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Interview Podcast Audio Galactic
From the Corner to the Block

Never content to coast on their status as one of the world's preeminent funk bands, the five members of New Orleans-based Galactic have perpetually tweaked their sound.

The result has always been grounded in Meters-style funk, with a willingness to add vocalists or additional instrumentation to keep things fresh.

On From the Corner to the Block, its first album in four years, the quintet has made a move that is both a natural hit and a brand-new twist.

Galactic brought in a variety of top-shelf MCs, from Chali 2na and Lyrics Born to Gift of Gab and New Orleans native Juvenile, to record raps and vocals over funk tracks. Each MC was asked to construct his vocals around the theme of the corner, in all its facets and derivatives.

The result is the band's best album in years. It proves that hip-hop that is grounded in soul and funk doesn't need to be sample-based, and that live instrumentation can propel an MC to even greater heights.

Galactic saxophonist and producer Ben Ellman spoke with MP3.com about hip-hop, making the new record, and his hometown in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

MP3.com: Hey, Ben. How you doing? Galactic's Ben Ellman: I'm doing all right, man. You know, somebody really blew it today because I wasn't really expecting your call. Oh, for real? Yeah. I have no problem with it, but somebody just kind of blew it. And actually when you called I was at the dentist's office and then I went right to rehearsal. So it was kind of crazy. But I really apologize for that, man. Hey, no worries. I'm sorry that you had to go to the dentist. Oh, man, it sucked. It really sucked. It's just one of those things. A buddy of mine from work just went and he hadn't been in a long time. And I told him that it really doesn't matter if you go all the time or you don't go at all, it's always not a good time. It's never any better. Yeah, yeah. You know, it had been about three years for me, which was long overdue. And they busted out that sort of sonic plaque thing. Oh, yeah. That's not a good time. No, man. And now I've got to go back for cavities as well. I'm not psyched. Yeah. It was no fun, man. Well, I'm sorry to hear that. And no worries, man. I don't really know where the disconnect was on their end. But I mean, no worries on my end. Okay, cool. So I wanted to ask, going back like 15 years or so, when you first arrived in New Orleans, when you were playing in brass bands and jazz funerals and stuff like that, would you have been surprised then to hear that you'd eventually coproduce and play on a hip hop album essentially with a bunch of guest MCs? Yeah, of course, definitely. Yeah? When I had first moved down to New Orleans, I had just sort of started playing music, so I never really thought that I would be able to make sort of a career out of it. I just thought I got really lucky, in the right place at the right time, and it just sort of took its own course. I just followed it. How steeped in hip-hop were you back then? I know that you were a radio DJ in Santa Cruz for a while. Yeah. You've read some article or something, haven't you, man? Yeah, maybe a little bit. So obviously you had a knowledge base about music. But how steeped in hip-hop were you at the time? Not very. Not very. Okay. And even now I wouldn't consider anybody in our band super knowledgeable. Of course, it's like we all have bands that we sort of like, were part of growing up that you know, that definitely were hip hop. Hip-hop bands were part of just our junior high school and into high school and what have you. But I wouldn't say really anybody in the band is a big hip-hop head. Right. All of us are really just into good music, and I think we like quality stuff. It's hard to sort of listen to any popular music in America and not somehow be affected by hip-hop. Of course. Has this project kind of been in the group's collective headspace for a while? Not particularly as a CD, as like sort of a recording project. Okay. But for like, really, the last five to eight years, I mean, we've done a lot of like touring and sort of worked here and there with different people. We did this big tour one time where we had the Triple Threat DJs. Yeah, I remember that. Yeah. Yeah, and then we've worked with Z-Trip, and you know, have had lots of MCs around us. We've crossed that bridge before, with us being the band and working with vocalists that were, you know, definitely more on the MC side. A lot of sample-based hip-hop comes from funk music, so it's a natural fit. Sure. Of course, yeah. So it all just made sense. We're all, like, big Meters fans, James Brown fans. Two of the most sampled bands there are. Exactly. So it was kind of a no-brainer. Yeah. Sure, sure.

