Radius Funk is a progressive funk, jazz, ambient and rock band in the San Francisco Bay area dedicated to blending serious grooves and tight feel with mystery, intensity and improvisational flair. Versatility is their hallmark, from dinner jazz to spacey ambient to heavy funk rock. They provide motion for the body and inspiration for the mind. Their mission is to be interesting, intense, intellectual and heavy at times, and fun, light, spacey, ethereal and ambient at times. The core of their set list is Funk, but not in the classic 70’s funk sense. Radius Funk will also perform songs that will never be duplicated again, improvising arrangements and melodic and harmonic structure, similar to free jazz, but more palatable. The band will permit recording and sharing of their concerts as long as proper attribution is done. They perform both as an instrumental band, and with a vocalist.
Radius is the distance from the center of a circle to it’s perimeter. Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African-American musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of soul music, jazz, and R&B . Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground. The band applies that meaning in measuring the distance from Funk as the center, to whatever style they are currently performing.
Similar Bands: Primas, Praxis, Chad Smith’s Bombastic Meatbats, John Scofield Band, Robben Ford, Scott Henderson’s TribalTech.
Progressive Funk, Progressive Fusion, Jazz Fusion, Funk, Rock, Jazz, Ambient, Dub, Free Jazz, Alternative, Anti-alternative, Classic Rock
Although they are centered on Funk, they want to explore a radius of music around that and give it some space. They venture into jazz, rock, pure improvisation, ambient soundscapes, melodic and harmonic textures, dub, and moments of free jazz. They try to keep it together except for moments of chaos when they don’t (on purpose). They have incorporated light and airy jazz standards into their repetoire to allow for dinner club engagements. Sometimes their goal is sound like different bands, different genres on different songs stylistically. They tailor the song list, dynamics and playing style to the event upon request of the sponsor or venue owner. They perform original songs that explore a variety of styles. They appeal to thought leaders and visionaries who are their sponsors with specific meaning and environments in mind. The band does performs live at corporate events, holiday parties, showcase events, private parties, clubs, bars, and outdoor festivals.
With grace fire and passion, Tommy Metropoulos lays down his very own brand of rhythm. Citing his influences as Jeff Porcaro, Greg Bissonette and Simon Phillips it’s easy to understand why his style of drumming captures the soul and groove of any jam. All the while, Tommy maintains a sense of humor and a positive perspective about life, the industry and music. Grown up in the Bay Area, Tommy developed an early sense of style while having played with a plethora of bands from the young age of 11. Being influenced by some of the great drummers of the 70’s, John Bonham and Mitch Mitchell, this created the foundation of Tommy’s technique and skill. Having worked with bands like Toto, Bruce Hornsby and Richard Marx in the studio and live, Tom finds himself pursuing other passions which include teaching the drums to all ages out of his private studios in the Peninsula/Bay Area. Tom’s focus is on innovative grooves that support the song and he has relentless passion for songwriting and artistic originality in drumming.
Rigs has been playing bass as primary instrument since 2005. Rigs played mostly Guitar prior to that. Rigs has worked with bands in both Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. He plays primarily 4 and 5 string basses, but occasionally plays fretless, and 6 string bass, and baritone guitar. Rigs performed with Big Daddy Sunshine, San Francisco Bay area cover band 2005-2013. Also he performed with Plush - tribute to Stone Temple Pilots in 2013. Rigs’ influences on Bass include this greats, Flea, Glenn Hughes, Stanley Clarke, Allen Woody, Jorgen Carlsson, Roger Glover, John Paul Jones, John Entwhistle, Les Claypool, Jaco Pastorius, Robert Deleo, Ben Shepherd.
Having spent the last 10 years as a studio musician, Brett has been involved with numerous projects ranging from jazz, fusion, rock and R&B. His influences are widely diverse, crossing over several different genres of music and include such players as Wes Montgomery, Joe Pass, Eddie Van Halen, Steve Vai, Eric Clapton.
His guitar playing can be heard on several releases alongside players such as Myron Dove, (Bassist - Santana), Tom Politzer, (Sax - Tower of Power), Hershall “Happiness” Kennedy, (Keys - Graham Central Station) as well as other notable artists.
