INTERVIEW: Percussionist Nikki Glaspie brings the funk on Nth Power tour

The Nth Power are having a banner year. The funk group featuring drummer Nikki Glaspie starts a lengthy tour Friday, March 10 in Columbus, Ohio, in support of their new album, Abundance. They make a stop in New York City Wednesday, March 16 at Brooklyn Bowl.

Glaspie, an alumna of Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, said fans can expect The Nth Power to bring the love while on tour. “They can expect to have a good time and dance,” she said recently during a phone interview. “We’re going to put on a show.”

Glaspie and the other members of The Nth Power, including Nate Edgar, Nick Cassarino, Courtney “Jay-Mel” Smith and Weedie Braimah, stick to a setlist when performing concerts throughout the United States; however, there’s always room for improvisation and modification.

“I mean a lot of our fans have seen us before, and this is actually a tour in support of our new album,” she said. “So we will be playing some new material for them to hear.”

The recording of Abundance took place in New Orleans, Brooklyn and Manhattan. Starting the album in New Orleans made sense because that’s where the band began at an early-morning Jazz Fest performance in 2012.

“It started on a late night gig with Jennifer Hartswick, and we all just kind of looked at each other during sound check and was like, this is a band,” Glaspie said. “So we were just writing and recording immediately, and since we were down there for Jazz Fest, it only seemed appropriate that we would do it down there because that’s where the vibe was. And that’s how it all came together.”

Glaspie has been banging on the drums since she was 2 years old. “It’s pretty much the only thing I know how to drive besides drive, send emails, no I’m kidding,” she said with a laugh.

She added later: “My mother plays keyboards. She’s a musician, and my dad is a huge music lover. He played saxophone as well. My first influences were gospel music because I grew up playing drums in church.”

At the age of 15, Glaspie’s father introduced her to an eclectic group of rock bands, including Eve 6, Rage Against the Machine and Van Halen. “But I wasn’t really exposed to a lot of different music growing up in church,” she said. “So when I got to college, I really delved into like fusion, and salsa and like funk, and once I found funk music, that was it. It was like, this is what I want to do. I want to make people dance, and I love the funk.”

Today, life on the road can grow tiresome, but Glaspie seems to relish the opportunity. She said it never “gets old,” and the band lives for those 90-100 minutes on stage.

“So, you know, personally I appreciate the road,” Glaspie said. “I like driving. I love nature. I get to see a beautiful sky, and trees, and mountains and everything. It’s very soothing. But it can definitely wear on the body and the mind being in a vehicle for such a long time and not really getting the ample rest that one requires. We don’t really sleep that much.”

Glaspie spoke a day before the band’s first tour stop, which is set for Columbus, Ohio. There was excitement in the van, she said. “They’re like, man, we’re so excited about this, to really be taking the bull by the horns,” she said of her musical colleagues. “Just going out there and just doing it. Nothing to it but to do it. We’re really excited about the tour and things to come for sure.”

Before The Nth Power, Glaspie was probably best known as the drummer for Beyonce, a gig that lasted five years, and her time with the successful Dumpstaphunk band, headed by Ivan Neville. She left the funk group in August 2014, and it seems to have been a bittersweet decision.

“I mean I love playing with those guys, and I learned a lot from them,” she said. “And they were funky dudes. They were already one of my favorite bands before they called me to join the band, and I was super-excited when they called me. I was like, oh my God, I get to play with these dudes. I mean they’ve been around playing music their whole lives. You know what I mean? And they have 20-30 years experience on me, so it was really great to just go out with some veterans, and just take it to the next level and learn about the road from their perspective seeing that they’ve been on it a lot longer than I have. So, yeah, I didn’t want to go, but I’m not two people. Once I figure out how to clone myself then I’ll probably have 30 gigs or something. I’ll be at 30 tours at once.”

Glaspie is the type of drummer and performer who also loves the songs she creates. She’s a fan of the funk genre and music in general. From rock to metal to jazz, the music, in her mind, all relates. “Good music is just good music,” she said.

She added: “I want this band to be the biggest band on the planet, you know what I mean, which who doesn’t want that for their band. But more so than that, I want to make a positive difference in people’s lives. … We can give each other respect. We can love each other, and we can make the world a better place. That’s really kind of the whole mission or what we hope to do with the band is just spread positive vibes and love.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

• The Nth Power are heading out on a major national tour. Click here for more information on the tour, new album and tickets.