What do you get when you put together cat figurines, experimental hip-hop, rapping clowns and trumpet-playing Christmas trees? Why, Madison band Fambly Fun! of course. Check out what frontrunner Corey Murphy had to say about this creative ensemble.
So when and how did you come up with the idea of starting Fambly Fun!?
I had been making more serious indie-rock under the name K. Wilhelm for some time and was always very frustrated that I couldn’t perform it live. I recorded all of the parts on my own and could never really play piano while singing anyways. I created Fambly Fun! because it gave me an opportunity to write songs in the same way but was a genre that made it acceptable to perform with a backing track. I was able to do a lot of crazy sh*t on stage that would have not worked well with K. Wilhelm songs. I would try and make up for the fact that very little of the music was being performed live by dancing around, yelling through a megaphone, banging a pot with a drum stick, wearing ridiculous costumes.
What’s the story behind the name?
I called it Fambly Fun! because the plan was to invite as many of my friends to perform with me as were interested. I tried to write songs that allowed for little rehearsal so that anyone was able to bring their own noise making device and play along. As it turns out, this works pretty well for our purposes because two of my regular band members, Sam Ludwig and Alex Hero, live in Milwaukee and usually come to Madison just a day or two before a show. The name is pretty sarcastic though, we really aren’t fun for the whole family. Just the adopted son who gets locked in the basement with a Super Nintendo and a box of Ritz Bitz. We even have a song where we yell at moms for making us clean our rooms. That sort of thing makes me think that moms wouldn’t be big fans.
How would you describe Fambly Fun!’s sound?
I like to say that we are a cross between Ween and the Beastie Boys. We are a bunch of white kids that try and rap but the content is usually pretty nonsensical. I wouldn’t even call it hip-hop really. It’s more electronic pop than anything.
Where do you get inspiration for your music?
Our inspiration? I’d say that 95 percent of our ideas come from Tim and Eric Awesome Show. Every one of us is a huge fan of those guys and has probably seen everything they’ve ever made. I personally started out hating it until my roommate watched each of the episodes repeatedly. For some strange reason that changed my mind. As far as musical influences go, I’ve always loved Soul Coughing. Mike Doughty will write some really whacky stuff, and the way it is presented is totally brilliant.
What’s next for the band? Any big shows in the near future?
April 17 at Mad Planet in Milwaukee with a band called Fun Club from Chicago. We are trying hard to finish up an album, too. Everything is recorded, and we want to mix and master it ourselves, but it’s hard to find time for it. Hopefully summer… In the meantime, John and I are releasing our own cassette tapes under the names CD Sandwich and Thanksgiving Boy – sort of solo projects rooted in Fambly Fun!
Where can fans learn more information about Fambly Fun!?
We have a website, http://famblyfun.com/, but more information can be found through our label http://mamrecords.com/. All our music is up for free download there.