So I was wondering if you wouldn't mind describing the period right after vocalist Theryl "Houseman" DeClouet left the group in late 2004 and you guys went for a straight instrumental sound for a while. Was that as much of a transition period as any band could find themselves in? Well, yes and no. I think musically, honestly, it wasn't that far off. I think we've always really primarily been an instrumental band and Houseman. Houseman was always our permanent special guest who really changed it up and, like, just changed the evening up musically in ways. He was a part of our band, but I think we started primarily as an instrumental band. As a band, it wasn't that hard, other than filling the evening up with more instrumentals that we were really used to.

As a band, though, it was very difficult. I'm going to speak for myself right now because Houseman is such an amazing guy and an amazing character, and just, like, not being around, you know, they say being in a band is like a marriage, and we lost somebody. We didn't lose him, but he wasn't around us every day. And you know, even now we still sit around constantly telling Houseman stories, you know, and getting him on the phone all the time. You know what I mean, so it's like he is such an amazing character. That to me was the hardest part, was just not being able to hang around that guy all day. Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. You guys had just finished the Ruckus album, and that was probably, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but the tightest, most kind of song-structured album that you had done. Yeah, and that was really Houseman. That was a focus on Houseman's songs, you know, and his take on it. Yeah, absolutely. Most definitely. The first time you guys toured after he wasn't touring with you, did you feel unleashed a little bit, to a certain extent, or was it a bit unsettling at the beginning? Because, like you said, you were an instrumental band first and then he kind of became a permanent guest member. And then so what was that like? Did it take a few shows to kind of work the kinks out? I think so, definitely. Definitely. Like I said, it was filling up a lot of space that we were used to, like, having sort of broken up, you know. Mm-hmm. And in a way, this tour with the MCs sort of goes back to the days with Houseman because we're going to still do a lot of instrumental music but we'll be bringing up different MCs at various parts of the show. They'll each come out a couple times. So it's going to be totally broken up. It's not going to be, like, here's your chunk of Boots Riley, and then you won't see him for the rest of the night. He'll be coming and going. Right. Got you. And that's always been, like, our thing with Houseman, too, was he would come up a couple times during the set. So it was more just sort of a way to break up the music and the night. Musically it would really focus some people and other people it would be the time that they would go get a drink. Sure. So it's like it kind of has something to offer for everybody. Now, in the making of this record, I would imagine that, given all the logistics of it, with MCs all over the country and tossing tracks back and forth and that kind of thing, it took a while to kind of pull the logistics of it together. Is that true? Definitely. If we had everybody in the same room, man, we could have got this album done in a few weeks. Everyone is balancing their own schedules and all that. Yeah. And it's like not only we were not in the same city as a lot of the MCs, but our drummer [Stanton Moore] wasn't around for any of it either. Right, he was off doing a solo project? Yeah. He does a million things. You know, he does clinics. All over the place. And right in the middle of that process, Katrina occurred, leaving you guys in a, it's kind of an understatement, but in a state of disarray. Yes. What were the weeks and months after it all went down like for you guys? I mean, what was the impulse? Was it to, "Let's get back out on the road?" Oh, instantly. That was the first thing. As a matter of fact, when we found out that we couldn't get home, I in particular was like, "Let's go on the road now. I mean, let's just start booking--call the booking agent." If I can't go home, what are we going to do? Are we going to go sit on our parents' couch? Where are you going to go?

