Bootsy on what it means to be funky, his 2025 album, and what he learned from James Brown.

Themes of Album Of The Year #1 Funkateer

I see more now than I believe I've ever seen before, and I see us getting together and making it all happen. Music is the great communicator, and I use the music to let people see that we can all get along and coexist on this planet, but we have to take care of it. We should treat each other the same way we want to be treated, and this music speaks to that.

With that in mind, bringing in different artists - young artists and old artists - all different kinds of artists that make it up, I just want people to know that you can do that, it's all right. And anything that I would like to see, I would have to do it first. So I'm out on the dance floor by myself. Then the next thing you know, you've got a whole collage of people.

Collaborating with Guests on the Album

It was fun. It was exciting because I got a chance to create with other people. Playing with others to me is the one perfect thing that we should all hold on to, because we're being programmed to not work with each other. I think it's right on time, because we're losing that battle, because technology is teaching us a new way. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying that kids don't want to play with each other no more. When we were coming up, all we had was playing with each other, and now nobody needs to play with each other because we got our phones.

It's kind of silly to compare that, but at the same time it's actually happening. And I feel like we as humans need to not lose our humanness, because that's what makes us. If we throw that away or give it away, then we turn into AI. We have to be careful with that.

The song "Is Anybody Out There?"

I was thinking about my wife when I wrote it. I think she's got a little story she'd like to say.

[Bootsy's wife, Patti Collins, steps up to the mic]

On Album Of The Year #1 Funkateer, Bootsy wrote "Is Anybody Out There?" That is my favorite song off the album, and I kept trying to figure out why. I kept listening to it, and it just resonated with my spirit so much. And I realized that it's because Bootsy's been wanting me to tell my story of abuse from a previous relationship for years. And so once I heard that song, I felt it might be time. So I asked him, could you take your voice off of it and bring up Myra Washington, who's the female vocalist on the song? And she told me she wrote the lyrics from a special time in her life, not from abuse per se, but from other things that were going on in her life, so it was very deeply rooted.

So once Bootsy did that for me, I decided, OK, I'm going to tell my story. So we launched a podcast about three weeks ago called Is Anybody Out There? We partnered with an organization here in Cincinnati called Women Helping Women, who help women who are going through domestic violence.

So that's pretty much where it stems from, and we're getting messages from all around the world: "Thank you for putting your story out there, Patti, and thank you for the song. It's like a lullaby to my soul." So that's what it's all about.

[Back to Bootsy]

I've been doing music all my life, and I get a chance to do music for a purpose. Even if all the songs are not for a purpose, to have one or two songs that have a real purpose, other than just going out and acting a fool, which I've been doing all my life [that great Bootsy laugh], we get a chance to do something that can really resonate with people. Not just partying all the time. Of course, that's going to be on the list, but to have something that can really help somebody else is hedging that way a little bit.

Working with James Brown

I don't know what would be happening if that hadn't happened, me being a part of the original J.B.'s. I got a chance. Kids don't get that kind of chance to actually be in the room recording "Sex Machine," "Super Bad." These songs, you don't get those kind of opportunities. I really learned that after I got away from it, but while I was with it, I was growing into, like, I'm supposed to be here, which I was. I was meant to be there. But I don't feel like I had too much to do with it. It was always destiny that I was supposed to be there.

I learned so much from James Brown and the whole organization. I'd be there listening to Jimi Hendrix on the back of the James Brown bus - you don't do that on James Brown! But I got away with a lot of stuff that regular people would never get away with because I was one of those snobby, cocky kids, and I felt like I could do anything.

But at the same time, I got away from that character and turned into who I am today. And I wanted to do a tribute to James Brown because he was a big part of that happening to me. I felt like if anybody could do a tribute to him, I should do it, because I know what was in his head as far as music, and I wanted to lay it down because I was feeling it.

Bootsy's tribute song is on the album. It's called "The JB's Tribute Pastor P."

Recording "Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine"

It was really a crazy, crazy day because when we left the gig, we went right to the studio - we drove to Nashville. I forget what time it was, but it was real early in the day. We didn't get to sleep on the bus because James was on the bus. But we went from there to Nashville and started recording.

That was a crazy day because it all piled up on us. "OK, 'Sex Machine' - OK, cool. 'Count it off' - great." But we had no idea what we were stepping into as far as this music, what it's going to do for generations after.

