great question.
I started out liking driving guitar rock because of where I lived and my priorities as a young man. I never liked metal though, because I couldn't understand what they were saying, and they just seemed pissed off.
I began liking hip hop and Reggae because of the forceful bottom end and how it made me want to dance.
I began to like the winding hippie rock guitars and tambourine type sounds and percission as I discovered those influences on not only my musical taste but my thought process.
I found myself wishing I could combine the rhythm section of hip hop/reggae/percussion music for the danceability with the winding spanish or rock guitar for the mind teasing with the meaningful lyrics and I decided the closest thing was soul music. So I started a soul band. The horns in soul make a difinitive point when it is needed. bop bop!
And as we selected songs, it turns out the ones that matched what I thought I liked best were funk songs. As soon as I started playing funk (I am drummer), it semed like everything I played would start transforming into funk.
Ottis Redding hard to handle?- funk
Tracy Chapman gimme one reason?-funk
Dusty Springfield son of a preacher man?- funk
So it turns out I love funk, even though I don't listen to funk that much. The funk era was kind of a mindless drug era. Thats ok, but funk allows the combinations of thick rhythm section, trippy guitars, spiritual feeling organs, zippy/zesty horns, and meaningful lyrics. Thats why I like it. When I hear my favorite songs from other genres, they transform into funk in my mind, even though I don't listen to funk much.
The songs I write are almost all funk, more or less, no mater what the topic.
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