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“Keepin that funk alive, to me, there’s no more of an important mission.” So declares PATRYCE “CHOC’LET” BANKS, cofounder of one of the most important bands in all of funk history: Graham Central Station. “That’s my mission,” she promises. “To keep the funk alive until the wheels fall off.” And she has been doing just that ever since the formation of the band’s classic lineup with her former boo, uber innovative Sly & the Fam bassist Larry Graham, along with drummer Willie Wild, keyboardist Hershall Happiness, organist Robert “Butch” Sam, & guitarist David Dynamite.  Together they hit the ground running from the jump. Word got out immediately that the band was superbad—folks would even get dressed up just to check out their rehearsals! Their constant practicing and performing at spots like the Orphanage in San Francisco led to the creation of their groundbreaking self-titled debut—(Choc’let’s personal favorite).

Yet even the most diehard funkateers might not realize that, before it was called Graham Central Station, the band was originally called HOT CHOC’LET, formed as a project for her to get down with while Larry was on the road. But after Graham had finally decided to relinquish his Family Stone membership, he joined the group, which then became his namesake. Choc’let wasn’t mad about the new moniker, though. “I was with it because… how could you go wrong with Larry Graham in the group?” she says. “I think it was even my idea maybe a little bit.”

Graham’s breaking away from the Sly camp meant GCS could seriously get to work. “We would rehearse all the time,” remembers Choc’let. “Almost every night… And we were just getting tighter and tighter.” And audiences were easily falling in love with the band’s celebratory intensity. “The music that we played was deeply infused with gospel music,” she confirms. “So that gave it the feeling of a revival… because of the way that it makes you feel and the way it gets you caught up.” In fact, audience members from San Francisco to Philly to D.C. would bring tambourines, whistles, and whatever percussion instrument they could find so they could get in on the action. “They’d be playing along with us,” she says.

Choc’let’s latest appearance on Aced Out—her third—is a superfunk extravaganza. In addition to another great interview, she performs not one, but TWO Bay Area funk classics live in the studio with Jay, Ace and other members of the Funkanauts fam. And in case you were wondering, the answer is yes—she brought her Rhythm King aka F-U-N-K Box.In this back-to-to school, in-person interview, Choc talks about why she thinks Sly was a better bandleader than Larry, the highs and lows of her reunion tour with GCS in the mid-90s, and why she dislikes the album version of “I Can’t Stand the Rain.” She also reveals how Willie and Hershalloriginally came up with “The Jam” at rehearsal, how she recruited her old friend Butch to join the group, and why the Bay Area brand of funk has never been duplicated.

an Issac Bradbury Production © 2022

visit acedoutpodcast.com to see photos and more