(Photos by S. Alt at Paradiso, 2010) Michael "Clip" Payne is the lead vocalist of "Susie Saxophone". (Backing vocals by himself, Tracey Lewis and Bianca Boom; E1 Ten does the other part of the lead vocals). The title was originally "Suzy Saxophone", dedicated to th daughter of a friend called "Suzy", but I had to change it because still too many people write Susanne with "z"... and this would be too confusing.
I met Clip for the first time in 2007, when he performed with George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic at Hilversum Alive. All of a sudden, this charismatic man with the big warm smile stood next to me in the audience, greeting my friends who have been knowing him for a long time. It can be challenging to capture him onstage because he's always "hiding", since his role is diverse; often doubling the lead vocals, leading the backing vocals and commenting/echoing the lead vocals. Sometimes on stage, sometimes singing from backstage or in the audience.
Why is he called Clip? He used to wear a paper clip as a nose piercing. He has a spade tattoo on his left cheek. It was done by famous tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher. Clip's friend E1 Ten has the same tattoo. E1 Ten and Clip are credited together as "spade brothers" on "Saxify". (left: Susanne+Clip, right: Greg Thomas, Susanne, Clip. Photos by R. Glass; taken 22-07-2016 after George Clinton's 75-Birthday concert at Paradiso)
What I found about him on Wikipedia: Michael "Clip" Payne (born William Michael Payne on September 25, 1958 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American musician. He has been a member of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective since 1977. First credited on Parliament's 1979 release "Gloryhallastoopid" with "Choir Chours", he has appeared on over 20 Parliament-Funkadelic collective recordings primarily as a vocalist and keyboardist. Payne, who is sometimes called "The Man in the Box", typically acts as an on-stage commentator during Parliament-Funkadelic's live performances.
Payne's first professional work was the recording of Edwin Starr's "Twenty-Five Miles" with producer Norman Whitfield. In addition to his work with George Clinton and P-Funk, Payne has performed with DRUGS, Cadillac Heights, The 420 Funk Mob, Stoney Clove Lane, and Cacophonic FM.
Payne founded WEFUNK International in the late 80's as a vehicle for his solo projects which became WEFUNK AD2k Records and Filmworks in 1999. Payne is listed as the CEO of the company which is based in Woodstock, NY. Currently associated with label are the groups DRUGS, 420 Funk Mob, and Cacophony FM, all of which are led by Payne, as well as Stefanie Keys, Joey Eppard, and Stoney Clove Lane. There is no stated relationship between WEFUNK AD2k Records and Filmworks and WEFUNK Radio featured on Montreal's CKUT.
Today is the official release of my latest album Dark Horse!Pictured here: Susanne Alt and Dark Horse drummer Willie Jones III in The Hague a few weeks ago.Dark Horse, along with all other previous albums, is available in my shop. If you want to support me, this is the best way, apart from buying the items after a concert. If you order your CD or LP here you will get a handwritten card from me and I will post it personally :-) 100% of the revenue will go to the artist and her label.But Susanne, I thought Dark Horse was already released 2 weeks ago at your concert at Bimhuis?That was a sort of pre-release concert. I chose this moment to sell physical merchandise there because once there's a digital release, for some people it will lead to less physical sales. On the other hand, digital platforms are a chance to let people listen and let them decide how they want to listen. I get it, it's convenient, and I also use a lot of streaming media for learning music and teaching. Personally, I choose to buy an album when I really love the music and/or want to support the artist, especially if it's self-released. Did you know that it takes more than 2000 Spotify streams to equal a revenue of €10? Sometimes, at concerts I get into discussions, why I sell my cd's and vinyls so cheap?People tell me I should be charging €15 or even €20 per cd and €30 or €35 for an album. I feel I don't have to make more profit on top. I rather want to encourage you to buy some of my previous albums... and carry it the brand new tote bag :-)Also, we used the concert at Bimhuis for shooting video material. In about 2 weeks I will send a newsletter with an overall update, also including brand new footage of this new music, so stay tuned. Subscribe here (Subscribe form on the website).Other ways to buy Dark Horse:If you happen to have a gift voucher from bol.com, order it from there. There's distribution in Germany for the people that like to order it via WOM, HHV and other shops.Super happy to make this happen, also extra shout out to German distributor Plattenfirma to go. I wish there was a service like that in Benelux and other countries as well! I definitely can recommend their services.And, how convenient, since today Dark Horse is out on all digital platforms.Reviews and radio airplay are coming in one by one, mostly involved, interesting and positive responses. Sometimes I read that the expectations of the writer was different, or sometimes things are misunderstood, but you know, what really counts is that people take the effort to write about it!!! Writing about culture is important, wherefore thank you everyone who makes it happen. I really appreciate it and feel humbled. Thank you Jazzfuel once more again for the outstanding service and communication.From time to time, Incoming press will be added to the press section, so if you come back sometimes, you can see that it will be filling up. Also, if you want you can read around in our archives with all the articles about previous albums. - (Photos by S. Alt at Paradiso, 2010)Michael Clip Payne is the lead vocalist of Susie Saxophone. (Backing vocals by himself, Tracey Lewis and Bianca Boom; E1 Ten does the other part of the lead vocals). The title was originally Suzy Saxophone, dedicated to th daughter of a friend called Suzy, but I had to change it because still too many people write Susanne with z... and this would be too confusing.I met Clip for the first time in 2007, when he performed with George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic at Hilversum Alive. All of a sudden, this charismatic man with the big warm smile stood next to me in the audience, greeting my friends who have been knowing him for a long time.It can be challenging to capture him onstage because he's always hiding, since his role is diverse; often doubling the lead vocals, leading the backing vocals and commenting/echoing the lead vocals. Sometimes on stage, sometimes singing from backstage or in the audience. Why is he called Clip? He used to wear a paper clip as a nose piercing. He has a spade tattoo on his left cheek. It was done by famous tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher. Clip's friend E1 Ten has the same tattoo. E1 Ten and Clip are credited together as spade brothers on Saxify. (left: Susanne+Clip, right: Greg Thomas, Susanne, Clip. Photos by R. Glass; taken 22-07-2016 after George Clinton's 75-Birthday concert at Paradiso)What I found about him on Wikipedia:Michael Clip Payne (born William Michael Payne on September 25, 1958 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American musician. He has been a member of the Parliament-Funkadelic collective since 1977. First credited on Parliament's 1979 release Gloryhallastoopid with Choir Chours, he has appeared on over 20 Parliament-Funkadelic collective recordings primarily as a vocalist and keyboardist. Payne, who is sometimes called The Man in the Box, typically acts as an on-stage commentator during Parliament-Funkadelic's live performances.Payne's first professional work was the recording of Edwin Starr's Twenty-Five Miles with producer Norman Whitfield. In addition to his work with George Clinton and P-Funk, Payne has performed with DRUGS, Cadillac Heights, The 420 Funk Mob, Stoney Clove Lane, and Cacophonic FM.Payne founded WEFUNK International in the late 80's as a vehicle for his solo projects which became WEFUNK AD2k Records and Filmworks in 1999. Payne is listed as the CEO of the company which is based in Woodstock, NY. Currently associated with label are the groups DRUGS, 420 Funk Mob, and Cacophony FM, all of which are led by Payne, as well as Stefanie Keys, Joey Eppard, and Stoney Clove Lane. There is no stated relationship between WEFUNK AD2k Records and Filmworks and WEFUNK Radio featured on Montreal's CKUT.Here's a bit of Clip on lead vocals:Opolopo's remix of Susie Saxophone:Michael Clip Payne Links:Discography Wikipedia Official Facebook Page Twitter
