New Music Monday (on Tues!) White Chocolate Funk
White Chocolate Funk is a powerhouse of musical greatness and fun. Dressed in theme costume they deliver a heavy duty funk experience. With a newly released album fresh under their belt, White Chocolate Funk melts the dance floor. Their musical influences range from P-Funk , Led Zeppelin, JJ Cale, Frank Zappa, Jimi Hendrix to The Temptations, Parliament, Funkadelic, James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone, Lettuce, Soulive, Jimi Hendrix. Based out of Santa Cruz, we are excited to be bringing White Chocolate Funk to Monterey this week for Funkalicious Friday at Cibo.
Each band member has their own unique story to tell, and you can find those below.
White Chocolate Funk is:
Ike McQuade- Heavy duty booty bass and sexy lead vocals
Mason Dixon- Gnar gnar rad face melty guitar and also sexy vocals
Shogun Jackson- Skin slappin toe tappin Drummer boy and not so sexy vocals
Ivory Johnson- Bringer of vibes, Keyboard battleship noises.
Mason Dickson
Guitarist and vocals for White Chocolate Funk.
Mason was raised in the backwoods of the Carolinas by a band of musical moonshiners. At night, around the campfire, Mason would play the jaw harp and was considered one of the best jug blowers on the mountain. As a young man he began bottling his own hooch called “Lickin Dickson” and was successfully bootlegging booze throughout the Appalachians. Unfortunately this caught the attention of the Dixie Mafia and they moved in for a cut of the action. The Mafia suggested Mason give up 90% of his profits. When he refused, he was pummeled with bricks, put on a hit list and everything he owned was destroyed. With no other choice, Mason set out on the hillbilly highway. He was forced to survive on a diet of opossum, RC cola and antifreeze. In one point of desperation, Mason broke into a pawn shop and stole 14 porn VHS tapes (just for the cover art), a case of whippits, a speculum, a book on the band Moby Grape and a Fender guitar. Later in his travels, he ran across Ike McQuade at a Pizza Hut in Winterset, Iowa. After a friendly competition at the Bear Claw machine, the fires of White Chocolate Funk were forged.
Little known fact; Mason held the original patent rights to the line of Chuck Norris satirical factoids.
Ike McQuade
Ike McQuade is the bassist and vocalist for White Chocolate Funk.
Ike was born the only son of a noble Norseman. At the time of his birth, Ike’s family had been targeted by a group of rebels wanting to overturn the current empire. In order to protect the baby and hopefully carry on the noble lineage, Ike’s birth was kept quiet. Under the cloak of darkness, a hired midwife secretly set off to North Eastern Ireland with Ike. In route, Ike’s caretaker was fatally mauled by a gang of ravenous, wild squirrels. Miraculously a farmer and his wife found the unharmed baby in a tree. Unfortunately on their way home, they were accosted by a renegade herd of sheep but managed to cast Ike off in a small raft down the nearby stream. Ike was later found at the mouth of the river and pulled aboard a ship. He grew up as an international vagabond, picking up jobs when and where he could. Although not confirmed, Ike was said to be in over 100 movies as a “stunt chin”. Eventually Ike made it to the States and found steady work as a cattleman in the Midwest. Ike had no formal musical training but learned to sing and pluck bass on a broken 4 string guitar as he rode his favorite steer around the farm.
Little known fact; Ike was eliminated in the first round of season 4 Dancing With the Stars.
Ivory Johnson
Ivory is the Keyboardist and supporting vocals for White Chocolate.
Ivory was born in Kralove'hradecky Czech Republic as Oleg Krushnutski. His family comprised of five long generations of piano makers. When Oleg was a young boy, the piano factory shut down and his family immigrated to Las Vegas, Nevada to become traveling circus performers. During this time he befriended a very old Elephant named Johnson. Oleg slept cradled in Johnson’s tusks for years, even when the elephant became fatally ill. When Johnson finally died, his huge body was discarded from the convoy. Trusty Oleg would not part from his pachyderm partner and was left behind as the circus traveled on. Weeks went by and finally a VW bus following the Grateful Dead found Oleg clinging to his fallen comrade’s tusks. The hippies took him in, and began calling him Ivory. Ivory enjoyed touring with the Deadheads but desperately wanted to better the quality of drum circles being constantly played. He began sharing his knowledge of music and teaching psychedelic recorder jams after all the shows. Eventually the bus broke down and Ivory made a home in Santa Cruz, CA where he later joined White Chocolate Funk.
Little known fact; Ivory was originally cast as the fourth, older, illegitimate Brady son on the TV show “The Brady Bunch”. He was the result of a scandalous affair between Alice and Mike, but his character was only in the pilot and never seen on the show again
Shogun Jackson
Shogun is the Drummer and percussionist for White Chocolate Funk.
Shogun is the adopted son of a recluse Japanese-American father who is a restaurant mogul and founder of Benihaha Restaurants. His mother is a Gypsy from the bayou of southern Louisiana and former women’s basketball standout. Shogun was an ambitious but heavily scarred child. He frequently mimicked the knife-juggling chefs he watched at his parent’s place of business. Shogun showed great promise as a potential percussionist when a bus boy gave him over sized chopsticks to replace the sharp knives. That bus boy turned out to be the 3rd cousin (removed) of Meters drummer Zigaboo Modeliste. As a teenager, Shogun began sneaking out of the house to perform on Bourbon Street. To protect his identity, Shogun went by the street performer handle of “Slinky”. He would attract large crowds by beating on garbage cans, discarded gumbo bowls and cat carcasses. This explains the facial expressions he still exhibits when playing a dirty groove. A tourist posted a video of Shogun and the combination of his natural drumming skills and funky flair made him a You Tube sensation. The viral video caught the attention of Mason and Ike. After an impressive, ear deafening try out, the rhythm section of White Chocolate Funk was solidified.
Little known fact; Shogun holds the Guinness Book World Record for handing out Mardi Gras beads
Big thanx to SkyHause Studios in sunny Carmel Valley for making New Music Monday's possible.
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