Photo courtesy of the Funk Club
The usually bustling streets of Bay View and Riverwest grew quiet as people stayed home to lessen the spread of COVID-19 these last couple of months. Feeling the need for music, joy and community, a group of local musicians banded together as The Funk Club, going mobile by performing from the back of a trailer, the Funk Wagon. As the band drives by playing songs by classic funk artists such as James Brown, Dr. John and Prince, people came running from their houses to listen, as if they are an ice cream truck that finally learned to play music that wasn’t by Scott Joplin—and, well, doesn’t have ice cream.
The Milwaukee area musicians have played with each other often in ongoing projects such as Chicken Wire Empire, Dinosaur Rocket, Honest John, Budhalicious and Pocket Change. In The Funk Club, Jack Reed keeps the beat on a set of drums, joined by keyboardist Dan “Buddha” Budziszewski, wagon owner and guitarist Jesse Voelker, saxophonist Isaiah Joshua and bassist Jordan Kroeger. The artwork adorning the sides of the wagon was the work of local artists and friends of the band Josh Roy.
During the interview, Reed sat on the tailgate of the white touring van that pulls the wagon, smoking a cigarette with elbows resting on his knees while Budziszewski dumped ice and bear into a small cooler on the wagon for after the show. They greet each other with conversation about the reopening of their local drinking spot and weekly Wednesday night venue, The Gig.
“Everyone is just thirsty to go there. Everyone misses the Gig and all the bars,” said Budziszewski, eager to return to their regular spot.
Their dynamic was quickly evident as a group of musicians whose years playing together in different formats and venues made them certain of each other. Like most great ideas, The Funk Wagon started as a sort of joke between friends that Voelker took seriously. Suddenly, everyone else was along for the ride—quite literally.
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Voelker recounted, “One day we were talking about how doing these live streams suck. It is just not the same the sound is hard to get dialed in and it’s just not the same energy we were just thinking about…”
“How to deliver music to the people—safely,” Reed finished.
“Yeah,” Voelker agreed.
“And how we could play too because that’s our livelihood we all miss that big-time,” continued Reed.
“You guys make money playing music. Who are you man Tom Petty?” joked Budziszewski.
“We just came up with the idea. We could put it on a trailer. It would allow people to get some live music without congregating too much, and allowing them to stay socially distant,” said Voelker.
“Then Voelker showed up with a trailer and we were like, ‘alright we’re doing it, man!’” Reed laughs.
“I bought the trailer on Wednesday. We refurbished in on Thursday and we were out playing on Friday,” Voelker added.
Funky is the Word
They were all sharing their thoughts and stories while setting up their traveling stage, uncoiling chords, screwing in symbols, and setting up keyboard stands occasionally looking up from their work to emphasize a point or laugh at one another’s jokes. Their name a strong indication of what kind of music to expect.
“On this trailer its only funk—it’s the party trailer,” said Reed.
“We decided that that is what makes people want to dance and they have been stuck in their house for a few months. It just makes the most sense,” Voelker added.
When asked about their motivation for taking to the street, they returned to the same thing repeatedly—the people and the response they get. Reed said that at the beginning of COVID-19, like many other musicians he started live streaming, but it was disappointing not only because the sound quality was tricky but also because “the vibe wasn’t the same.” The Funk Wagon allows for the interaction between artist and fan to morph and change without disappearing and disappointing.
“The best part is—well, we go through the neighborhoods. We’ve been through Riverwest and Bay View. We are doing the East Side today. Honestly, the best part is just looking ahead and people running out they can hear us coming from a few blocks away, so they come out they bring their kids out... just seeing people coming out of their houses dancing clapping taking video,” Budziszewski said.
Mostly Positive
Though the responses that they have gotten have been mostly positive the Funk Club was still conscious that everybody might not feel the same way about.
“We were worried about being a disturbance we know that some people obviously work and have sleeping schedules. We had one individual who was not too happy with us driving by. Hey may or may not have thrown a beer at us,” said Budziszewski.
“He definitely missed,” added Reed.
The Funk Wagon band members see what they’re doing as bringing a reprieve from the anxiety and stress of the times.
“It has been overall just a real positive response from everybody,” continued Budziszewski. “We get people texting us ‘thank you brightened our day.’ People have just been bummed out for so long. All of the sudden this wagon just rides by. How come we didn’t think of that.”
“It shows how important the power of music is. Especially, when you don’t have the ability to go see anybody. You almost forget until the ice cream truck (referring to the wagon) rolls by,” added Reed.
Friday Jams
The Funk Wagon has gone out pretty regularly on Fridays. The band was hooked following their first time out, the peoples’ response bringing them out, again and again, trying to re-achieve that level of excitement.
“We ended up at the park our first time out, Reservoir Park over here, Riverwest,” said Budziszewski. “Everyone just scattered out chilling in their own little circles. It was just a really cool sight. After we saw that, that was the standard of what we wanted moving forward.”
According to Budziszewski, the Funk Wagon isn’t doing it for the money, but they do put a tip jar out. Which the viewers toss money into and they also accept tips over Venmo. The wagon gives them a chance to perform and continue being live musicians even when bars and venues are closed, which is more important to the band than financial compensation.
“Obviously, we like to make something for our time, but really are just getting practice in. We are getting tighter as musicians, and we are having fun,” said Budziszewski.
The wagon is a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it does not go unaffected by other tragedies in the world. They did not perform the weekend of George Floyd’s death out of respect. Reed was tired from protesting until 3 a.m. the night before the interview and the Funk Club as whole found different ways to contribute to the movement.
“We made a nice donation to George Floyd. We donated over $300 to that,” he said. “All the donations that came in through Venmo went to George Floyd, and that is another way for us to give back. Because, I am old, I’m almost 40 years old, and I’m not going to be going out protesting just because I’m old. If I was 25, I would be out there,” said Budziszewski of his own experience and perspective.
The Funk wagon continues to go out for the people of Milwaukee to try and spread a little joy and bring people together in a small way. It also brings the bandmates themselves together. The Funk Club doesn’t look as if they should really know each other let alone be good friends. They sport different looks, personalities and roles in the band, maybe their uniqueness as individuals contributes to the success of the Funk Club. Not only does the reaction from Milwaukee keep them coming back but also each other.
“I get to spend less time with my girlfriend,” added Budziszewski. “Just kidding, I told her any plans we had on Fridays from this point forward is just going to be Funk Wagon orientated. Playing with these guys is just something to look forward to. Reed adds, “We get to get funky and play together. We missed that.”
