You don’t just hear or see funk music, you feel it. That’s the first thing I noticed about Butter Funk Family (BFF) – nobody seems particularly interested in standing still, including the audience. Having first seen the collective perform earlier this year with Alana Hill, following the release of their classic funk EP FACTS, Printz invited me back for their London show as part of their summer tour. I already knew what to expect: high energy, movement and a room being pulled into the music rather than simply watching it. Electric, vibrant and deeply interactive, their performance feels less like a set being delivered to an audience and more like an invitation to join in. Their shows are intended to leave people feeling renewed, inspired and, perhaps most importantly, reminded that they are worthy of love – including from themselves.
At the centre of that experience is a group of musicians who have built something around a genre that can sometimes feel overlooked in an increasingly fragmented musical landscape. Butter Funk Family brings together a collection of musicians led by record producer, songwriter, singer and two-time GRAMMY Award winner Printz Board, known for his work with the Black Eyed Peas, Mark Ronson, John Legend and Katy Perry, to name a few. Beginning in LA, the group has since grown into a rotating collective of more than 30 musicians from around the world, with their FACTS EP continuing their mission to celebrate funk’s roots while introducing its sound and spirit to new audiences. What began as weekly gigs and an excuse to play music they loved gradually became something far more substantial: a band that genuinely feels like family, built on humour, trust and respect, while giving each member space to shine and retaining the intimacy that brought them together in the first place.
1883 Magazine caught up with founding members Printz Board, Jay Flat and Nadav Peled on the last leg of the band’s summer tour to discuss the brutal – and often humorous – reality of life on the road, meeting the legendary and central progenitor of funk music, James Brown, the power of love and music, and the importance of loving yourself.
Hey, how are you guys?
Nadav: Doing well, very good.
Where in the world are you? How is it?
Nadav: Sicily, very nice. Last show of the tour tonight.
Last show!.. Aww.
Nadav: We’ll go out with a bang.
Indeed, do you guys do anything differently for the last show of a tour compared to your other shows?
Nadav: I’m going to just say that I’m assuming and planning on that, and I’m assuming everybody else is planning to go harder than usual, and we go pretty hard. So we’re just going to really sweat and move around and do it and play hard and just try to have the most fun on stage that we’ve had so far, and we’ve had a lot.
How did you guys all meet? I’ve been curious about that.
Jay: So I moved to LA about ten years ago. It’ll be ten years next month. I’m originally from Chicago, Illinois, and I met Printz probably the second day that I was in LA. We were at a concert checking out a show. The person I was with was like, “Oh, that’s Printz, he does all these things: the Black Eyed Peas, he’s a producer and does these shows and has a funk project, and he plays the trumpet, but nobody really hears him play it.” I didn’t meet him again until probably a couple of years after, at a jazz jam session in Hollywood called The Parker Room, which was a really good hang for musicians to come down and play and hear some good jazz in the heart of Hollywood. I would see him almost every week – he would always be outside with a glass of wine, chilling, but never played, ever – though he would be there hanging out.
I think it took a couple of weeks, or maybe months, for us to really have a conversation. From there, he had started this funk project, and I wasn’t the first call. I think his friend wasn’t able to continue for personal reasons, and shortly after, I got a call. We connected pretty quickly and it felt right. I felt like he was my brother, and it’s been that way for around seven, eight years now.
Nadav: I also moved to LA about ten years ago. I was going to see a friend of mine, a guitar player named Molly Miller. She told me, “Hey, I’ve got this gig that I’m doing. After this gig, you should come with me and sit in.” I was new to town, so I went and sat in, and then Printz came up to me and was like, “Hey, you sound really good, my name is Printz.”
He wasn’t putting on airs at all – very nice, not like, “Oh, I’ve done everything imaginable under the sun.” He was like, “I’d love to connect,” and back then I had nothing but time. I’d just moved, so we started something similar to what Butter Funk Family is now. That iteration, at that time, probably didn’t work, but then, maybe a year later or so, we reconnected and started working on it again. There was a gig to consolidate it around, with slightly different personnel, and that became the band that we are today – Butter Funk Family. It’s been an amazing, amazing journey.
