// Who now?
“BUNK are a Dublin-based instrumental funk soul quartet – Dan Whelan (guitar), Luke Dunford (piano/organ), Brian Murphy (bass), and Aidan O’Donovan (drums). We’re great craic and sound fellas.”
// Listen how?
Website
Soundcloud
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
YouTube
// I can a hear Average White Band in Bunk’s music. Where do you guys mainly draw your influences from?
“Cheers, we’ll definitely take the AWB compliment! :) Would be amazing to work with horns some time, but we’ll keep it simple for now. In terms of building from a solid rhythm section we’d look to bands like Vulfpeck, Stuff and The New Mastersounds; groove is king with all these bands and the collective sound is always prioritised overall individual musicianship. There’s also a heavy blues / New Orleans influence in our music, James Booker, Dr. John, The Meters…”
// Who are your favourite Irish artists at the moment?
“Zaska are really amazing at what they do. Main man Max deserves a lot of credit for what he’s put together; running an 8-piece band with that level of intricacy in the music. They’re incredible live, check them out! At the completely other end of the spectrum Twin Headed Wolf make some beautiful music; delicate, haunting, nothing like us… Plus anything involving Caoimhín O Raghallaigh, the man can do no wrong.”
// We love what we’ve heard from Bunk so far, but we’re thirsty for more. When might we expect a new release?
“This is top of our to-do list at the moment and we’re working out the logistics. Whether it will be a full album or an EP, or something in between (an epalbum?) we’re not quite sure yet. But hopefully we’ll have something physical by the start of summer. If there’s any philanthropists out there looking to help finance a debut recording please get in touch! :)”
// The last text message you sent is your next album title. What is it?
“The lads have just finished sound checking. Luke is looking very happy altogether!”
// Send us a photo and explain…
“This is Luke. See, we told ya he was happy! This was taken in Camelot Studios where we did some recording a while back. There was a Hammond, and Rhodes and a honky upright all in the same room! He was rather emotional by the end of it all.”
// Hows the rest of the year looking for the band?
“We’ve a few nice things lined up; festival slots at 12 Points, MusicTown, Bray Jazz, Knockanstockan and Vantastival so far, hopefully a few more will be added. We’ll continue to play venues around Dublin, but we’d love to do some shows further afield too. Maybe when we’ve made a recording we’ll hit the road and do a little tour.”
// You have a (most excellent) song called ‘Don’t Burn That Toast’. Can you clarify how brown/black the bread must be to be classified as burnt? Is it ever acceptable to scrape the burnt bits off, butter up and act like it never happened?
“There’s a fine line between warm bread and cancer-causing cremated carbon! It’s all about finding that sweet spot, a bit like music. Scraping is allowed, ya gotta do what ya gotta do. The importance of using real butter can not be overstated, none of that dairy spread shite.
// You can only hear one song for the rest of your life – what is it?
“The Well Tuned Piano – La Monte Young”
// The one song that you always bust out at a house party?
“Anything by Chic is a safe bet, unless people are made of stone”