Interview | Earphunk Keyboardist Talks Co-Headlining Tour With Zoogma
By Team JamBase Feb 12, 2015 • 7:40 am PST

Written By: Chad Berndtson
What the Phunk is Zoogma?
It’s the name of a new tour featuring up-and-comers Zoogma and Earphunk in a co-headlining, and presumably, collaboration-heavy setup. But it’s also confirmation that some jam scene traditions never die –in this case, the situation of two bands at roughly the same spot in their ascent to national prominence, who are friends, and who decide to join forces to give lift in the markets where one is perhaps stronger and more established than the other.

Both Earphunk and Zoogma had breakout 2014s, and fans who catch them during this tour will get full doses of the former’s proggy electro-funk and the latter’s rocked-up jamtronica. We caught up with Earphunk keyboardist Christian Galle as the tour kicks off to hear about how it’s all going to go.
JAMBASE: So how did this come together?
CHRISTIAN GALLE: We’ve played together multiple times in the past and it feels like we’ve always been buddies We’ve talked about doing this type of thing for a while, so management got together, found the time and booked the gigs.
JAMBASE: The two bands go back a ways?
CG: We go back a bit, yeah. I can’t remember the first time we played together but it’s been a couple of years at least, and a bunch of shows together. Every now and then we’ll run into each other on the road anyway and maybe spend our off days hanging out together. And of course at festivals we see each other.

JAMBASE: What’s the format for the shows going to be?
CG: I think the plan is going to be we’re going to trade off who closes. It’s a co-bill, there’s no real headliner. But I think we’re going to go back and forth based on a few markets where maybe we’re a little stronger, and vice versa for them.
JAMBASE: And is it safe to say you’ll collaborate?
CG: Oh yes. That’s definitely in the works.
JAMBASE: Talk about the past year for Earphunk. You guys played in more markets and really seemed to get out further and in front of your biggest crowds to date.
CG: It was a really good year for us –our best one yet. We got the album Sweet Nasty out there as a bit torrent bundle and half a million downloads later we were really happy about that.
JAMBASE: It’s at 595,000 something as I glance at your site. Did that exceed expectations?
CG: Oh, absolutely. Above and beyond.

JAMBASE: So where will you focus your touring this year? With a lot of new markets to conquer and more recognition, do you do more places you haven’t been, or spend more time shoring up your bases?
CG: It’s a mix of both. We have some history in a lot of places now, and we’re looking to grow that. With Zoogma we’ll get to be in some markets that we haven’t really played at all yet, so we’re hoping they’ll be able to help give us a boost. And then we’ll be on the festival circuit so there’s some fun stuff ahead.
JAMBASE: Do you plan to record more following Sweet Nasty?
CG: Nothing solid yet, but we’ll definitely do that at some point. We’ve started to get a little bit of new material in the mix.
JAMBASE: You mentioned festivals. How does the festival climate look from where you guys stand? Is there still enough out there to support bands in your position?
CG: We love festivals. There’s a great atmosphere and a great environment and yes, I do think it’s still very conducive to getting your music out there and accepted. You see some return on your hard work when you have an audience that may not have heard you before and is getting into it. People are there to have a good time and I think a lot of people still do go to festivals to hear new music. I can think of a lot of instances where we’ve played a festival in a certain market and we’ve been able to make gains in that market right after. It’s very important for us.
JAMBASE: Putting a bow on your standout 2014, any particularly great nights come to mind?
CG: New Year’s in Austin was a great, great show –I’m definitely looking forward to our Austin date [Feb. 21] with Zoogma. It’s always been a good spot for us, and between it being New Year’s and a sold out crowd it was just great. We’re [having] a lot of nights like that.
