In Business is a multimedia project that combines audio and visuals. Photo courtesy of Matthew WhitcombSurabhi Rao - Features Editorfeatures@insideuab.com
In Business, a New Orleans funk group, is coming to Birmingham and is intent on giving listeners a unique, multimedia experience.
Members of the band wear business attire on stage and perform songs written in a storyline format. According to the band's vocalist, Matthew Whitcomb, the band is attempting to emulate an experience similar to a Gorillaz performance. In Business’s shows are as much about the performance as they are about the music, allowing the band members to effectively become different people on stage.
“I can just hide behind my character on stage,” said Whitcomb, who has experienced “terror” before performances in the past. “There are heavily introverted people in the band. A lot of musicians I know aren’t very outgoing people. They tend to enjoy time alone. Going out and playing a gig is my night out. The stage is actually people’s safe zone. I can hide from the whole social situation and just be this person that I manifest as when I perform.”
Whitcomb said that the primary goal of the project is to make people wonder “What is their business, really?” Experiencing one of their performances may bring up thoughts of James Bond but it can also make you think of an underground car trafficking organization. As an example, they take their inspiration for their title song, “Cop Show,” from popular cop shows that aired during the 70’s and 80’s, such as "Starsky and Hutch" and "Magnum, P.I.", bringing to mind dramatic car chases that are more about the pursuit than the crime.
“We are not trying to be controversial, though, as far as the whole police thing goes,” Whitcomb said. “The world is becoming more and more aware of itself but we’re actually just trying to have fun with something. Like, although some of our songs hint at the fact that we are very well aware of how the world works, we’re just really trying to have fun with a multimedia project.”
Started in 2012, In Business has become well known in the New Orleans community. According to Whitcomb, the band has no intention of becoming a pop sensation.
“New Orleans is the kind of place that if you ask someone on the street about their favorite band, they will mention someone that plays down the street every Thursday,” Whitcomb said. “Most of the music here goes unnoticed.”
Instead, the band members are focused on music serving solely as a “celebration.”
“I’d hope to think that people that come to our show will be able to understand at least that the world still has some good fun things,” Whitcomb said, in relation to recent world news. “When terrible things happen it is easy to get overwhelmed and lost in that, I know, I see myself getting lost in how tragic the world is. But, I’d like to think that when people come out it’s not like we have forgotten about that but we can all get together and have some funky music and relax. If anyone checks their phone, the tragedy is going to be there, but maybe we can just get together and enjoy each others’ company before we have to go back to trying to understand the tragedy.”
In Business will be performing at The Nick bar on Southside on July 7 at 9 p.m.
For more information about the band, check out: https://www.facebook.com/weplayfunk/ and http://www.weplayfunk.com/
