The Next Generation of Funk

SIX O’CLOCK TRAFFIC

ARTICLE BY VANELIS RIVERA AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANDREW BAILEY

Enoch’s Irish Pub & Cafe doesn’t have a dance floor. But on February 8th, a mass of bodies created their own, packing the six foot gap between the stage and picnic table benches. All night long they danced to local pop-funk band Six O’Clock Traffic who boasted their first show at the pub since coming together as a group in August 2018. The young band, consisting of students and post-grads from the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM), have played numerous private events, public venues, and city-sponsored fundraisers throughout North Louisiana. Known for their high energy sets and boogie patrolling, these kids-next-door show no signs of slowing down.

“Everyone knew each other from the ULM bandroom,” informs Tyler Schweinefus, the band’s bass player. Big mashup jam sessions suddenly began to incorporate a growing roster of players. At the core was Schweinefus beating the drums, Kody Jernigan blowing trumpet, Delton Dickson on bass trombone, and Austin George noodling around on electric guitar. “It pretty much started at 1804 North McGuire Avenue,” says George, adding, “That house has a lot to do with everything that we’re doing.” A long line of musicians passed the space down to a myriad of successors, creating a clubhouse-feel of comradery and shared goals. “It’s quite like a sacred place in the sense of how much stuff went down there,” says George, referring to house parties and open jam sessions. The band began to take shape at that point, picking up a few scattered gigs, playing instrumental sets and “getting their feet wet” at Oak Grove block parties, recalls Schweinefus.

When they picked up their original singer Orlandzeo Hennings, a ULM vocal performance major at the time, he proposed a name: Five O’Clock traffic. “It came because we were all full-time students and super busy,” says Schweinefus. Constantly feeling like they were trying to get from one place to another but never really getting close, reminded Hennings of being in the dreaded after-work rush. With six members at the time, the group decided to honor the count and go with the name Six O’Clock Traffic. Soon after, the departure of Hennings prompted a few lineup changes in the group. The crew snatched up Will Ledet, who had been playing keys for the ULM Jazz band, and Noah White, percussion major and drummer for the band, invited his cousin Hannah Bryan Greenwood to take over vocals.

“At first, being the only female in the band was kind of intimidating,” says Greenwood. “Being a female in any group with no other females around, you just want to be confident that you’ll be supported and empowered. I got very lucky.” Not only does she feel recognized and heard, she feels her songwriting is taken seriously. The band’s first single release, “The Hunter,” was written by Greenwood years before she started playing with Six O’Clock Traffic. “I wrote that song in about ten minutes,” she says. Inspired by the song “Do-Re-Mi” from The Sound of Music, she crafted lyrics based on each section: “My heart was bitter then / I crack and wonder when / You might sew me back together again. / I’ll be dead gone / You knew it all along / But you swallowed the needle and the thread.” Ultimately it’s a sad song about a deer falling in love with a hunter, symbolizing self-destructive love. So far, she’s brought one more original song to the band (“Big Head And So Lame”), closely collaborating with Jernigan who has helped her flesh out the instrumentation to melodies and lyrics. Initially she didn’t consider the Six O’Clock sound to be her vocal forte, but thanks to her vocal training at ULM, particularly under the tutelage of Dr. Claire Vangelisti, she found her niche in the band. “I think my adaptability and my ability to sing virtually almost anything I’ve tried really comes from them,” she says. Though her vocals fit the pop tunes the most, she embellishes every song, often nudging her range beyond it’s comfort zone: “I’ve completely surprised myself in notes that I’ve been able to reach in pushing myself far.”

