Fun Bucket exclusively plays every Thursday for Pequeño's Jazz Nights. After paying the $20 entry fee, you'll be welcomed with a complimentary cocktail and, squeezed into the chandelier-lit corner, you'll find the band. The intimate group of spectators are found eagerly surrounding the group but beware, this audience does not hold back on the dance floor. A warm salty scent of sweat is certain to swallow the space by the end of the night, testament to the unrestrained dancing that matches the funkadelic grooves.
During the show's halftime break, Critic Te Ārohi spoke to the band – Ryan, the band's frontman/guitarist and their drummer, Jack. Those still stuck in line watched us with envy, hoping someone would leave so that they could take their place. Fun Bucket is constantly changing shape and style. Ryan tells Critic that "people come and go while the band constantly mutates." This means that you never know what you’re going to get when you turn up to jazz night.
Like Trisha Paytas, the band has gone through many rebrands. The oldest member in the group, Peter, said that the band was called Chocolate when he first joined 20 years ago. Since then it’s been known as Sexy Healy and the Funk Soul Brothers. Jack says that they go by “whatever Andy calls [them] on the night.” But Fun Bucket seems to be one that has stuck around for the longest.
Though the event is named Jazz Night, the music is not distinctly jazz. The group typically launches into the chorus of a song before splintering off into a journey of solos, with each musician pushing the sound as far as it can go. "We often forget what song we're in," laughs Ryan. Notable covers in Fun Bucket's rotation are their versions of Bill Withers’ Lovely Day, The Meters' Cissy Strut and Kool & The Gang's Get Down on It. Ryan jokes that they should call it "Improvisation Night," but he doubts anyone would get it. Instead, he’s sure people will just assume they’re a bunch of "theatre kids doing some weird Shakespearean shit." Jack finds that playing together on stage is "like having a conversation through music," which in a sense is the essence of jazz. Imperfections are everywhere but "the flaws are what make it human," Jack humbly adds.
Jack mentions that Behavioural Economics Professor Nathan Berg has been known to make an occasional appearance on the bass guitar. The last time he performed, the lecturer’s finger "ripped open and bled all over the bass." Jack continues in awe, "It looks like he's in a state of ecstasy when he's on stage, he puts everything into it."
While shuffling our way through the crowd trying to get back to the stage, Ryan made it clear that Fun Bucket "only exists in this space." He gloats that they've never done a gig anywhere else as this band. "Some people have asked us to, but I've just quoted them an insane amount, so it's never happened." They seem to like it that way. Their exclusivity adds to the band's mystique. The only way to understand their sound is to come in person and find out. Jack describes the rotation of performers as a small "pocket of musicians" that "all have a part in different projects" across Dunedin. According to Jack, the life of being an artist in Ōtepoti is a mix of "playing music, having fun, drinking beer, and getting paid."
If you would like to witness Fun Bucket for yourself, check out @pequenomixologydunedin on Instagram to make sure they're playing.