Chuck Da Fonk Fishman

FUNK MUSICIAN Chuck Da Fonk Fishman hails from Philadelphia, and he cultivated a love for funk music at an early age in the early 1980’s – when funk artists repeatedly crossed with popular new wave bands (for instance, Talking Heads had P-Funk members in their band, George Clinton worked with Thomas Dolby). Liking the funk he heard in that new wave, Chuck then furiously studied the music of James Brown, Parliament / Funkadelic (P-Funk), and Sly Stone – and he became known as “da Fonk” by his friends because of his funkstudious nature. Chuck loves to dance, sing, and funk on out on keyboards, basses, guitars – and over the years – he’s consistently proven that he’s a funk tour de force. This trait lead to Chuck joining George Clinton and P-Funk All Stars for several tours in the mid to late 1990’s, adding his funk in with George’s son TreyLewd and also with founding Funkadelic member, and Rock N’ Roll Hall Fame Inductee, Billy Bass Nelson. The result of the touring and the collaborations was Chuck’s 1997 debut CD, “The Squishy Declaration".This CD also has appearances from artists in Chuck’s home base at the time – Colorado – including Zuba, Sherri Jackson, and Fonksquish, Chuck’s band. After the release of “Squishy”, Chuck worked in Denver and San Francisco, with his live funk bands, Fonksquish and The Mile High Funkers. Chuck also sings on a track on funk bass guru Bootsy Collins’ 1998 CD, “Fresh Outta P University”. In 2004, Chuck returned to his childhood roots in Center City Philadelphia. He’s currently recording new material with his partners in Fonksquish and Richard Kush Griffith, trumpeter and music arranger who served under both George Clinton and James Brown since the 1960’s. Chuck is also currently working on bringing back live cHUCk dA fONk fISHMAn & fONKSQUISh shows to Philadelphia. And East Coast P-Funk concert goers likely get to see Chuck up on stage a couple of times a year.