The Ninth Chapter

By John Bones on March 11, 2011 in Arts

The Ninth Chapter are a six-piece funk driven Aussie groove and roots outfit. Their unique blend of influences from funk to jazz and blues combined with an energetic and expressive live show has seen them establish themselves as one of the mainstays on the East Coast music scene. The band hit the road in March to unveil their brand new EP ‘Common Ground’, performing at the legendary Club 505 in Surry Hills on March 25. During the month we caught up with The Ninth Chapter’s guitarist Joe Wurf…

The Ninth Chapter in a sentence is… A fusion of genre, persona and musical influence with a mutual appreciation for funk and live performance.

First memory of music… An early Bee Gees vinyl played each night to help me sleep at around 4-5 years old.

First album you bought… No Lies by Noiseworks – it was the 80s after all!

Song that gives you goosebumps… Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits.

Fave driving album/s… Gomez – Bring it On, The Beautiful Girls – Learn Yourself, The Black Keys – Thickfreakness, Breakestra – Dusk Till Dawn, Foo Fighters – Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace, The Cruel Sea – The Most, and something new would get me there in good spirits!

A Ninth Chapter highlight… Performing with guest musicians is always a buzz and something we do regularly. Playing alongside MC Double D (Sneaky Sound System) was definitely a highlight. To hear another artist’s interpretation of your music is pretty satisfying, particularly someone of his calibre.

If you could pick a supergroup its members would be… James Brown on vocals, Stevie Ray Vaughan on guitars, George Porter Jr (Funky Meters) on bass, Steve Jordan (John Mayer Trio) on drums and John Gros (Papa Grows Funk) on keys, assuming a couple of them can be bought back from the dead!

Sydney bands giving you the good tingles at the moment… The Strides, Watussi, Dolly Rocker Movement and Belles Will Ring.

Fave Sydney venue… Club 505 in Surry Hills (of course).

Band or genre that gives you an ice-cream headache… Metal and Electronic.

If you bowed to corporate sponsorship it would be to advertise… A warning to the general public to stay away from the east coast beaches for a fortnight – ahhh!

Your dream bill for a night (The Ninth Chapter included of course)… Across the band it would include Breakestra, Skunkhour, The Bamboos, Donavon Frankenreiter, The Beautiful Girls, The Black Seeds, Funky Meters and Sublime.

An unknown The Ninth Chapter fact… The lamp sketch that appears on our EP cover is the lamp that the band has used since day one (2007). It was originally used in the dark little venues so that we could see what we were doing but it still gets a spot these days under festival lighting and at bigger venues.

What next for The Ninth Chapter… Our recent focus has been on getting our EP finalised to take on the road in March. The band played some good-sized festivals in 2010 so with the added momentum of the EP launch we will be looking at raising our profile across the festival circuit and in Sydney itself in 2011.

To find out more about The Ninth Chapter visit www.theninthchapter.com or go to our Facebook page.