Lettuce is one of the most recognizable names in modern funk, and for good reason. Whether you’re listening to one of their studio records or getting down at one of their live shows, it’s impossible not to grin and shake it. Recently drummer Adam Deitch was kind enough to take some time to tell me about how Lettuce responded to these trying times, where their music is taking them, and the magic of Bootsy Collins.
Andrew Howie: What can you tell me about how Lettuce dealt with everything that’s happened in the last couple of years, and can you bring me up to speed with what’s currently going on in Lettuce’s world?
Adam Deitch: It was a trip not being able to gig, but it was also a blessing, because we work a lot. We work ten months a year almost, so to have a year or two off of no touring was something that I probably wouldn’t have experienced until I was 70 years old. It was really interesting to, you know, be in my mid-40s and kind of get my head around just being at home and what that means: doing normal things like cooking and laundry and just being home. That was great and very healing for all of us as a band, to be in our homes. The guys got to spend more time with their kids and their wives, and I had a lot of time to write music and create the new album, and kind of get the demos rolling for Unify. In a way it was the best thing for us; we ended up missing each other a lot, and now that we’re back on tour it’s just that much more beautiful because we had that big break.
AH: Speaking of Unify, let’s get into that. What can you tell me about this new record, in terms of anything new you tried in terms of the songwriting itself, the recording process, producing, etc.?
AD: The new record [Unify] is definitely our best work so far. The writing is more complete, we had more time to flesh out the tunes. Even the recording process ended up working well: it was during lockdown, so no visitors in the studio, no one to distract us, just us together in the studio making this record. We actually ended up getting our idol Bootsy Collins on this record. Basically the inventor of funk, bassist for James Brown and then obviously with George Clinton and P-Funk, so just a god to us. Definitely in the Mount Rushmore of funk music. We sent him a track that we recorded that was based off of a little Instagram post he did; he had posted about keeping the funk alive during the pandemic. He did a little chant of “keep the funk alive,” and I recorded that off of Instagram, put it into my computer, and wrote a song around it. We sent it to him, and he loved it.
He said “I want to play bass and sing on it,” so he did! It was just our greatest accomplishment to have done that. To top it all off, we just had a day off in Ohio, and we drove out to Cincinnati to meet him at his house. We all got to really hang with him for a full day, and we ended up recording vocals on one of his songs. He is just an amazing human being. He is full of life, 70 years old and still going strong, just won a Grammy actually because of Silk Sonic. It might be his first Grammy actually. It’s just a very exciting time for funky music and we are just super excited to have him on this record. definitely the biggest thing we’ve ever done.
AH: It sounds like an incredible experience. You’ve obviously got experience putting records together; what would you say was something that surprised you about this whole process?
AD: Just having more time to really get the tunes ready for the studio was so helpful to the whole process. We were all sending demos to each other that we were recording on our own. Everyone would send them around and everyone would add their own parts, just to the demos, individually, where we were all living. You know some of us are in Maine, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and three of us are in Denver. We each added our own parts to get the demos sounding as good as possible, so everyone was really familiar with the material by the time we got into the studio.
So really, by having that long experience of writing over the course of a year, and doing it together but from our own homes, it made the album feel more complete. The songs kind of played themselves, and they were super fresh. We didn’t have time to work out the songs on the road like we usually do, so the songs basically went from demo to “here’s the album.” You can hear the excitement in the music because it’s our first time playing these songs together. Just a really fresh approach, more like a fresh home cooked meal as opposed to leftovers or something like that. In that sense, this record is very exciting for us for everyone to hear.
AH: That was one of my next questions; so these songs have not seen the light of day until these most recent shows if i’m understanding correctly?
AD: We are debuting one or two of these songs a night on this tour, as we learn them in that context and work out live arrangements for them. It’s so great to see the crowd react to these songs for the first time having never heard them. It’s fun for us to familiarize the crowd with the new album, it’s just a beautiful process to do it like that, as opposed to playing the new songs for a year before they come out, where the crowd’s already heard them all, and by the time the album’s out, our diehard fans have already heard 50 different versions of the songs. This time they’re getting fresh new tunes for this tour, which makes this tour even more exciting and we have more surprises for the crowd.
AH: Is this tour taking you anywhere new or are you sticking with familiar ground?
AD: We’re hitting a lot of the same spots, but we did just play the new Brooklyn Bowl in Philadelphia, which was great. Our friend Peter Shapiro used to own the Wetlands in New York where we played our first shows when we were 18. Over the years he started the Brooklyn Bowl franchise, and just opened the Philly one. We played there a few nights ago and it was a phenomenal venue. Most of the places we’re playing this tour we have played before, and it’s so great to see the familiar faces again, people that have been on tour with us that are traveling from show to show to show. We play a different show every night, so it’s great to see the fans that come every night. It’s just been a wonderful experience. We’re back, they’re back, family reunion type vibe.
AH: What do you think it is about funk music that lends itself so well to this feeling you’re describing, this sort of family reunion vibe?
AD: Funk brings people together. Funk is really about the sum of all parts. It’s not really an individual thing where you focus on the lead singer or this or that, it’s the whole band adding pieces, and the crowd fits into that as well; we are all part of it. It’s also a dance party, and people come to get down and also to listen at the same time. I think the style of music lends itself to a family environment where everyone’s dancing and having a great time. It’s just a great experience.
AH: In terms of where you want to go with Lettuce in the future, what are some goals or things you maybe haven’t tried yet, things you’d like to explore, anything different you’re looking at trying out?
AD: Honestly we just want to keep going on this path and work with more of our heroes, work with some more different songwriters and producers here and there. Maybe some hip hop stuff. We’re reaching out to a few different MCs right now to see if we could do some live beat hip hop backing tracks with a rapper. That would be something fun. Lettuce Wraps, something like that. But really we just want to continue on this path and stay healthy and move forward. We have a ton of new tunes in the bag and we can’t wait to get into the studio and record the next batch. We’re just like a bakery right now baking these tunes and we want to keep it rolling.
AH: Right before everything turned upside down, lots of young musicians were just starting to get off the ground. Things are sort of righting themselves now, but what would you say to young musicians trying to make a name for themselves who might be discouraged?
AD: As far as all the bands that were on the come up and had to pause their whole career before they even really got to the point where they want to be, keep your heads up. Part of the whole Bootsy thing coming about was me seeing an Instagram post from him, telling the world that even though things are rough it is very important to keep the funk alive. Stay in a good place and stay ready. Mentally prepare yourself, because we’re now hopefully leaving this era and getting back into normal life, and people are going back to concerts, things are getting easier and people can now go out and enjoy themselves. For all the young bands, keep at it and don’t get discouraged. Keep that funk alive.
AH: I think we’re about done here, but anything you want to say to the fans?
AD: We’re excited to get back to Jersey. We’re an East Coast band. We started in Boston, New York, Jersey, Connecticut; so the East Coast and Northeast, that’s our home. We’re very excited to get to Asbury Park on April 24th and play out there and enjoy it. We’re East Coast fam.
Lettuce is on the road now. Don’t miss one of the best shows around.