Butter Funk Family feels like a lot more than a band. At what point did you realise you were building a community rather than simply making music together?
Nadav: It’s a good question.
Printz: I think it was when we started. We had weekly gigs, and it was almost like an excuse to hang out and play these tunes that we love. But we’d show up there, play the tunes, and then leave. It was like, “I’ll see you next Wednesday,” almost. Then it got to the point where we started recording some soundchecks and thinking, “Oh man, that’s a good idea.” Okay, fast forward, we’re putting this down and our set is becoming original material. We went from doing all these covers – okay, ten percent originals, now we’ve got twenty-five percent originals – to, “Oh wow, this is becoming a real thing.” And I’m starting to love you guys more and more, and I think each of us felt that. It’s like, “Oh man, I love the personalities, I love how you play, and I love the music that we’re doing and the music that we’re creating.” So it had this gradual rise – when we started, it was just a gig. Now it feels like it could be a career.
That’s amazing. Watching you guys perform, there’s a real sense of trust and chemistry between everyone on stage. How has that relationship been built over time? And what do you think keeps Butter Funk Family together beyond music?
Nadav: I think we generally really like each other. We like hanging out with each other and talking about music, and talking about other things. Everybody in the band, outside of music, is also very interesting as a person – they all have a lot of interests. I think all of us migrated to LA, which is one thing we all connected on. We talk about how we grew up, the different experiences that led us there. I think it’s the right group of people for this. We enjoy spending time together, and that helps on tour, when you’re tired and everything – mostly we just crack up at situations. We have our inside jokes and all that.
Printz: I’d say on top of that, we have the humour and we have the intellect. Intellect is a big thing for me – everyone’s really evolved and intelligent and has a lot of experience. Like Alana Hill, she’s in the fashion world, so anything with colours and fashion, we’re talking about that with her. Everyone’s got the pockets they excel in. We learn from each other, we teach each other, we laugh with each other, and ultimately we grow with each other.
Jay: And the biggest thing for me to add to that – we all respect each other.
Printz: That part.
Jay: You get into these situations where you might not agree, but you still feel like you respect each other’s opinion. Maybe I can try to see your point of view, or maybe not. At times, with Printz or anybody, it’s like, “I don’t know if that’s a thing, but I trust you” – that’s my brother, and vice versa. It works or it doesn’t work – most times it works, but sometimes it doesn’t, and that’s okay. Nothing has to be perfect, but the intention behind it and the respect behind it is something I personally cherish a lot in this collective.
Printz: Yeah, we’ve got a song on the new record called “I Got Your Back,” and it’s like, you know, that’s the shit – I got you, I love you.
Earlier this year you guys released FACTS. Looking back a few months later, has performing those songs live changed the way you see the record, or connected you to it in a different way?
Printz: For sure. With “Six Shooters” specifically, it totally had a new life. We recorded this cool song, and we were like, okay, what else have we got? Then we started playing it live and it translated so heavily to people that, for me, it made the record itself an even better song. We added a guitar solo in the middle too, which gave it new life.
Nadav: Yeah, the track really became a pinnacle of the show.
Printz: This is a classic, foundational – as they say, the godfather of soul – and he literally told people, while we were hanging out, to stop playing. He told the bass player to stop, told the drummer, “Give me the sticks,” and started playing himself. He told the guitarist, “You can’t play funk sitting down.” Then he came over to me and told me I could call him James – everybody else had to call him Mr. Brown. He put his hand on my shoulder and said, “You know, you’ve got it.” I was like, “What in the hell – this is my dude, and I was his dude.” When you have that much history, and you’ve changed the fabric of music like that, and he gives you that knighting, puts his hand on your shoulder – there’s no way I’ll ever forget that. Having had experiences with Prince and Michael Jackson and all these people, that one is just more powerful. It felt real, kind of like how we are. It just felt like, okay, we’re connected.
Nadav: Real recognises real.
I first saw Butter Funk Family perform earlier this year with Alana Hill, and again in London for your summer tour. Although she isn’t officially part of the collective, she feels like such a natural extension of it. What makes a collaboration feel like the right fit for Butter Funk Family?
