Vulfpeck
An Ann Arbor funk band that acts as the house rhythm section of an imaginary 1970s German label, and sold out Madison Square Garden without a manager or label.
A fictional German funk scene
Vulfpeck was formed in 2011 by Jack Stratton with fellow students at the University of Michigan School of Music. Wikipedia says Stratton imagined a German counterpart to the American session bands of the 1960s, the Funk Brothers and the Wrecking Crew, after reading an interview with the producer Reinhold Mack. The first session took place at the Duderstadt Center, recorded on two-inch tape for a friend's senior thesis project. Stratton, Joe Dart and Antwaun Stanley had earlier played together in a group called Groove Spoon.
The core of the band is Stratton, Dart on bass, Woody Goss on keyboards and Theo Katzman. Their production follows the look and sound of 1970s live television: real instruments, improvisation and groove over melody. Early EPs were Mit Peck (2011), Vollmilch (2012), My First Car (2013) and Fugue State (2014).
Sleepify and the rise
In March 2014 the band released Sleepify, a ten-track album of silence on Spotify, and asked fans to play it on repeat while they slept. It earned about $20,000 in royalties over two months before Spotify removed it, and the money funded an admission-free tour. The coverage helped the band on its way. Thrill of the Arts (2015) reached number 16 on the U.S. R&B albums chart, and in November 2015 they played The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
The Beautiful Game followed in October 2016 and reached number 10 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. Mr. Finish Line (2017) had guests including James Gadson, Bootsy Collins, Michael Bland and David T. Walker, and Hill Climber arrived in 2018. In September 2019 they sold out Madison Square Garden, one of the first acts to do so without a manager or label, and Live at Madison Square Garden came out that December. Schvitz (2022) and Clarity of Cal (2025) followed, with a second Garden headline show in 2025. The touring group has also included Joey Dosik, Antwaun Stanley and Cory Wong.
Albums
Songs
- Dean Town The Beautiful Game · 2016
A bass-led instrumental from 2016, the Vulfpeck song bassists most often study.
Sources
- Vulfpeck, Wikipedia
- Vulfpeck discography, Wikipedia
- Vulfpeck, Toppermost
- The Beautiful Game, Vulfpeck