowd on its feet. “We practice the songs and then test them out at open mic, we just want to go up there and have a good time,” Parrotte says. The intensity of the music has gotten listeners to enjoy more of the old school music that the band brings to the stage. “I have listened to that kind of music before, but hearing it live is so much fun and it really gets the crowd going,” says Guay.

The band is focusing on its time at open mic, but looking forward to upcoming gigs in downtown Plattsburgh in places like the Koffee Kat and Olive Ridley’s. "It's good to just get out there and have fun," Parrotte says. He has been thinking about starting an 80’s band in the future, but for right now, he wants to stick with what he’s got.

Have you hear Eat, Sleep, Funk play?