Squamish Valley Music Festival Band of the Day: The Funk Hunters

by Amanda Siebert on August 4th, 2015 at 10:26 AM

1 of 2 2 of 2

It's almost here. And, no, we're not talking about Madonna, who's headed to town this October to play GM Place.

No, we’re referring to the Squamish Valley Music Festival, taking place August 6-9 at the Logger Sports Grounds and Hendrickson Fields. In anticipation of the big day, we’re rounding up local artists who’ll be playing this year’s event, and getting them to answer some important questions.

Like who they’ll be cueing up on the iPod for the Sea to Sky drive to the site, what they’ll be making sure to pack to make it through their set, the all-time dream festival lineup, and who they plan to stalk backstage. And that’s just the start of our probing. Read on, but not before you pick up your Squamish Valley Music Festival ticket. The last thing you want to miss is today’s featured local artist....

Featured artist

Together, Nick Middleton and Duncan Smith make up the Funk Hunters, a dynamic DJ duo based out of Vancouver. Middleton and Smith are known for their lively electronic shows, countless remix projects and mixtapes, and collaborations with industry heavyweights like DubFX and Chali 2na of Jurassic 5, who they toured with earlier this year. With their very own custom-made visuals, four turntables and a live five-piece band, the Funk Hunters' show at this year's Squamish Fest is definitely something you won't want to miss.

Sea-to-Sky playlist

Kraak & Smack "All I Want is You"
Big Data "Dangerous" (Oliver Remix)
Marian Hill "You Got It"
Romare "The Rainbow"
Big Wild "Aftergold"
Defunk "PNTY"
Fdel "Mellow Relax" feat. Raashan Ahmad
Moontricks "Soul Baby"
Frameworks "Old Friend" feat. JP Cooper
Mura Masa "Firefly"
Phony PPL "End of the Night" (Louis Futon Remix)

Outdoor essentials

A spray bottle loaded with cold water and a touch of mint oil, earplugs, Hitcase for iPhone, dust bandanna, and an oversized colourful hat.

I’d love to hang with...

Sharon Jones. She's the queen of modern funk and soul. We've seen her perform several times and she always puts on an amazing show. A dream collab would be her on vocals and then a co-produced beat along with Kaytranada and Oliver.

What's your fantasy festival lineup?

Always such a tough question. Let's give this dream team a theme: Michal Jackson, Michael Jordan, Mike Tyson, Lorne Michaels, Michael Franti, Killer Mike, and of course, George Michael.

What’s your official rider request?

A jar of homemade pickles, corn chips and guacamole, and some Häagen-Dazs ice cream! Although I don't know if we'd ever make it out of the green room to the stage if that stuff was actually on our rider.

Trivia time: what’s Squamish’s official slogan?

The Fun Capital of B.C.'s coastline!

The festival takes place at Logger Sports Grounds and Hendrickson Fields. Quick—what’s your favourite logger sport?

Axe throwing! But you should only be allowed to throw an axe if you have a massive beard, overalls, and a plaid shirt on... hopefully we'll be ready by the weekend!