Stone Funk

Interview with Stone Funk

February 23, 2016

Describe your band, telling a little about it. 

Stone Funk is a project that grew out of one of the many variations of Ten Feet Tall.  We play a little something for everyone, but the meat of our set is dance music, or pop/rap songs that you just really don't hear much...what we do is try and turn them into Van Halen songs. LOL! With just a 3 piece, it's really the only thing that we can do with them

What are your names? / Who plays what?

Dave Teeters- Vocals

Joe DeStefano- Drums/ Vocals

Russ Lancaster- Bass/Guitar

Rusty Hodgkiss-  Guitar/Vocals

Have members played with any other bands?

Russ, Joe and I all played in Mongo Huey,  Joe also has been around the block playing in Alter Ego, and goodness knows how many other bands over the years.  He's like music royalty around here. LOL!  We all were Ten Feet Tall once upon a time, and Russ and I both still play with them.  Dave has played with a bunch of different projects in the Carrollton area, as well over the years. He's done a lot of hardcore metal stuff, as well as acoustic.

Do you write your own music or perform covers?  Has it always been this way?  We do exclusively covers. We have talked about doing some writting and recording over the years, but something has alwas gotten in the way of that. I know that Dave has written a ton of stuff, he and I have written together, and I am working on some things on my own. We'll have to see where things go I guess.

What year did the band form?  Funny...but we JUST formed within the past month. So, 2016.

 Where is bands home? Sammy and Eddie's Porsche shop. LOL!  Probably Weirton, just because Joe does the booking, and he lives there. =)

What's your style of genre?  We don't believe in genres.  Genres are a bad thing.  Actually, in all seriousness, we don't fit a genre, and doubt tht we will until we write our own stuff.  As of right now, we're probably a bad boy band...

What inspires your music?  Anything can inspire music. Mood, an experience during the day, loss. I've been super inspired lately, because I've had a few issues, and I want to get down in a song, what people who are close to me mean to me. I don't do well with serious conversation, so writing a song can let them know without me having to actually SAY it to them.

How often do you rehearse?  Rehearse? We don't. When we want to do a new song, we send out  group text, all of us learn it, and we play it at the show. Sometimes its a trainwreck, but mostly we can work it through. I told Joe a month ago that I'd do this project, and haven't seen any of them since! LOL! We'll see how it goes.

What gear do you guys use?  I think Joe has a TAMA kit, and uses Zildjan cymbals. He also uses medium sized trees as sticks.  Russ plays ESP basses,a David Eden and a Peavy cabinet, a Line 6 live XT POD, a BBE and, maybe an Ampeg head? I can't remember.  I play through an Orange head and cabinet, and just run my guitars straight through it. I play a Fender EVH Wolfgang, a Peavey Wolfgang, a Gretsch and a 5150 that I built.

 Do you utilize a booking agency, and what are your thoughts around that?  We use the Joe DeStefano booking agency. LOL!  We'd probably be okay with using one, if one were ever interested, but as of now we're only doing one weekned a month.

Are you looking for a label, and what are your thoughts around that?  Nope. We took our shot in the Mongo days at trying all of that. We're content right now with playing as much music as we can, and helping people have as good of a time as they can here in the area. 

What are your songs about?  I dunno...we don't have any yet. LOL!  Actually the stuff that we have written in the past has been about relationshis, life events...

Who does the composing and writes the lyrics?  

We all have contributed in the past to lyrics, arrangements, composing. I know that Dave does all of those, he has also written lyrics to some music that I have. I've been exploring the lyric writting as well. It's hard to say how that would all hash out though if we got down to doing it seriously. Although, that is something that I enjoy immensely, bouncing ideas off of each other, challenging, and being challenged by the other guys ideas, playing things that are outside of what I am comfortable with and growing as a musician. Love that interaction.

Do you start with the music or the lyrics? I can't speak for all of us, but I like to start with a beat, play along with the drums until I find something that fits the groove and go from there. I even find that lyrics are easier to come up with if I can establish a melody first, hum along with the guitar part, and then fill in the words to fit the melody.

Do you compose in a certain enviroment?,  Not really. I've had ideas hit me in the middle of the night, gotten up and recorded them before I forget em, or at work,  sometimes at soundcheck. No real iron clad rule for writing, at least for me anyway.

