Even for an band like electronic duo The Funk Hunters, who typically tour overseas once or twice a year, it takes more than a few concerts for their tunes to make it to 300,000 listeners. But having transitioned to online streaming concerts because of the COVID-19 crisis, Vancouver-based musician and producer Nick Middleton says the electronic duo—comprised of himself and musician and multimedia artist Duncan Smith— reached that on one night of live streaming, when they were a performing guest during a live TikTok event. All this, without any of the costs of touring, which, for Middleton, extend beyond finances.
“It’s not sustainable, just on your body and your mental health, and financially it’s quite difficult,” says Middleton, while also acknowledging the positives of touring. “It’s amazing… We love travelling, but if you can also start to do streaming in the mix of that and travel less, I think it’s probably better for your longevity.”
The Funk Hunters recently received the Canadian Independent Music Association’s Road Gold Certification, becoming the first electronic act ever to get the award. The duo received the certification in recognition of getting more than 25,000 ticket sales domestically in the last year. Middleton says he’s surprised, in some ways, that it took this long for electronic to become recognized, as electronic and hip-hop is immensely popular and has been for decades. It took a global pandemic to get to the world of live music into streaming, says Middleton. If the band had had the idea to do online shows before COVID-19, the audience probably wouldn’t have been there, but now, he doesn’t think they’re going anywhere after the pandemic has settled.
“If anything, I would say it’s more intimate,” says Middleton. “Because it’s really just you and the band, or you and the DJ, and they’re right there, looking right back at you through the camera, and you’re less distracted than when you’re at a show. There’s no bar; you’re not with your friends. I actually think the fans are more engaged; they’re more tuned into what you’re doing… the payoff is so big.”
The duo live streams a show on social media every Tuesday night; there are no restrictions on show length, which Middleton says is one of the many benefits of doing things this way.
“You can play whatever you want, explore different sounds; interact directly with fans right there live in the chat … and choose whatever time you want to go,” he says.
If the crowd is really feeling it, shows might go as long as four or five hours, and audience members can come and go from the stream as they please. In addition to the Tuesday-night show that features different special guests, Smith also streams throughout the week on the band’s Twitch channel.
“We all miss the feeling of experiencing live music, and feeling it, and hearing it, and being in a crowd of people,” says Middleton. “We’re never going to replace that virtually, but there is definitely some perks to it, and I think we benefit from it more than a band. There’s still some serious problems with a band. How do you get them all together? You need a lot more equipment. I think if you’re the lead singer of a band and you want to stream from home and just sing some acoustic songs, that’s pretty easy, but this kind of medium is just perfectly built for DJs.”
The Funk Hunters
5 pm Tuesday, December 15
Free, twitch.tv/thefunkhunters