The Funk Hunters are a Canadian electronic music act and DJ duo based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Composed of members Nick Middleton and Duncan Smith, The Funk Hunters are recognized on the international dance scene for their future funk sound, which is a mix of old school soul, disco, funk and classic hip hop, deeply cross-pollinated with contemporary electronic dance music.
Since their inception, The Funk Hunters have toured the world, performing live in over 16 countries and on internationally recognized festivals stages such as Coachella, Bonnaroo, Shambhala, Electric Forest, Outside Lands, Envision, and Life Is Beautiful.[1]
Nick Middleton is a music producer and record label owner and Duncan Smith is a multimedia artist. Together as The Funk Hunters Middleton and Smith tour the world performing a live audio visual show operated simultaneously from four turntables and two mixers.
Since the pandemic hit in March 2020, the Funk Hunters (Duncan Smith) have hosted a highly popular live stream channel on Twitch, with Detour Drive on Tuesday nights.
Middleton and Smith met in 2008 while working at the Gulf Islands Film and Television School (GIFTS), a media school located on Galiano Island in the coastal community of British Columbia. The two bonded over their mutual appreciation for both funk and electronic dance music (EDM). Inspired by this musical connection they soon invested in a pair of turntables and began DJing as a duo at local island house parties.[2]
Middleton also credits the duo's Gulf Island lifestyle as a big factor in the development of their sound, citing that the rural environment allowed for a freer and broader musical scope while playing for diverse audiences that spanned a few generations.[2]
Another influence in The Funk Hunters' development was the annual Shambhala Music Festival in the West Kootenays region of southern British Columbia. Middleton first attended the festival in its formative years and soon began bringing Smith along with him. Shambhala was Smith and Middleton's first grand exposure to live presentations of electronic bass music, and after only a few short years they themselves have since become Shambhala audience favorites.[2]
Since 2009 The Funk Hunters have become highly popular on the west coast bass music circuit, performing regularly at Shambhala Music Festival, Bass Coast, The Atmosphere Gathering, Tall Tree Festival and the Squamish Valley Music Festival. As their reputation grew, The Funk Hunters began touring nationally and then internationally, performing in the United States, across Europe, Brazil, Central America, and throughout Australia and New Zealand.[3]
As the duo began to work professionally, production tasks were divided up with Middleton handling music production responsibilities, and Smith handling the complex visual programming that accompanies their live performances.
When performing live as a DJ duo, Middleton and Smith work with two mixers and four turntables (Technics 1200s), two DJ mixers (Pioneer 900 and Rane 62), a Roland HD Video mixer, and Serato Video software to simultaneously control the visual projection that accompany The Funk Hunters music.[4]
With production facilities in Vancouver, BC, The Funk Hunters work on a variety of projects when off the road.[5] They create unique bootleg remixes of well-known songs by artists like The Who, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Fleetwood Mac. Middleton continues to oversee all music production and mixing duties and is still publicly credited as the producer, mixer, and sometimes mastering engineer for The Funk Hunters music. Middleton also produces original Funk Hunters remixes, reworking tracks for artists including Dub FX (Don't Give Up), Imagine Dragons(Shots) and Selena Gomez (Good For You). Middleton works with a digital & analog hyrbid mix setup, using "in the box" plugins as well as analog hardware for mix summing and mastering. He works in Ableton Live and mixes with UAD software emulations - he is sponsored by HHB Canada and Universal Audio
In 2013 while The Funk Hunters were collaborating on a song with German production duo CMC & Silenta the producers unanimously agreed that if they had their choice they would want Charles Stewart, Los Angeles hip hop MC Chali 2naofJurassic 5, to provide the vocal for the new composition.
Prior to contacting Chali 2na's management the producers searched out a Chali 2na a cappella and added his existing vocal from the 2009 song Lock Shit Down to their completed instrumental so that 2na could conceptualize what his voice would sound like with their music.
Chali 2na and his management were very enthusiastic about the idea of collaborating with The Funk Hunters. Unfortunately, at that time the MC was busy preparing for a forthcoming Jurassic 5 reunion. As an alternative to recording a new vocal for the song Chali 2na granted the producers permission to release the track as is, with 2na's original added a cappella vocal.[6]
Officially sanctioned by the MC, Do This For You by The Funk Hunters and CMC & Silenta featuring Chali 2na was released September 22, 2014 on Westwood Recordings. The song was named "Tune Of The Month" by Mixmag in their September 2014 issue and charted multiple times in the Beatport Top 10 Glitch Hop charts.[6]
Since releasing Do This For You The Funk Hunters and Chali 2na have performed live together throughout the world, the iconic rapper himself referring to Middleton and Smith as "the selectahs of the century."[7]
In late 2014 members of Delhi 2 Dublin approached Nick Middleton about producing what would become their 2015 release We're All Desi. The Funk Hunters had known the members of Delhi 2 Dublin for several years and had remixed the title track of the band's 2012 release Turn Up The Stereo for the 2014 full remix version of the album Turn Up The Stereo: Remixed.
