How do you describe the music of Funk Initiative?

We are six musicians with very different musical backgrounds such as pop, jazz, funk and rock and our original compositions kind of reflect that.

We try to fit ourselves into the indie funk genre, though as anyone who listens to our upcoming album, Cartographers, will find out, the work touches upon several other styles and genres. We like to keep things fresh.

How did the band get together?

Funk Initiative has existed in some way and under other various other titles, since a group of seven or so students at St Aloysius got together, led by Gianluca Bezzina, to contest (unsuccessfully) the annual Battle of the Bands.

Since then, the band underwent numerous line-up alterations, until we settled into something close to our current format – Gianluca Bezzina on vocals, myself on keyboards, Shaun Abdilla on bass, Daniel Buttigieg on drums and Fabian Bonello on sax – something like five years ago. We adopted the name Funk Initiative following a friend’s suggestion. The guitarist did change several times until we finally found our guy Luke Grech, the latest member to join a couple of years back.

You had been chosen to open at last year’s MTV festival - how has the band grown since then?

Playing at Isle of MTV was a great experience and being chosen was a massive boom for our confidence as an act. It was a big push towards doing something we had discussed for ages, committing ourselves to writing, recording and releasing an album.

The process has also changed us as musicians, as individuals and as friends. Putting together the music, recording it and turning it over and over until you churn out something you’re all happy with as a band is a huge exercise in self-criticism and honesty.

What is the concept behind the album?

Cartographers were those people whose job it was to travel the earth, exploring the furthest corners of our planet, in order to draw up maps of the world we live in.

But the word has a dual meaning. On the one hand, it refers to our attempt as musicians to walk the ‘road less travelled’ and avoid paths that have been metaphorically set out for us by other musical influences, the media and the expectations of the audience.

On the other hand, it also signifies our own role as cartographers on this album, drawing out a musical path for listeners to follow.

There’s also a third meaning... creating this album and preparing for the launch has honestly felt like a journey into unknown territory for us as a band and ties in nicely with the idea of exploring new lands.

Our attempt to walk the road less travelled and avoid paths that have been set out for us by other musical influences

What was the most challenging part of getting the album ready?

Sticking to budget and sticking to deadlines. We set ourselves ambitious deadlines for all the work on Cartographers. In the process of our preparation we have discovered that very often this is the only way you can get things done well. Bookings for venues, printing, production, etc need to be made early and that commits all other parts of the project to the same deadline. With some luck, loads of determination and a huge list of helpful and professional people in many different streams we appear to have managed that.

Then again, raising the finances for an album is a universal problem for all bands in Malta and, I daresay, overseas. Being part-time musicians with full-time jobs elsewhere has meant that we’ve managed to make ends meet between one thing and another. However, my dream of generating a self-sufficient project is very far from realisation. We do work on one premise though, one we strongly recommend to all other bands: if you wish others to invest in your music, you should be prepared to invest in yourself (to a certain extent at least).

What was the creative process for Cartographers like?

I generally write the songs for the band. By that I mean that I create a structure and chord sequence of sorts on the piano, accompanied by lyrics, for each track.

I then take that to the band and each member writes music for their own instrument. In the process, the emphasis in the track might shift, for example from a song that is mostly centred around piano, to one that is guitar-based. This fluiditiy is what makes song-writing exciting for us, and what we hope will be interesting in the end-product for the audience.

Do you guys enjoy studio time most or live performances?

We all love spending time in the studio. As I mentioned earlier, recording is really a period of self-discovery in a way. That said, a great gig, is a great gig and we all love one of those. Especifically one where the crowd really seems to get your act and is up for a night out.

Besides your Isle of MTV performance, what do you consider to have been a band highlight so far?

Again, the time spent in the studio is precious to us and all the work we did on this album is something we’ll treasure for years to come I’m sure.

Working on our latest music video for the single I pray my soul is saved, but I guess it’s damned, which is available on YouTube, was also huge fun.

Other than, we’ve all got those odd special gigs we might have had in the past.... a collaboration with indie band Vinnie Vintage at Hacienda years back; an outdoor wedding which persisted late into the night despite the rain; and an appearance at the Bay Music Awards, where in order to compensate for the imposed mimed playback performance of our single ‘Paris’ we were asked to give, we added a 6m high luminescent Eiffel Tower and Moulin Rouge windmill on stage with us to make things a bit more exciting.

How do you view the music scene in Malta? Is there anything you’d change, if you could?

Investment in venues. We’d love to see well-equipped venues give music, art and performance importance, rather than simply two hours of entertainment. We’d love to see audiences seek out and accept different forms of Maltese music.

There’s loads of great local music out there, if you’re ready to get up, go to a gig, buy an album and listen to their music. The barrier between these great acts and expecting audiences is mostly the absences of appropriate venues.

Cartographers will be launched with a live performance on Friday at Aria Complex, San Ġwann. The New Victorians will also be performing.

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