Dumpstaphunk. The word conjures up images of steaming good times, as well as exotic — and maybe not so appetizing — smells. It’s a name you can’t forget once you’ve heard it, and a fitting title for a New Orleans band that moves funk into the 21st century with a combination of traditional grooves and modern sensibilities. “It is a provocative name,” says guitarist Ian Neville with a chuckle. “My cousin Ivan (Dumpstaphunk’s keyboard player and a talented multi-instrumentalist) and his brothers were sitting around thinking about the skankiest, dirtiest, nastiest things you can find to describe our sound. They got to talking about the stuff you find fermenting in the bottom of a dumpster — scraps of food, empty liquor bottles, cigarette stubs, somebody’s underwear, all the leftovers of a wild night — so that’s how it happened.”
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