That Eric Alper

Today, Dam-Funk returns with the announcement of his first solo album in nearly 6 years, Invite the Light, out September 4th via Stones Throw. He also shares the first cut from the album, lead single “We Continue.”

Invite the Light isn’t just Dam’s first solo full-length since ’09, he thinks of it as his first fully-realized effort – a “concise, beginning-to-end vision” – that’s resulted in a loosely autobiographical concept album inspired by the trials and tribulations of his personal and professional life of the last six years.

As always, Dam flexes his multi-instrumentalist talents by handling all the production, but still makes time for guests including rapper Q-Tip, pop surrealist Ariel Pink, 7 Days of Funk collaborator Snoop Dogg, the father-son duo of Leon Sylvers III & IV, and funk giant Junie Morrison of the Ohio Players, who opens and closes the album with dire warnings of what could happen in a world without funk. Rest assured, Dam is here to make sure that never comes to pass. As he puts it, “funk is the underdog, the black sheep of black music,” and if that’s true, Dam-Funk is its shepherd.

Ever since debuting with Stones Throw in 2008, he has become one of the genres most passionate proselytizers, out to save it from devilish depictions of cartoonish caricature. To Dam, funk is a way of living, “a feeling of struggle and staying cool through it all.” Dam’s partnership with the label has now included everything from his 2009 LP Toeachizown, to an anthology of early productions, Adolescent Funk (2010), to 2013’s collaboration with funk pioneer Steve Arrington on Higher, and celebrated partnership with hip-hop’s Snoop Dogg titled 7 Days of Funk.

Growing up in the Los Angeles city/suburb of Pasadena, Dam-Funk is a ‘70s baby who came of age in the era of the Uncle Jamm’s Army parties, of electro-pharaoh Egyptian Lover, of Prince’s purple reign. His parents nurtured his musical talents as a child and by his teens, he mastered the drums, then the drum machine. A chance encounter led to an apprenticeship under funk songwriter/producer Leon Sylvers III (SOLAR Records) and by the mid-90s G-Funk era in hip-hop, Dam found his musical skills in high demand by rappers such as Mack 10 and MC Eiht. “Everybody was trying to do the live instrumentation thing, so then you got cats like me playing on records,” Dam explains.

Sideman status wasn’t enough though. Dam remembers “watching gold plaques hitting the wall” for everyone but him and he decided to go “full-funk” and make a do-or-die try to become an artist on his own terms. In 2006, Dam-Funk and a few friends launched the popular Funkmosphere party in L.A., bringing the boogie back. It’s around then that Dam drew the attention of Stones Throw and both label and artist related to Dam’s insistence that “funk is not just a Jheri Curl. There was more than that.”

Pre-order Invite the Light on iTunes and receive a free download for “We Continue” or pre-order vinyl via the Stones Throw website.

Dam-Funk Live Band Tour Dates

Fri 9/04 || San Diego, CA || The Casbah
Sat 9/05 || Los Angeles, CA || Teragram Ballroom
Sun 9/06 || San Francisco, CA || The Independent
Tues 9/08 || Portland, OR || Doug Fir Lounge
Thurs 9/10 || Vancouver, BC || Venue
Sat 9/12 || Jackson, WY || Pink Garter Theatre
Sun 9/13 || Salt Lake City, UT || Urban Lounge
Tues 9/15 || Denver, CO || Cervantes
Wed 9/16 || Albuquerque, NM || Sister
Fri 9/18 || Las Vegas, NV || Bunkhouse Saloon
Dam-Funk – Invite the Light
(Stones Throw – September 4^th, 2015)

Tracklisting:

1. Junie’s Transmission [Feat. Junie Morrison]
2. We Continue
3. Somewhere, Someday
4. I’m Just Tryna’ Survive (In The Big City) [Feat. Q-Tip]
5. Surveilliance Escape
6. Floating On Air
7. HowUGonFu*kAroundAndChooseABusta’?
8. The Hunt & Murder of Lucifer
9. It Didn’t Have To End This Way
10. Missung U
11. Acting [Feat. Ariel Pink]
12. O.B.E.
13. Glyde 2nyte [Feat. Leon Sylvers III & IV
14. Just Ease Your Mind From All Negativity [Feat. Snoop Dogg]
15. Virtuous Progression [Feat. JimiJames, Kid Sister, Nite Jewel, Novena Carmel & Jody Watly]
16. Scatin’ (Toward The Lgiht)
17. Junie’s Re-Transmission [Feat. Junie Morrison]
18. I’m Just Tryna’ Survive (In The Big City) Party Version [Feat. Q-TIp]
19. ‘Kaint Let ‘Em Change Me
20. The Acceptance