Have you done any covers live? Yes. Well not yet, but we will. =)

What are the least and most people to attend one of your gigs?  As Stone Funk, we haven't had our first gig yet. That goes down Friday at the Pub in Weirton. Over the years though, we've play to a few thousand people at Star Lake, and literally 14 people. (Believe me...I counted 'em.) To me though, it doesn't matter. Would we like to have huge crowds every time we play? You bet we would. Having said that though, I still gave my all the 14 people. They deserved it from me for taking the time and making the effort to come see us. Besides, I get the biggest high just from being on stage, and playing music with my friends.  If folks think that there's more to it than that, they will hate being in a band. If playing music ever becomes like going to a "job", that's the day that I'll walk away.

What ages are most of your concert attendants?

I dunno yet. We've had all ages though throughout the years.  Every soul that comes will know at LEAST one of the songs that we play though...promise.

Do you always play the same songs live, or do you vary?  We're plannig on varying. With the guys that we have, we know such a huge catalog of songs that we could pull off, there's really no excuse to play the same set list. Probably keep some money tunes every night, but mix the filler stuff up.

Do you have a regular place you play live often?

We love playing anywhere that will have us. Never played a place that I didn't like.

What was your first gig like?  Not sure...it could be terrifying. Be at the Irish Pub Friday to find out. May get to see us funk our stones straight to the bottom.

What do you think about people downloading music instead of buying records now a days?  It's kind of sad. I LOVED running to the record store back in the day, the day that a certain record was being released. There was a great deal of anticipation leading up to the release date, your band was being interviewed on the radio...Of course, the cool thing for bands like us is that people can find OUR songs in the same place as a mega huge national act, whereas back in the day, you had to sign a deal with the Devil to get a record, or CD in a record store.

How do you think the music industry have changed because of this?  I don't like the direction of music at all. A dude with a computer can write music, but can't play an instrument. I don't like not having a PHYSICAL record, or CD in my hands. If say, my phone goes wonky, I can't get to my music. I dunno...I'm old fashioned, and I like the way things used to be. 

Do you have any role models or idols?  That's a grat question. Had you asked me that when I was a kid growing up, I'd have said, Eddie Van Halen, Ace Frehley, Paul McCartney, Sammy Hagar, and Nate Kepner. Looking back though, those guys were influences. Role models? My dad, my wife, the kids that I get to coach. I know that Joe has always fed off of the Van Halen guys, Alex, (he even named one of his sons Alex!!), Dave and Sammy. Russ just loves music, ALL of it. A big influence on him was Jimmy Page, as well as Nuno. I can't say who has influenced Dave. He is another hardcore music freak. He loves music of all kinds, and can sing literally any kind of it. He's a hard one for me to peg.

Is it easier to find inspiration from older bands, or bands that are more active today?  Hmmm...I'd say from the older stuff, if only because that's where I'm from. I do like a great deal of the newer stuff as well, but I'm an analog guy living in a digital world. I like people playing instruments, I dislike autotunde vocals.  But that's just me. I encourage anyone to make ANY, and AS MUCH music as they are able.

What have been your biggest obstacles?  An acute lack of ability.  Also time.  I just don't, and haven't had the time to devote to music that I'd like.  WE all have full time jobs, families, I coach in addition to playing in a few bands.  I just can't find the time in the day to get done all of the things that I'd like to do with music. Money is another issue. Recording studios...they aren't free. Unless I fall into a pit of money, any recordings are going to be problematic.

What advice would you give other bands or artists?

DO NOT STOP PLAYING! And music is not a contest. Help each other out. Play shows together, help younger bands get started. Music is a common love to all of us, there is no trophy at the end of a show. Go out, have fun, and don't stop, play because you love playing.

How do you get psyched for a gig?  It's funny. I've been playing in bands since I was 16 or 17, and I STILL get  butterflies before a show. A coupla Coronas, or Long Islands calms me down though and I am able to get through the first coupla songs.

How can people reach you?  via fb, Joseph DeStefano, or me peronally on facebook, Rusty Hodgkiss

What are your plans for the future?  To play as much as we can, as well as we can, until we can't anymore.

What do you think of my work?  I love this man! Such a great idea! I love reading these about bands that frankly, I didn't know anything about. I love supporting local music, and there is SO MUCH untapped talent here in our little area. Thank you so much for doing this.

How do you think that this interview will help you in the local music scene and beyond?  I don't know. If it helps great. If not, that's cool too. I was doing this more as a kind of fanzine type of thing. Kinda get to know us a little.

What is one thing even your biggest fans don't know about the band?  Probably that I wasn't originally going to be a part of the Stone Funk project.  I had some health issues, and had an epiphany...that I need to be playing as much as I can, because time is winding down on how long that I have to do this, and do it with these guys.

Do you have something to add?  Best wishes to everyone out there, dragging heavy stuff into, and out of gigs, spending hours working on their crafts. Keep the music playing!