Valvulado: Phat Phunktion - Groove & Smooth Funk 'n' Soul...

Phat Phunktion, a group of University of Wisconsin-Madison music students formed in 1996, have built a loyal following of listeners throughout the United States and around the world. A nine-piece tour de force that combines the polish of top 40 with the smooth feeling of 60’s soul and the raw groove of 70’s funk, Phat Phunktion is today one of the most talked about bands in the Midwest. Their self-produced CDs have sold in the thousands, and their live shows sell-out virtually everywhere they perform. In their hometown of Madison, WI, they have been known to attract crowds of upwards of 5,000 people. In 2003, Rolling Stone Magazine singled out Phat Phunktion as a “band on the rise.” During the same year, they won a Wisconsin Area Music Industry Award, or WAMI, for “Best R&B Band.” In May 2003, a panel of Billboard Magazine judges selected the band as one of six acts to perform at the Disc Makers’ Independent Music World Series, Midwest regional final, where they funked up the Elbo Room in Chicago. Of the six finalists, Phat Phunktion and Chicago’s Orbert Davis took top honors. The band has appeared numerous times at the Madison Blues Festival, Milwaukee’s Summerfest, and the House of Blues in Chicago, with television and radio appearances, including “The Jenny Jones Show” and Michael Feldman’s “Whad’ya Know?”

In 2004, Ben and Leo Sidran’s Nardis/Liquid 8 label picked up the band, and their 3rd, self-produced CD, You and Me, was released for international distribution. Since then, You and Me has received substantial interest at home and abroad. In America, nearly 10,000 CDs have been sold to a devoted fan base via word-of-mouth and Internet sales. In Japan, large sales spurred a re-release of the disc on the Japanese label, Groovetime Records. In Europe, the record was played on radio stations throughout Italy and Spain. In July/August 2004, JazzTimes reviewed You and Me, saying:

“Phat Phunktion has a horn-driven sound that draws inspiration from ‘70s funk, and on ‘You and Me’, the band’s first release on a national label, producers Tim Whalen and Al Falaschi demonstrate a talent for crafting strong, danceable tracks…. Musically, the album is first rate.”

In 2005, You and Me received the Madison Area Music Award, or MAMA, for “R&B Album of the Year.”