We're All Desi was Middleton's first full-length production. Middleton also mixed the recording. The Funk Hunters are credited as collaborators on a number of tracks on the recording. Delhi 2 Dublin's We're All Desi was released by Middleton's Westwood Recordings on September 18, 2015.[8]
In 2020, The Funk Hunters received Road Gold certification from The Canadian Independent Music Association in recognition of exceeding 25,000 ticket sales domestically in a single year.[9]
Road Gold is a certification program celebrates and acknowledges Canada's hard-working touring artists and bands.
This certification was in honor of The Funk Hunters 2019 “Typecast Tour” making them the first electronic group to be officially recognized.[9]
The domestic “Typecast Tour” included sold-out shows at Vancouver's iconic Commodore Ballroom, as well as, headlining Canadian festivals ranging from The Calgary Stampede to Shambhala Music Festival.[10]
“CIMA is pleased to award The Funk Hunters with Road Gold certification for their 2019 tour," says Sam Rayner, CIMA Industry Development and Membership Coordinator. "With the live music sector so devastated by COVID-19, it's more important than ever to celebrate and acknowledge the hard work and successes of touring artists and crews, the companies who fuel them forward, the venues that host them, and the fans that fill the seats. The Funk Hunters are the first electronic band to receive this certification, and are an excellent reminder of what we have to look forward to when we can gather for live music and performances again: incredible Canadian music.“[11]
In 2013 Nick Middleton decided to start his own record label. To promote the work of other artists, and to streamline The Funk Hunters business, Middleton created Westwood Recordings as the team's main center of operations.
Middleton told Label Engine in January 2016 that "I wanted to start the label early while I was still growing as an artist, as I felt like each business would grow side by side (Westwood and The Funk Hunters), and they could kind of help pull each other along, while at the same time helping to boost all the other music I would be releasing from friends on the label too."[12]
Westwood Recordings have released music by several international artists. In an interview in July 2015 with Vancity, Buzz Middleton said "now (Westwood is) home to friends all over the globe. There are artists from Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada."[5]
In 2018, The Westwood 100th Release Compilation was released featuring 43 different artists living in almost every corner of the globe.[13]
According to a 2018 interview with StereoFox, Middleton shares that music from Westwood artists have been “featured on Global Spotify Playlists, the top of Apple Charts, in a worldwide Sony Trailer for the new Spiderman movie, and consistently being picked up for shows on streaming services like Netflix, Hulu, and traditional TV. “[13]
Westwood's roster of signed artists includes Canadian producers Defunk, Stickybuds, and the Funk Hunters, German duo CMC & Silenta, New Zealand's K+Lab, US-based HipHop legend Chali 2na from Jurassic 5 fame, cross over folk/electronic act Moontricks, and remix artists including Dr Fresch, Opiuo, and Champagne Drip.[14]
Other roster artists include: A Skillz, Akylla, Case Of The Mondays, Cazztek, CITYWLKR, Crimson Child, Eskei83, Ill-esha, K Theory, Kotek, KR3TURE, Krafty Kuts, Lazy Syrup Orchestra, LIINKS, LUN, Maddy O’Neal, Maha Quest, Nicky Genesis, PAV4N, RUMPUS, Shylow, Smalltown DJs, So Sus, Stylust, Zodiac.[14]
In 2021 Nick Middleton co-founded Midnight Agency with business partner and longtime Canadian agent, Grant Paley. Midnight Agency represents over 40 music clients in territories including Canada, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. Notable agency clients include Too Many Zooz, Matthew Good, DJ Shub, The JBs, the Librarian, and more.[15]
Opening amidst the COVID-19 pandemic when live concerts came to a halt, Middleton and Paley looked ahead and focused on online streaming and other technological ventures for their artists. Middleton explains, “The numbers are just staggering online, and the engagement is incredible. Jessu streamed to one million unique people in the last year alone. When you think about the traditional touring world, and how long it would take to get in front of that many fans, you’d have to be playing Coachella every weekend.”[16]
However, they are not solely focused on online growth. With Paley's 20+ years of agent experience combined with Middleton's long-standing DJ career, Midnight closely caters to each artist fostering his/her individual creative vision while also keeping them on top of the fast changing music industry.[16]
In 2019 GRiZ invited The Funk Hunters to appear as Direct Support on his entire North American Tour called “Ride Waves Tour.”[18] The Funk Hunters appeared on 17 dates with GRiZ, most notably opening for him at Chicago's Navy Pier (12,000 cap), The Hollywood Palladium, and the Greek Theatre, among others. The tour stopped in Costa Rica, California, Florida, British Columbia, North Carolina, New York, Alabama, Kentucky, Ohio, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and more.[19]
The Funk Hunters have appeared multiple times at the legendary Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado supporting artists like Big Gigantic, GRiZ, Lettuce, and Savoy as well as performed at The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington (at Insomniac's Beyond Wonderland Festival)
The Funk Hunters have performed in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, USA, United Kingdom, Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bosnia, Romania, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.
The Funk Hunters have performed in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, USA, United Kingdom, Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands, Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bosnia, Romania, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.
