Features, Print January 9, 2017

The Floozies– Brothers on a Funk Mission

by Jed Murphy

Mark and Matt Hill of The Floozies are two brothers on a funk mission. Since their first show as The Floozies in 2008, The Hill brothers have taken that mission around the world, sharing their brand of EDM everywhere from house parties to sold out festivals alongside so many industry greats. Recently, we spoke with The Floozies about the things that make their world go around.

Where are some of your favorite places to play?

Oh man so many great places. Firstly, everywhere is unique for its own reasons. For instance we just played two nights and Madison Wisconsin, and it was incredible. The people in that town have been with us for a long time and they always come out with a lot of energy when we play. I love playing Red Rocks because it’s beautiful and the sound is really unique. New Orleans is great we always end up playing til 4 a.m. and that seems like the beginning of the evening ha! Each place is alive with its own thing and we are lucky to go to all of these places and share the space with them.

You guys have such a live feel to your music with an obvious appreciation for live guitar and drums. What got you into EDM as opposed to becoming a full rock or funk band?

We are brothers. We share a musical vision and always have really. We just played music together. Started with the live looping guitar and drums. We added more instruments and elements. Eventually it was really helpful and natural to add a computer to the mix. It added so many possibilities producing and designing sounds and also freeing us up live to do so much more. I feel as though it all just happened naturally and the music never lacked anything for us to add members.

With such a catalog of music to add under your belt now, how do you stay challenged when touring and writing new music?

Creatively expressing ourselves is really fun. We are always trying to write more music and change transitions and do edits of old songs. We love playing music, so that keeps us challenged. Got keep it fresh and keep having fun. We also strive to make every single show unique so that keeps us writing! I look forward to playing my drums every day and trying new things.

We the recent tragic art space fire in Oakland, the response in Denver has been to crack down on DIY venues. Have you seen any changes at your shows since the fire? Have you ever played a show where you felt unsafe?

So incredibly sad.

No I have not noticed any changes. And not really to be honest.

A lot of great bands have also come out of Lawrence, Kansas. What makes it such a good place for music?

It’s kind of an oasis in Kansas. Everyone interested in art or music flocks there from all over Kansas. And honestly it just has a long history of good folks running places there. It just takes a few of the right people that care for culture or even one person, to make a city great. There’s a surprisingly huge amount of great venues there for music and just a lot of great people.

What is one piece of equipment you couldn’t live without?

My drum sticks!

What is one piece of advice you have for young musicians?

Your ears are your greatest tool!

What was your favorite record of 2016?

Cobrayama and Gibbz– Swim

Bonus question: If you could have a jam session with one person from any point in history, who would it be?

Prince

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