Written by Tanya Terry, with photos courtesy of The Chicago Funk
Members of the Chicago Funk have a love for and experience with the legendary Earth, Wind & Fire and will present a tribute to the group on August 24 at the Capitol Theatre.
“I grew up with Earth Wind and Fire,” said Daniel van der Drift, age 49, founder and sound engineer of the Chicago Funk.
The Netherlands is where van der Drift resides, but van der Drift has family from the United States.
“My uncle is from south of Louisiana,” he added. “So, we grew up with all kinds of funk, Motown, etcetera. “
“I’m from a big family, and my brothers and sisters – they do music,” said Henry Sopacua, age 57, bass player and co-founder of the Chicago Funk, who also grew up with Earth, Wind & Fire.
“One of the songs of Earth, Wind & Fire was the first song I was learning and playing in the attic all day,” explained Sopacua.
That song was “Sun Goddess.”
In the Netherlands, there was a TV show called “The Tribute – Battle of the Bands” comparable to of “The Clash of the Cover Bands” in the U.S. The group competed on the show in 2022 and were the 1st runners-ups.
“We played three times in a row in front of 18,000 people a day,” said van der Drift. “It was broadcasted by a really good and big TV station from the Netherlands. The TV broadcasting company (called the Talpa Network up until 2020 and ITV Studios ever since) also produces “The Voice.”
van der Drift shared the story behind the group’s name: The Chicago Funk.
Originally, the group called themselves Earth, Wind & Fires (with an “s” behind their name).
“I didn’t think about it, but the estate of Maurice White, they sent directly a famous lawyer company from New York to us,” stated van der Drift. “Within 24 hours, we had to change our names. We had to take off every footage from YouTube, website…So, I had conversations with their lawyers and told them: ‘It’s not that we want to be on the first place. We just want to honor this music, and OK we took this name, and OK, we made a mistake. But can you please help us – because we want to continue this legacy of this music?’ So, this new name – Chicago Funk – was made together with the people from Earth, Wind & Fire.”
The lawyers told the group now known as Chicago Funk that they would take control over the band for 24 months, making sure Chicago Funk was staying “within the structure of” giving tribute to Earth, Wind & Fire.
Chicago is where Maurice and Verdine White came from. Additionally, van der Drift’s family is from Chicago and he had visited the city since he was 3 months old.
During the final months of the agreement between Chicago Funk and the estate of Maurice White, van der Drift got directly in contact with Shelly Clark-White, wife and manager of iconic bass player and co-founder of Earth, Wind, & Fire Verdine White and other musicians of Earth, Wind & Fire.
“Now we have contact with them one-on-one,” explained van der Drift. “Everything we discuss with our mentor, Shelly – from our clothing to our setlists. Member of the real Earth, Wind and Fire, they see videos of us…If we’re doing, let’s say, a voice-over, we’ll say: ‘What do you think of this? Is it too much, or too cheesy? So, we get the feedback from the original Earth, Wind & Fire.”
This helps Chicago Funk’s to ensure their clothing, dance moves and specific sounds accurately depict Earth Wind & Fire.
van der Drift said Shelly Clark-White also has toured nationally with The Ike & Tina Turner Revue as one of the Ikettes and is an original member of the Honey Cone. She started her career in Flint and is coming to Flint to see the August 24 show.
Sopacua told the Courier that Chicago Funk simply wants to honor the music of Earth, Wind & Fire.
“This music goes through our veins,” added van der Drift. “We know exactly how this is played. In the 70s Earth, Wind & Fire was one big spectacle on stage. We keep that in mind, but give it a modern, 2024 twist.”
For tickets, visit https://tickets.thefim.org/chicagofunk!