The postcard reached the keyboardist and he was soon reunited with his former Artichokes bandmates (and current Funkadelicatessen members) 064 Freeman and Richard Freeman. They soon resumed their ancient musical connection and Brian "Brain Dog" Douglas became a new member of Funkadelicatessen.
Brain Dog joins guitarist 064 Freeman, bassist Eric "Steiny" Steinberg and drummer Richard "Rich Freak" Freeman in creating psychedelic funk music that delivers.
Brain Dog's earlies influences include the singing cowboys Gene Autry and Roy Rogers and other music he heard in cartoons, TV shows and movies. He was also exposed to European classical and opera music and Eastern European folk music by his family.
He studied classical piano as a child and his studies continued as he earned a BA degree in music at San Francisco State University. He also played Farfisa organ in garage bands in his teens and jammed with his guitarist brother and friends.
After college Brain Dog joined 064 Freeman's band the Artichokes, which also included Funakdelicatessen drummer Richard Freeman in its first year. He remained with the band for five years and is featured on several of the recordings heard on the band's recently re-released I Live by the Freeway album.
Brain Dog subsequently played in several other bands including World VI, Gotta Wanna and the Ripchords (Not to be confused with the early-1960s American vocal group the Rip Chords.)
Brain Dog continues to be inspired by jazz, funk, and rock hybrids and sixties pop music. He enjoys recreating the keyboard sounds of days passed as played on Farfisa and Hammond organs, Clavinet, Rhodes electric piano and creating music that makes you move.
Funkadelicatessen plays Balling the Jack, an original by 064, during an August 2018 rehearsal in the Oranj Productions studio. Also available on YouTube
Funkadelicatessen in the Oranj Productions studio playing the Turning Point Variations during a rehearsal in July 2018. The original version of Turning Point was written by Chicago-based producer and songwriter Leo Graham and first performed by Tyrone Davis. Features 064 Freeman on guitar and electronic vocals, Eric "Steiny" Steinberg on bass and Richard Freeman on drums. Also available on YouTube
Funkadelicatessen in the Oranj Productions studio playing Franco, an original song by 064, recorded during a rehearsal in in June 2018. Features 064 Freeman on guitar and electronic vocals, Eric "Steiny" Steinberg on bass and Richard Freeman on drums. Also available on YouTube
NEW! Recorded live at Oranj Productions, November 2017. Featuring 064-guitar, bassist Eric "Steiny" Steinberg and Richard Freeman on drums.
Recorded live at Oranj Productions, October 2014. Featuring 064-guitar, Darren Potter-drums, Birk Kelly-bass, Bill Sparks-sax, Zachariah Veley-keyboards, Violet & Fred-telephone voices.
The band was a bit more 'delic than funky at the late night warehouse party in Berkeley where this set was recorded in May 2016.
064 recalls "There was a fantastic light show, the previous performers had the crowd pumped-up, and the response to our set was enthusiastic and open, which inspired us to explore the outer limits of our collective improvisation."
The band starts with an interpretation of Toots and the Maytals 54-46 Is My Number, throwing in some of Donovan's Mellow Yellow and visiting Jimi Hendrix/Band of Gypsys' Who Knows before returning back to 54-46. The next number is a slower variation of the band's theme song The Funkadelicatessen. The band follows with a scorching blues and then completes the set with a couple of improvisations, the final one suggestive of the Who's Sparks.
Features 064 on guitar, Darren Potter on drums and Eric "Steiny" Steinberg on bass.
064 played with the Seething Brunswicks, (the real) Process, a band that performed a heady mélange of rock, post-industrial funk, fake ethnic, experimental and improvised music. He also played guitar with the space jam band Neurohumors. He played guitar and composed for the post-punk band the Artichokes and created music and wrote for the political comedy group the Plutonium Players. He has recorded extensively, created several multi-media performance spectacles and performed in a variety of Bay Area rock clubs.
Bassist Eric "Steiny" Steinberg rose up through the "Rubber" music underground scene in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, with notable stints playing with Wounded Salad and Billy Spacetime and the Spansules before being recuited by Funkadelicatessen.
Richard Freeman has toured with Broadway's
Flying Karamazov Brothers, and performed with many Bay Area jazz stalwarts including
Jamie Davis (vocalist, Basie Big Band), pianist and author Kevin Fellezs, pianist Stephen McQuarry (Resonance Jazz Ensemble), saxophonist Andres Soto, pianist Mark Little, pianist Michael Smolens, bassist Dan Seamans, bassist and author Barry Green, and the vocal ensemble Con Alma. Richard also performed with The Henchmen of Paradise, a spinoff of
Craig "Bonzo" Bonner's
Bankrupt Sugar Daddies, and played with 064 as the first drummer in the early 1980s band
the Artichokes.
Former/occasional band member Darren Potter has been playing drums for more than 30 years. His studies range from classical percussion to African drumming. However, his favorite instrument has always been the drum set. Get your ear-ginas ready 'cuz he hasn't played live for a while and has some serious funk to release.
The Seething Brunswicks (music)
Who is 064?
Improvised Music featuring the members of Funkadelicatessen and others.
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