ALAN WITZ, DRUMMER and one of the founding members of Junonominated funk fusion collective God Made Me Funky, says he remembers his years as a student at York Mills Collegiate Institute as a time when he was given the opportunity and encouragement to hone his craft through hours of practise and performance.
And now, with his band on the cusp of releasing their highly anticipated fourth album, Welcome To Nu Funktonia, it’s clear those years of hard work are finally paying off.
“Hopefully this will be the biggest album yet,” says Witz, “The first single is a remake of the Triumph classic ‘Lay It on the Line’ with Jully Black singing. It’s definitely big for us.”
The band is a fan favourite on the local music scene, something Witz attributes to the band’s unique sound and high-energy shows.
“Our live act is all about being loud and fun, more in the spirit of Earth, Wind & Fire or Kool & the Gang than that of a modern R and B act where everyone is very cool and dapper and not really moving very much,” he says.
REPORT CARD
STUDENT Alan Witz
GRADUATED York Mills Collegiate, 1989
BEST SUBJECT Physics
WORST SUBJECT English
CURRENT JOB Drummer, God Made Me Funky
From the group’s humble beginnings as a five-piece instrumental funk and jazz cover band, they have seen their star rise over the past 11 years as they began adding vocalists and rappers and performing their own songs.
Now as a nine-piece ensemble, they’ve played with a who’s who on the Canadian music scene, including Divine Brown, Melissa O’Neil and Bedouin Soundclash.
Witz’s passion for music runs deep, and he credits his mother’s early influence with setting him on his current path. She enrolled him in his first drum lessons at seven years old, and he has continued to play ever since.
“My mother played guitar in an all-female rock band in South Africa in the ’60s called the Amazons,” he says with a chuckle. “She thought that music was really important.”
By high school, Witz found himself performing as part of the school band and orchestra in productions of Grease and Little Shop of Horrors and also taking on gigs playing at local university parties with his band After Hours.
He says he recalls one teacher at that time in particular, Mr. Slobodian, who pushed him to take his musical performance to the next level.
“He was just a very likeable guy,” Witz recalls. “He was very big into jazz and had a way of inspiring students without yelling at them. He was a big influence on my playing.”
Now, with more than a decade of success under Witz’s belt, those early lessons are paying off.
