Now Defunkt is more than just a band; it's a vibrant collection of individuals —family, friends, and a diverse group of unique personalities — who've found a way to create music together emerging out of lockdown due to the pandemic. Bringing together members from different generations, perspectives, and locations. Their collaboration is a testament to the power of diverse voices and experiences. The older members contribute their seasoned wisdom and the younger members inject a potent burst of energy, resulting in a dynamic and surprisingly effective musical synergy.
This is their third album, Jamcation, and it's more than just a title; it represents their creative philosophy. Jamcation captures the exhilarating feeling of collaborative creative flow, the joyful energy of jamming together, and a vacation-like atmosphere is cultivated, inviting a spirit of renewal and generative restorative actions to flourish.. It's a testament to their dedication and passion, building on the success of their previous albums, Skills are Handy | Feel is Gold and Shifting into a Lower Gear. This isn't simply about recording an album; it’s about creating a lasting musical legacy.
Jam + Vacation = Jamcation
Now Defunkt jams at Northwest Folklife
Now Defunkt sits down with CHRVNS on the podcast Shutup ad Listen
Now Defunkt Documentary Film
Documentary Film – JamCation: The Chronicles of Now Defunkt
Now Defunkt is a creative collective of family, friends, sons, and daughters who came together during the pandemic. Despite being scattered across different corners of the world; we produced two vinyl albums. Now we are faced with the exciting challenge of performing live at the Northwest Folklife Festival and we are ramping up our game and learning to play our music together in the same room for the first time.
This is the story of how it all unfolded: through deep hanging out and a process we call JamCation.
Now Defunkt Albums
Shifting Into a Lower Gear
Now Defunkt returns with another gloriously creative and funk-laden fusion of alternative rock styles that manages to confidently transcend the expected genre tropes that are usually associated with various contrasting elements it's lavishly comprised of "Shifting Into a Lower Gear" is another great example of Now Defunkt's clearly unique sense of musical identity that includes interesting vocal harmonies, quirky melodic interludes, and an abundance of creative flair that ensures listeners are kept firmly transfixed on the music from start to finish. – Andre Avanessian, Radio Airplay
Built on bold love, groovy grooves and a fierce sense of interdependence, Now Defunkt emerged out of lock-down as a creative collective producing primordial sound-box of the soul shifts with a twist of lemon.
Skills are Handy | Feel is Gold Story...
Right before the lockdown, Steve McMahon and James Hunter helped to bring Scott Macklin's song to life. They also received help from his son Case who recorded and mixed the track and from their respective daughters Anastasia, Amaris and Nikko who filmed the video at Joshua Tree.
Then came the quarantine. Thinking that he could now check the box “write and record a song” off of his bucket list, Steve decided to flip Scott for real and wanted to do more. The exchange played out like a scene from the Usual Suspects…
Is there a problem?
One job. That was the deal.
One job?
One job!
That's a good one, Scott.
Stop being such a tough guy McMahon!
It took one day with McMahon nagging him, and they went back to work.
Looks like this is turning out to be not a one job / song deal. So they started trading lyrics and sonic idea files from their own places of quarantine and began cooking up tunes. They bugged other friends to contribute tracks. Big thanks to César Castro, Sandino Gonzales Flores, Gabriel Ochoa, Eduardo Sierra, Joe Seamons, Mamelani Forté and Natasha Jaffe. Low and behold there are enough songs to put out an album.
Successful Kickstarter Campaign!
Big Thanks! for supporting our Now Defunkt album project. We are so humbled by your support, working with musical collaborators from around the world and being able to "play" with our daughters (Ana, Amaris and Nikko) and sons (Aeden and Case) as they contribute their songs to this collective effort.
Featuring Roller Dance Owl Skaters.
Tribute to Teachers
Creeping Cthulhu
Featuring Dancers from the Border Residency Project.
Song about that time in 1909 up the Bellingham line.
Gratefully Dedicated to Friends Here & Beyond.
Unsinkable Song
Filmed at Joshua Tree by Ana, Nikko & Amaris.
Featuring Dogs of Sayulita
Sweet Eldorado Cadillac
Everything is going to be all right.
Spinning Album Test Pressing for the First Time.
Behind the scenes look into album optimization process.
"Listeners with an ear for passionately crafted independent music that manages to capture both the weight of reality as well as a sense of levity will fall immediately in love with the sound that Now Defunkt has constructed - and the specific lyrical message and emotional underpinnings of their songs promise to leave a lasting impression on fans of Funky, Jam-adjacent styles and Soulful expressions of sonic artistry!" – John Wright