Divine Mind : Funk Defined

Are you a fan of letting the music move you? Maybe even dancing like no one's watching? Two words: Divine Mind. This funk band coming out of Athens Georgia is a force to be reckoned with. Self-described as a combination of "funk tunes with a rock overtone", this four-man squad gives you just about everything you're looking for in the genre. The crew consists of Chase Gailey (Vocals and Bass), Sebastian Wong (Lead Guitar), Allen Camps (Rhythm Guitar), and Alex Bower (Drums).

Currently, the Mind has three singles released on streaming services, including titles such as "Amy G" and "Bored!". Each of these three seems to have been received well by the public. Since their 2019 release of "Expectations", the group has amassed over 1,700 monthly listeners on Spotify.

I was given the opportunity to interview (virtually of course) Divine Mind's lead guitarist, Sebastian Wong. When asked about the band's origination, I was told that it was founded by Sebastian and drummer Alex Bower. "We sat down next to each other during class one day, and instantly got along," he said. They happened to share the same friends, as well as musical taste. After this realization, Sebastian stated that Alex "brought up that he was trying to start a band with a couple of his buddies, and they needed another guitar player." The group got together one day and as he put it, "the rest was history."

Divine Mind's influence is relatively centralized but has a range stretching from The Grateful Dead and Pink Floyd to Hippo Campus and Goose. Like most bands, Sebastian stated that Divine Mind's overall goal for 2021 was "just to get our music out there to as many people as possible, and make them as happy listening to our stuff as we are making it."

When it comes to gigs, this band makes sure to stay busy. When asked about their favorite performance so far, Sebastian described their experience opening for The Family Recipe at the Athens venue, The 40 Watt. "It was our first time playing a show at a venue that so many of our favorite artists have played at. It was certainly surreal, and we can’t wait to play at more venues like the 40 Watt again," he said. However, not all of their gigs go this well. Sebastian described their funniest experience for the band included a performance at an Athens' art show. "Everything that could go wrong did," he said. "Our bass amp speaker blew 3 songs into our set, and the power outlets that we were plugged into kept shorting. It was an absolute disaster of a night but we made the best of it. To top it all off, we were promised to be compensated for our performance, but we’re all given a shot of whiskey as payment instead." Sebastian stated that experiences like these are perceived optimistically by the group, believing that "things can always be worse."

If you would like to learn more about Divine Mind, linked below is their Instagram!

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/divinemindband/