Funkola

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Veteran Perth Hip hop crew Funkola step to the national plate with their debut self titled album soon to drop through Shogun and deliver a fresh slab of infectious west coast hip hop produced by Downsyde’s Optamus.

Formed in late 2003 by three close mates bashing out live hip hop in the lounge room, they soon realised that the energy and chemistry brewing had to be released to the masses. They began gigging in March 2004 and within in months were gigging regularly and notching up over sixty shows in their debut year. They were soon sharing the stage and touring with international and national artists such as People under the stairs, the Hilltop Hoods, Resin Dogs, Downsyde, Hyjack and Torcha.

Beginning life as a live hip hop band with bass and drum’s they forged their now legendary live reputation with high energy funk fuelled performances and an old school hip hop formula of “getting the party started”

Emcee MJ and Ski have a kinetic relationship on stage and in verse, bouncing off each other and quite often the two become one. The two bring a dry wry view of their world which is reflected in their rhymes which bear the influence of the great Australian tradition of “telling a yarn”

They began to collaborate with Perth’s finest hip hop artists and this relationship has seen them now represent one of Australia’s finest hip hop collectives Syllabolix . MJ tours with Syllabolix star Drapht as his back up man, Bretskii playing guitar with Beat sampling king Fdel’s live show. The melting pot of styles and in house collaborations helped define Funkola’s unique flavour. With the departure from the band of their bass player, Funkola decided to change their format to a more traditional hip hop line up and recruited SBX stalwart DJ Carlsani on the wheels of steel. They began working with Downsyde’s Optamus on re interrupting their songs with beats and samples.Bretskii moving from drums to guitar in the band and layers the tracks with blues fuelled funk.

Optamus a pioneer of the Perth Hip hop scene as well as founding Downsyde member brought years of experience and hip hop style. This combined with Funkola’s “live” music sensibility have given them an appeal that has given them respect from the hardest of underground critics to non hip hop fans.

The debut album for the band is also the first for Optamus’s newly formed Opt Shop records.