A band made up of collegiate-level performers means every musician has a heavy hand in the music composition process. When George wrote the progressive psychedelic instrumental song “Visions,” he wrote horn lines for the trumpet and trombone, gave White a roadmap for the percussive rhythm, and then sat down with his peers and witnessed it go from an idea to a five-minute song. An important aspect of the collaborative process has been just riffing. “Sometimes songs just happen,” says George. White may start a drum beat establishing tempo, George layers over that, “chunking around” on a chord, then the soloist, usually Jernigan on trumpet or Delton and Dakota Sanson on trombones, starts playing with the melody line, putting in their two cents. “We would take a little motif from one of those jam sessions and just water it and feed it and nurture it and it would grow into its own little bean,” says George.

Whoever composes the majority of a particular song usually writes the lyrics, but everyone has their own methodology. For Schweinefus, songwriting has been about writing and rewriting. His original song “Gotta Make A Move” began with a riff. “I spent a long time with music notation software, writing up parts on that and troubleshooting,” he says. When he brought it to the band, each member imparted their own identity into the sound, allowing the funk-heavy, groovy song to come to life. Though it does stray from the band’s pop sound, the upbeat lyrics (pulled from life experiences) are about not allowing your shortcomings to stand in your way: “Take a step / Take a step forward, baby / Hesitation will only bring you down / This feeling is way too good not to mention / Situation don’t mean a thing.” Regardless of your circumstance, when it comes to your goals “make a move,” he says. Even when the band songwriters are not pulling from their personal lives, they’re tapping into what people like to hear. “I’m in a happy relationship, but everyone loves a breakup song,” yells White to the Enoch’s crowd before Greenwood powerhouses through his song “If You’re Truly Gone.” Another original track for broken hearts is Ledet’s “Dog Park,” an in-your-face anthem: “You make me scream / You make me cry / All these things you’ve done / You’ve left me paralyzed.” Roughly ten original tracks have made their way into the band’s performance setlist with a handful on the backburner and in production.

Though some have confused them for a jazz band, some of their main musical influences are actually notables like Orgone and Alabama-based St. Paul and the Broken Bones. “We do the whole funky party band sort of thing,” says Schweinefus. An eight-piece group now, each player in Six O’Clock Traffic enriches the overall sound palate, ultimately combining characteristics of funk, jazz, R&B, hip hop, and soul. George adds the rock to that mix, using the different spacey effects from his pedals. On keys, Ledet plays with texture, also adding outlandish and offbeat sounds. The rhythm section, White and Schweinefus, are always in sync. “We play so much together, we share a brain,” laughs Schweinefus. Greenwood’s wide-ranging vocals dominate, reaching wailing heights that add an edge to an already upbeat sound. Finally tying the band’s sound and performances together are the horns. “They add a lot of flash,” says Schweinefus. “They literally do ‘cuz they’re shiny,” jokes George. Most people associate horns with marching bands and concert bands, so experiencing that sound outside of its traditional context is exciting. The brass line can be its own island of three, with Jernigan serving the role of linemaster and hype man. “People find themselves unable to not get up and move around and dance, or at least tap their feet,” grins Greenwood.

Even with a strong female lead whose voice is its own presence, the band brings as much fun and power during their instrumental songs and improv solos, where each musician feels the spirit of the moment and delivers spontaneous crowd-pleasing melodies. “Sometimes things happen live that never happen again,” says Schweinefus. The frenzy is comparable to a spirited conversation. “We go to our full instinctual level of communication,” says George. “You go into another state of your brain and you just kind of understand what other people are saying and you respond.” To the crowd it may look like the band is getting down with the funk, but there’s an intuition to the call-and-response that’s heralded by discipline in the craft.

“For as much raucous energy that we bring, it’s all definitely crafted with a lot of care,” says Schweinefus. The group takes their music very seriously, investing a lot of heart and time into their projects. They’re learning as they go, especially as they record their first LP in-house with the help of sound engineer Jordan Alexander. Yet their collective focus is unwavering and set on creating another wave of dance music, even if there isn’t a dance floor handy.

Follow Six O’Clock Traffic on Facebook and Instagram to keep up with their live performances and to browse through their merch. Their first single is available on Spotify and iTunes.