Nadav: It’s the same thing for everyone – it’s that connection. Let’s say somebody was a pop artist – just because they’re big doesn’t mean we’d necessarily work with them. If there’s a real connection, it works, and Alana is also super artistic. Sam Jackson was also a part of our Butter Funk universe.
Printz: With me producing her stuff and Nadav playing with her, there’s a natural crossover there. How many more times you’ll see her with us, I don’t know – her thing could blow up from here, or we’ll bring somebody else out. It’s about giving the world a different vibration. It’s a beautiful thing for the moment, but we will expand.
It also sounds like this tour was a bit wild – from losing your luggage, which is insane, to performing in clothing you ordinarily wouldn’t wear on stage (laughing).
Printz: Crossing the Russian border…
Nadav: Yeah, and the plane almost caught fire – we’d forgotten about that already (laughing). Oh right, that happened too.
Please elaborate on the plane catching fire. What happened?!
Jay: I’ll tell you what happened. So after several delays, we’re in Canada. We’re supposed to go from Canada to Copenhagen, and then Copenhagen to the Faroe Islands. The plane had already been delayed once or twice, after what was already a long day to begin with. We finally get on the plane, and me and Nadav are in the back, and we sit down.
Printz: And mind you, let me jump in real quick – we have a show in the Faroe Islands as soon as we land. So every part of this delay is like, “Oh shit, we’re going to miss the show.”
Jay: So we put our stuff up and sit down. I look over at Nadav, we look at each other at the same time and go, “You smell that?” As soon as that happened, the flight attendants were like, “Everybody get off the plane, don’t grab anything, go now!” People are like, “We can’t go anywhere,” and we’re in the back of the plane – and it’s a big plane. We start smelling smoke and seeing smoke, and then we finally get out to the jet bridge. There’s smoke in the jet bridge, fire trucks everywhere, and we’re like, “I don’t think we’re getting on this flight” (laughing). I’m thinking, “Is this it? Is this how I go out?” We were in the last row, or the second to last row, so we had a lot of people to get through to get off the plane. There were kids crying and people screaming – it was like a movie.
I mean, everybody thinks they’re going to die, and being in the last row would have been devastating, especially if the fire was coming from that direction, which basically means you’d have died first.
Nadav: I was looking at Jay, we looked at each other, and we started cracking up (all laughing).
Well, I’m very glad you guys are alive and well. Damn.
Printz: We missed the show, by the way.
Jay: Yeah, we missed the show, and then when we finally got to the Faroe Islands, they didn’t have our luggage. We didn’t have luggage for three days, so we had to go and buy very expensive clothes – normal clothes, good-looking clothes – but in the Faroe Islands, everything has to be imported.
Printz: A t-shirt was $150.
Jay: A pack of socks was about 75 bucks (laughing). A pack of underwear, 80 bucks.
What?!
Jay: This is a regular store.
Nadav: Each one of us spent around $700.
Jay: This was week one of the tour.
It makes for a great story if you guys ever write a memoir.
Jay: I’m actually documenting all this. I’m shooting a behind-the-scenes documentary. We’ve got a lot of footage. It’ll be edited in a couple of months.
Nadav: Jay is amazing with all that.
I would love to see it.
Printz: Oh, we actually started before that. I decided to toss my trumpet up in the air, like I always do. I flip it – I’ve been doing this since I was 10 years old.
Jay: Never, never seen you drop it, bro. Ever.
Printz: And I dropped it, right in the middle of the stage.
Nadav: Second song! (laughing)
Printz: Busted it. It’s been broken the entire tour.
I’m so sorry!
Printz: There’s a hole, air’s coming out…
Jay: All you can do is laugh, right?
So what did you do on stage? Did you pretend to play it still?
Printz: Oh, no, I just moved on like a professional. It dropped, and in my head I was like, “Well, that’s probably broken, it’s never going to work again. Alright, everybody put your hands up in the sky!” (laughing) I picked it up and was like, “I hope it plays,” and we got through it, for the most part.
Nadav: The Mercury retrograde tour.
You spent much of this year touring across Europe. Has there been a moment on this tour that reminded you exactly why you started Butter Funk Family?