And so that made it even crazier because we didn't know what we were doing. I thought about it for a while, and I figured out that must be a part of the process: not knowing what the funk you're doing. And that's part of being funky. What is funk? It's making something out of nothing, and that's what we were doing. We used what we had to get whatever we got, and that's what funk is.

A lot of times you don't know what you're doing. I didn't know what "the one" was. When James Brown said, "Play it on the one," I didn't know what that meant, but I had sense enough to ask him, "What is the one?" Because I wanted to know what this "one" was he kept talking about. And once he explained it, I said, "Oh, I get it now," but I didn't really get it. I had my version of it, and he started smiling when I started playing, so that was good enough for me. I figured I had "the one" then.

What Motivates Bootsy

People really excite me. You give, and it comes back to you. That's part of that funk, too. The more you give of it, the more it comes back.

And it's deeper than just the music. That excites me to the point that I can walk the plank and do some things that might be impossible or profound in a way that most people wouldn't understand. I like to step out and do things that people would look down and say, "Nah, you don't want to do that." But yeah, I want to be funky. I love being funky and I embrace it.

I think that's what helped me continue to give and continue to be inspired by people, because if it wasn't for you, what the heck would I do? That's the way I look at it. Why would I even be here if it wasn't for you? What would my purpose be if it wasn't for you?

I let people know that in certain ways, because a lot of times people get caught up in "I'm good for nothing," and that messes with your mental thing. So having people around me and being put in situations where I have to be accountable instead of running away, I've gotten used to being in those situations.

There aren't many situations I haven't been in. It's not about being comfortable, but just handling the situation and knowing that everybody's got a thing. Who am I to bounce on that thing? If that's what you like, I shouldn't mess with it. I should respect your father like you respect my father, and if we embrace that, we'll start to dig on each other even more.

I want to be the first one on the dance floor because everybody else don't want to dance. I want to help bring people out on the dance floor.

Focus on the Future

I'm good with the past, but I don't live in it. I want to be a part of the future as well. So do I cut myself off by staying in the past, or do I allow myself to grow? I want to grow.

Each era has its time for change. We're living in this era now that we've got a few things we have to change, but most of us don't want to change.

Every era is like that. For instance, there was a time when the acoustic piano and the organ were the keyboards. If you play those, you're alright with me. But when the synthesizers came in, most traditional musicians that played keyboards, they wouldn't allow synthesizers, so they closed their minds off to the next thing that was getting ready to happen. That's what we're doing with AI. That's what we did with sampling.

The past guides us to show us what's getting ready. It will tell you that the change is getting ready to come, but most of us are surprised when it does. I don't want to be surprised. I want to stay open to anything. This big change is getting ready to come in, and you can be open to it and you can embrace it. Because if you don't embrace it, then it's going to run over you and you get left behind.

Just like the musicians I was talking to you about, stuck on the traditional way. I love the fact that you love the traditional way, but this new thing is getting ready to blow up. Don't you want to be a part of that? A lot of times people don't even think about that.

Memories from Bootsy's Time in Parliament-Funkadelic

Being on the road is a different animal. You want to be on the road because that young drive is on you, and you want to be chasing girls, you want to be chasing drugs, there's so many things you want to be chasing. And the music is always number one. Music is why you're out there, but what you're chasing is totally different. That's the motivator. Just the chase is enough motivation for you to be out there, if that makes sense. 

But when that stops, when all those chasings stop, what's to motivate you now? And that's what I had to deal with. OK, you're married now, got kids, why am I out here? Because I'm not chasing nothing now. So I had to go back to the reason I was there in the first place: the people. Just to see the people's eyes twinkle up, smiling and having a good time. I'm not chasing that - that's what I'm here for. Having a chemistry with people is probably my main thing. I enjoy that.

The Album Of The Year #1 Funkateer Listening Experience

I hope that they engage with it, at least give it a listen and see if they like anything, and really get what the purpose is as well. I might not be saying what they want to hear, but at least check it out. You might stumble across something that makes you smile, makes you want to say something to your lady, or maybe start chasing girls again. You never know.

But I would like for them to have a great journey with the record, and then let the funk just go ahead and funk you up. That's the best way to determine what's happening.

December 4, 2025

Further reading:
Interview with George Clinton
Interview with Erica Falls
Interview with Narada Michael Walden

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