We didn't really do that, but we had a show already booked pretty soon after that--we went and played in Aspen. And after the first show that we played post-Katrina ,we realized that was not what we needed to do because it was really hard and really fresh and it was kind of hard to fake a party and to get up there and pretend like nothing was going on. And it took a while to get over that. But, like, definitely in the weeks and months following, it was more of a concern about trying to find your peoples. I can imagine it's really hard to work it out publicly when you haven't yet had a chance to work it out privately and sort things out in your head and kind of continue to digest what happened and all that. Here you are onstage, and people are expecting you to kind of help them heal or whatever. A lot of times I feel like really what we do is provide escapism. Yeah, exactly. We were just in no position to provide that. Yeah, right. But we kind of ended up in the studio and that proved to be pretty good because we were together as a band, and things were just settling and we were able just to work and we were able to focus without having to really perform, you know, in front of people and, like, you know, provide something for somebody else. Instead, we were just trying to be creative. And that actually was a really good thing to do. Probably pretty cathartic, a kind of "do what you do best" kind of a thing. Yeah, I mean it gave us a really strong, positive focus of, like, working on music but not having to perform. Perform in front of people. Yeah. You guys have spent a lot of time on the road since then. Has life at home settled down pretty much? Yeah. I don't want to say returned to normal but as much as it can. Yeah. It definitely has. I mean, everyone's got issues. It's really not an easy city to live in right now and we're all trying. We're all trying. And everyone has you know, good weeks and bad weeks. But it's definitely better. I mean, there are more restaurants now than there were before the storm but, yet, there is more crime now then there was before the storm. Exactly. You know, Stanton describes it really well, I think. Stanton says, 'It's a really f***ed up version of living in a f***ed up place." Yeah. So that really kind of nails it right now. I hope this isn't too forward, but did you ever think about leaving? I mean, this is your home. But did it ever cross your mind? Yeah. As a matter of fact I have an apartment in New York City right now. Personally, I evacuated to New York and ended up getting an apartment, because it just landed in my lap, actually. So I've been sort of trying to keep it but I'm never there. We're never there, and when we're home we have a studio and we work here, and we're just, we're all extremely rooted here. Right. I don't want to say impossible to leave, but even if we were to work it out, we would be drawn back not even by duty or responsibility but [because] it [is] really still is like no place else. It really is. I have to say that post-storm, I have eyes in the back of my head a little more, but I still haven't found a place like it. Even New York City, which I love so much, still doesn't offer what New Orleans has. It offers different things but you still can't get what you get down here. Absolutely. It's just that kind of unmistakable character and that kind of thing. It's a f***ed up version of living in a f***ed up place. Hahaha--right. Now, you guys have staked your rep over the years as being such an incredible live band. But I'm curious what the process of recording an album every couple years, of going into a studio and recording and that creative process that occurs, does that kind of serve as sort of the next chapter, or the chance to redefine yourselves in a certain sense? Yeah, I hope so. I hope so. It's just, like, we just play so many shows on the road and we've been touring for so long and we've been doing the live thing, and it's just a nice change of pace for us to be able to work on music in a studio environment and we're fortunate enough now to have the luxury of our own studio. And so the whole process of recording has changed so much over the years now that you don't need to pay for a big studio and go in for two or three weeks. I mean, you could do it in your living room because of the electronics and stuff. Exactly. It gives us the luxury of not just recording the stuff that we've road-tested for a year. We're able to go in and really look at something as a project and as a separate entity and a separate thing from what we do on the road.

And with this record and with Ruckus, we had to kind of learn them before we went on the road. This year, Bonnaroo was the first time we had played all those songs [on From the Corner to the Block]. We had learned like 25 songs that we had never played ever at Bonnaroo, and that was the first time we had ever done that as a band. Interesting. I mean 25 in one night. Incredible. I'm not saying it's incredible, but for most bands that's a big thing to bite off. You might learn a few even each night. But, like, you know, for us it was just--you know, it just makes it more interesting. Absolutely. You're eating chocolate ice cream all the time but every once in a while you want vanilla. I just looked at your schedule. You guys are pretty much on the road from now until New Year's. Yeah. That's not any big deal for you guys. You've spent large chucks of years on the road for the past decade or more it seems. Yeah. It's going to be an exciting one, though, because we have these MCs coming with us. So this feels different to all of us, and there's a lot of new songs in there and we get to collaborate with all these really cool MCs. So there's a renewed spark, of course. Not that it was really dying down, but it's just different and it's exciting. I would imagine that the MC mix is going to change through the course of the tour, which I think in and of itself provides, not that you ever want for freshness, but that will provide a whole different dose of freshness each time the configuration of MCs changes. Yeah, the dynamic will change a lot onstage and on our bus. So that's great. So is this the kind of thing we can expect to hear more of from you guys? I hope so. I don't think we would ever really be able to remain a band for as long as we have, which quite honestly kind of shocks me, because it's just a long time for a band to be together. Of course. We all get along as people and as friends, and we try to make it interesting so we don't get sick of playing the music. Absolutely, yeah. Those two things have worked for us, so hopefully we'll continue to like each other personally and keep the music exciting for us, and hopefully that translates over to the people, of course. That's the goal. Yeah, man. Well, I really appreciate you taking the time to talk to me. Yeah, man. Thank you.