Printz: I’d say several moments. Every time we get on stage, we’re in front of a group of people who don’t know us, which is most of the time over here. To see and feel their reactions based on our actions – that, for me, reminds me why we do it. They don’t know our records yet, all they know is whatever little bit of my history, and that it’s going to be funky. And then we just put it on them and they receive it – they eat it up like they’re starving for it. “Oh my God, I love this,” and that’s when we go, “Okay, hell yes.” We’re making a new record right now – just wait until they get the songs and we push it and promote it. It’s going to be crazy over here.
Funk has always been rooted in joy and community and bringing people together. Why do you think those values continue to resonate with audiences today?
Nadav: We’re not together enough yet – we still need to come back together. Nowadays, even if you ignore the state of the world, I think people crave human connection. We’re on our phones a lot, and that music almost makes it impossible not to vibe together and have a great time with it. I think that’s why people still respond to it.
Printz: There’s a letting go, I think, within the music, where there’s no judgement. You don’t have to dance a certain way, just move your body, just party and have a good time. We personally put that theme of love through everything we do, and people respond to that. People write to us afterwards and say, “I love me.” “I told them I love them.” “I got to say I love you to somebody random.”
Jay: One thing we always say at our shows is that 75% of the word funk is “fun.” It’s going to be okay, I promise you – have fun, and most times, people do (laughing).
What do you hope people leave a Butter Funk Family show feeling that they perhaps weren’t feeling before they walked in?
Printz: I hope people leave feeling renewed, rejuvenated, excited and inspired – all positive things. We’ve had people say they came in having had a bad day, and left feeling joyful. It’s like, great, let this be your church.
Nadav: I think the “I love me” part is very strong, and people remember it because we don’t say that to ourselves as often as we should. People reach out to us on social media and say, “You guys reminded me that I’m valued, and that I should be loved by myself, and respected by myself.” I was having a conversation with the other members about the tour, and one of them said, “We say that every night, but we also need to take it in for ourselves.” It’s a simple idea, but a profound one. If they feel that a little bit more, in any way – “I’m a person of value” – after a show, that’s amazing.
Looking ahead, where do you see Butter Funk Family evolving next? Is there something creatively you still feel you’ve yet to explore together?
Printz: For me, the next step is the next album, and maybe the two after that. I think that’s going to open up a whole new world of stuff creatively. This album is going to put us at the next level – playing theatres, maybe hitting some small arenas after this. I’m excited for the next album and what we end up finishing and putting out.
How do you balance giving everyone space to express themselves while still maintaining one clear identity as a collective?
Printz: Respect. I think that’s developed over time. I’m also internally a fan of giving everybody their flowers, almost before myself, a lot of the time. Over time, it’s become, “Oh, you want to play a solo on this? Alright, we’ll play a solo.” We’ll put our newest member on the microphone: “Bring your ass from the back, go up front and have your own section” (laughing). We’re totally open to anything.
Nadav: I think there’s a good level of respect, as Jay says, and trust. After a good number of years, we’ve created a sound together. Sometimes it doesn’t even need to be spoken – you can feel it. If Jay is itching to play, I’ll hang back, and I know Printz will too, and if Printz wants to play, everyone’s happy (laughing). It’s something that evolved from us getting to know each other very deeply, in a musical sense.
Printz: It’s like relationship communication – the basics. If we’re talking, let somebody have their time, have their peace.
Jay: Get it out, brother. Better out than in. As long as it’s respectful.
You guys seem very connected, which is very nice, and it’s very visible on stage.
Jay: It’s nice to feel – being in it, it really is nice to feel. I really do love these guys, and it’s not every day you can say that about people from so many different backgrounds and places in the world. It’s not something I take for granted, and I’m super grateful.
That’s all my questions, guys, but thank you so much for your time.
Jay: This was awesome!
Enjoy the last leg of the tour, get some rest, and be safe.
Printz: I mean, we got through Russia. We’re good (laughing).
Nadav: Yeah, exactly – we got through Russia and the burning plane. We can do anything.
Jay: Thank you, Nancy.
Nadav: Thank you very much.
Printz: See you soon, bye.
FACTS is out now, follow via @butterfunkfamily
Interview Nancy Anekwe
