My Fantasy Band: Kevin Barnes, Of Montreal
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Your support makes all the difference.Vocals - Marvin Gaye
I've been obsessed with him recently. You never got the sense that he was just phoning it in; he always invested emotionally in every moment of every song and he used space in a way that most vocalists don't know how to: he created tension and then following that, a great release. He could sing the national anthem and I'd be moved.
Guitar - Freddie Stone
I'm definitely more of a rhythm guitar fan than a lead guitar fan. Lead guitar doesn't seem to have as much emotion. The good thing about Freddie is he could do solo, but he chose to just be a part of the rhythm. I actually had to resist the urge to just pick Sly and the Family Stone as my fantasy band.
Keys - Jon Brion
He's someone a bit more contemporary and someone I've worked with recently. He's a producer and composer; he does everything. He's extremely creative and adventurous and he has a great attitude to music. He's very adamant that music should connect to the body.
Synths - Bernie Worrell
He played with Parliament-Funkadelic and Talking Heads. He's classically trained but he understands funk music as well as anyone. I watched a documentary on him recently and he explained that he approaches playing synths like making love to a woman: he wants it to last all night.
Piano - Stevie Wonder
Kind of an obvious choice, but he just exudes this enthusiasm and positivity and his performances are very infectious. Every time I listen to him, it elicits some sort of emotion – I'm never indifferent.
Bass - Nathan Watts
He played with Stevie Wonder and Michael Jackson, among others. There's a bit of a jazzy quality to his playing and he's very creative. In my mind he's the best kind of bass player because he adds flourishes which make the song jump and give it that extra something.
Drums - Robert Wyatt
I loved everything he did with Soft Machine. He'd be someone who was open-minded and cool with experimenting. I think he'd be a good centrepiece. In a lot of ways I think the drummer is the most important element in the band because everybody is depending on him to lock down the groove and to establish the rhythm. He's the captain of the team.
Of Montreal's new album, 'False Priest', is out on Monday. They tour the UK from 4 October (Ofmontreal.net)
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