Funk it up with PBS Wisconsin! Read a Q&A with Nate Marshall

March 17, 2025 Mike Devine Leave a Comment

It’s time to get funky! Put on your dancing shoes and join us for Funk it up with PBS Wisconsin!, 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 27, at The Cardinal Bar (418 E. Wilson St., Madison).

Get an exclusive first look at the new Independent Lens film, WE WANT THE FUNK!, and after the film screening, join us for a funk-inspired dance party led by Madison’s very own, DJ Phil Money.

Admission is free, and no advance registration is required.

Ahead of the event, PBS Wisconsin spoke with Nate Marshall to find out how funk brings together poetry, performance and music. He is an award-winning writer, editor, educator, MC and assistant professor in the creative writing program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison department of English.

Marshall is hosting PBS Wisconsin’s new social media video series exploring the themes in WE WANT THE FUNK! and highlighting some of the groovy people and places in Madison.

Born and raised on the south side of Chicago, Marshall has served as a co-editor of an anthology of poems, “The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop,” and released a rap album, “Grown,” with his group, Daily Lyrical Product.

PBS Wisconsin: Tell us a bit about yourself! How has funk music impacted your life?

Nate Marshall: I grew up wanting to rap and make music and so much of the rhythmic DNA of hip-hop really comes out of funk, that specific strain and tradition of Black music and of rhythm and blues. That was when I first really started listening [to funk music] with a “deeper ear,” aside from just saying, “Oh, my parents played this Ohio Players or Parliament song. That’s kind of cool, I like that.”

My engagement deepened when I became an MC and started to understand, “Oh my God, so much of the music that I love and that is resonating with me as a young person is sampling or referencing [funk] music.” There really is this undeniable deep, built-in relationship.

PBS Wisconsin: What inspired you to become a funk enthusiast?

Marshall: When I was around 10, I remember at my mom’s 40th birthday, she had a friend who was a DJ at a party for her. He also made her a couple of mixed CDs of her favorite songs. I remember burning copies for myself, and she always had them in rotation in the car with songs like “Funky Worm” by Ohio Players, a couple of Gap Band songs, Parliament and Rick James.

PBS Wisconsin: In your opinion, what is the most important element of funk music?

Marshall: That’s difficult to choose. But for me, I’d say it really lives in the drums. Not every single funk song has to be super danceable or super upbeat — most are, but not all — but there is a certain kind of energy and insistence in the level of rhythm. Whether it be drums, bassline or even the way a horn or synthesizer is used to really elaborate or really insist upon the rhythm, that’s the source code, as it were.

PBS Wisconsin: Aside from artists you’ve already mentioned, who are some other artists who have influenced you?

Marshall: I would definitely say James Brown, perhaps that’s an obvious one. One I’ll say that’s not [obvious] is Betty Davis. And then while not strictly speaking of funk artists, I’d also add Frankie Knuckles. He was the godfather of house music. He was a super important old school house DJ who started in New York City, but then really made his name and reputation in Chicago.

PBS Wisconsin: How has funk evolved in the Midwest?

Marshall: The thing about the Midwest is that it is a crossroads for the nation with people going north and south, east to west. We get flown over or driven through or sort of written through in this way. The thing about that kind of crossroads is that things get mixed up in good ways. It’s a natural thing to me in some ways, that there is such a rich Black musical tradition in this part of the country.

PBS Wisconsin: As we get ready to ‘funk it up’ on March 27, what makes a wardrobe funky?

Marshall: That kind of “flyness,” presentation style, is important. A writer from the Harlem Renaissance, Zora [Neale] Hurston wrote a famous essay about Black expressive style where she discusses fashion and a “will to adorn.” And it could take many forms. For me, it’s trying to not be afraid of color, trying to invite more color in.

PBS Wisconsin: In WE WANT THE FUNK!, the film explores the important role dance played in funk’s development. What has been your relationship to dance?

Marshall: When I was a kid, it was very important to my mother that I knew how to dance, that I wasn’t stiff or unwilling. I very much remember this moment of her saying, “You have to learn how to dance.” So I do love to dance now!