Covering Their Bases: Foot Patrol on Prince
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Cover bands. Say what you will about them, but unlike their more successful and famous counterparts, they’ll always play the hits and won’t be snobby assholes about it. In Covering Their Bases, Decider asks a cover band to weigh in on a contentious issue regarding the reason for their existence. In this edition: Hung Nguyen and TJ Wade of the foot-fetish funk band Foot Patrol, which doubles as a Prince tribute act for its semi-regular Princes Nites—when it’s not boasting its own sexed-up, toe-obsessed take on R&B-meets-new-wave Minneapolis sound. Prior to tonight’s show at Scoot Inn, Nguyen and Wade weigh in on The Purple One’s notoriously litigious nature, including his frequent threats to sue anyone who dares put his music online or even use his likeness.
Decider: Foot Patrol’s original songs already recall Prince as well as all those other 1980s Minneapolis bands, but when did you decide to just go all the way with it and start doing Prince Nite?
Hung Nguyen: We worked with a production team, RubyRico Productions, that started producing tribute nights. I went to Stax Nite at Victory Grill, and it was amazing. It seemed like a win-win situation for us to do a tribute night with them. It's a common bond TJ and I have—the fact that we both love Prince. It was very natural for us to fall into covering Prince songs.
D: You’d think that he would appreciate the adulation, but Prince is known for demanding that even his most dedicated fansites take down his images, videos, and music. How do you feel about that?
HN: Personally, I think he's doing more harm to his name brand. It's kind of silly to alienate fans who make you who you are. It's not like he's hurting for money. But I kind of wonder if he's even involved in that or if it's his handlers or lawyers. I really don't see him being that personally invested in these lawsuit threats.
D: Do you still plan to risk Prince's wrath with more Prince tribute nights?
HN: We would welcome his wrath. For Prince to notice you is not a bad thing.
D: You guys do seem fearless, what with your willingness to put your foot fetish out there for everyone to see.
TJ Wade: I've always been open about that. I developed one at the age of 10. We'd play footsies with each other, and at 13, that's when it got extreme. I didn't write my first foot fetish song until '05—“Foot Party Anthem”—and that's what really kicked it off. A big shout out to everyone that gets it. To those who don't get it, they'll get it soon. They'll be infected with the funk once they've heard us. I love feet and making music about feet, and if it's all right for people to dance to, that's the most important thing.
