- Artist
- Date: May 9, 2025
- Stage: Lagoon
From the DJ booth, a group of selectors huddle around the decks, bobbing their heads, some jostling for their turn to spin before last call. They’re members of the Funk Freaks, a staple collective in the OC funk scene known for playing rare grooves stockpiled over the years like weapons of post-disco destruction. Sporting fitted hats, Pendletons, chains and plenty of tattoos, they’re Funk Freaks is more than a hipster attempt at nostalgia. For the DJs, it’s a lifestyle built on endless crate digging, online scouring and dealing with record collectors around the world for the next song that’s destined to slap you silly on the dance floor. In the past few years, their brand has gone international, with chapters sprouting up and pledging allegiance to the mothership by spinning and sharing shit that YouTube doesn’t have, that Shazam can’t identify, that Pandora will never stream. Traveling and connecting with like-minded DJs, the crew’s name is showing up in the usual musical hotspots—San Francisco, LA, Austin, Chicago and New York City—but also cities in Russia, France, Amsterdam, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland. It’s these people who come to Original Mike’s from abroad, drawn to the boogie and modern soul selections, as well as live performances from the old-school pioneers of the genre.
“CA”
