Stonefunkers

The Stonefunkers
Origin	Sweden
Genres	Funk, hip hop
Years active	1987–2001 2009-
Associated acts	Papa Dee
Members	M-Rock Top-Steen ADL Davono Conan Cheezo Jean-Louis Huhta Storm Gonzo
Past members	Papa Dee MC Cane Frenzy Jay/Frans James Gavin Smart Peter Towers

Stonefunkers is a Swedish funk, go-go and live hip hop band started by brothers Emrik and Torsten Larsson that was one of the first Swedish bands to play "urban"-style music.

Both Larssons spent a year in the USA studying American culture and also picking up on the Soul and funk scene.

Emrik went to high school in Rochester, New York and soon found out that a lot of the hot bands usually stopped to play in Rochester. During his year he got to see artists ranging from George Clinton with Parliament, D-Train, Tyrone Brunson, to Slave and Steve Arrington and also witnessed his first hip hop performance by Double Trouble (known through the hip hop movie Wild Style).

Torsten went to Minneapolis and soon got into the rock scene but couldn’t get away from that cities powerful funk movement led by Prince, The Time, André Cymone and others.

Back in Sweden they both felt the urge to start a funk band. Torsten had previously played the bass in various punk/rock bands, and Emrik had done some singing in different choirs and also had a leading part in a musical.

They recruited their old skateboard pal Christian on drums, a neighbour on bass, Emrik’s friend David on Moog and Prophet synthesizers, and Torsten switched to guitar. Torsten came up with the name during a skate session.

In 1987 they became the first Swedish band to be interviewed on the Swedish radio show Soul Corner, a radio program covering African-American music.

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Wikipedia