Based in Chicago and playing at venues such as the Congress Theater and Metro, funk band The Heard has been combining early funkadelic styles and upbeat jams for several years.

The group consists of a horn section, including Adam Gross on trombone, Parris Fleming on trumpet and Lucas Ellman on saxophone. There’s also Taras Horalewskyj on guitar, Neal O’Hara on keyboard, bassist Mike Starr and drummer P.J. Howard.

The band is scheduled to perform at Hangar 9 this Friday night, and the Daily Egyptian had the opportunity to talk to the band before its stop in Carbondale.

How did you guys come together and decide you were going to play funk music?

A few years ago, Taras (our guitar player), found a funk nugget in his pocket. He planted it in the back yard, watered it vigorously and out sprouted The Heard.

How does it feel to step on stage at historical Chicago venues?

Playing the stage at Congress Theater was a rush because it felt like the place was going to collapse at any moment.

How does the crowd response in Carbondale or southern Illinois differ from the Chicago crowd?

It’s always fun playing in our home city, but we really like playing Hanger 9 in Carbondale because the crowds warm up really quickly and just have this great energy that we love.

How would you describe your sound to someone unfamiliar with funk?

Take a look at some James Brown circa 1974 or Parliament from the same era. That’s where I would start before going deeper.

What does the word funk mean to you?

Horatio Sans.

Sometimes when a band includes a horn section, it’s hard to balance sound between the horns and rhythm sections. How do you guys blend your sound and interact with each other on stage in order to find that balance?

Balance comes from being patient, respecting space and striving to be tasteful, even though those things can all end up taking on different meanings depending on what is happening during a given performance and where the energy level is. The majority of it comes from making sure our parts all fit together to achieve what we want out of the big picture when we are writing. We play so much together as a band performing and rehearsing that you just start to develop a sense of what feels right.

Do you have any new music in the works?

We’ve got lots of new music in the works, which we’re excited about. In December we’re going to be in California recording with Sergio Rios of Orgone (band), and the game plan heading into that is to have an album’s worth of brand new material.

Local band Soul Census will open the show at 10 p.m. Friday and The Heard will follow. Cover for the 19-and-up show is $5.

Other upcoming performances for The Heard include The Boulevard Festival in Chicago this Sunday and the Bear Creek Music and Arts Festival in Live Oak, Fla. in November.

Chase Myers can be reached at [email protected], or on Twitter @chasemyers_DE