About Me
Sweet Motha' Child formed a four piece funk/rock/R&B band in February of 1997, but historically can be described best as a rotating funk ensemble oftentimes as large as between thirteen and nineteen musicians and vocalists. The group was led by Producer/Keyboardist/Lead Singer/Frontman/Manager Danny Bedrosian, and was cofounded by bassist Alex Rodriguez, guitarist Josh Baribeau, and drummer Chris Monty. The group was initially formed to win a local Battle of the Bands. They not only won first prize at their first ever show, but they went on to win three more consecutive Battle of the bands concerts in a year’s time.The band shifted and evolved constantly, and quickly attained a proper amount of interest in the local communities around the Merrimack river valley area of Northern Massachusetts and Southern New Hampshire. Band members were from cities and towns such as Lawrence, Lowell, Dracut, Methuen, Haverhill, Boston, and Tyngsboro, all in Massachusetts, and Pelham, Salem, Windham, Hudson, Nashua, Durham, Dover, Portsmouth, Newmarket, Manchester, and Lebanon, all in New Hampshire.The group played shows at the local high schools, community and school dances, city concerts, churches, and battle of the bands', until recording their first album entitled Unhealthy Groove Music in June and July of 1998 in Wilmington, Massachusetts. This first album was actually produced by the elder statesman of the group, bassist Rodriguez, who was at least ten years older than the rest of the band at this time, and had a professional music career already, engineering for New Kids on the Block on their first album. The band’s first ever album was of a simply put, happy nature; it did have a couple of social statements in songs like Easier to Put on Slippers, and Future Verse and sexual symbolism in Dirty Water, but most of the album spun a pop inflected, almost bubblegum tip with the opener Wild Runnin, and other cuts like Have, Lightness and Darkness, and Slinky Sally.Sweet Motha' Child went on to record 6 albums total in it's 6 years of existence as a band. Between February 1998 and August 2004, over 30 musicians, vocalists, visionaries, artists, and innovators joined, left and oftentimes rejoined SMC's ranks.The albums were raucous parties, huge concepts, magical stories, myths, legends, social treatises, and political statements, sexual fantasies, humorous outtakes, and so much more, from this point on, produced by Bedrosian, who was always interested in taking the band in a new direction. The group’s versatility and unique structure was its advantage in an area which had virtually no other funk groups at the time. The New England music scene in the late nineties contained an established partisan ‘modern rock’ genre governing everything else; an innovative Hardcore/Metal underground group which had formulated the genre early on and then disappeared, having destroyed itself from within; a vital, freestyle driven hip hop community; a handful of Phish derived jam bands and folk groups, claiming to use “funk stylesâ€, but not really playing true funk.Sweet Motha’ Child was not only innovative, it was also instrumental in TEACHING many who were unaware of what FUNK was, where it came from, the meaning of the “ONEâ€, the vital infiniti inside (Free your mind and your ass will follow via Funkadelic), and the importance of the pocket, to an unsuspecting and until then wholly unfunky audience.Sweet Motha’ Child’s second album, Soul Servant, was Bedrosian’s first ever production, and was a blessed combination of sounds and styles. It all maintained a consistent thought, however, and was Bedrosian’s first dark album opus; he would return to this theme at other times later as well. The album was also the first of many to have something for everyone: Dance Music (aint gonna do that to me), Funkadelia (Marblemaker), Country (Mr. Sandman), Psychedelic Rock Opera (Ladybug), Reggae (Don’t Give Up) Pure FUNK (So Groove Me), Rock-Funk (Funkyland), a touch of Radiohead (Living For A Time), and Baroque (Burn). The album liners were written by Mr .Gregg Albach, who had a penchant for the written and spoken word. Overall, and especially for Bedrosian’s first production ever; An amazing album from start to finish.
To this day, many members hold this as their favorite SMC album.The band continued playing venues and selling their CDs, Bedrosian continued producing for other acts as well, such as the Alternative/post industrial/Rock group Better Days, and his collaboration with SMC second guitar Marc Munoz entitled the Cloudquakers.Around this time, The band’s third LP, Who Is Mr. Grooveytunes, was being recorded and subsequently released. It was Bedrosian and the group’s first REAL concept album, with Bedrosian, Baribeau, and Monty acting out the roles of a number of funk aliens that were being experimented .. an accidental crash landing. The liner notes contained a story written by Bedrosian, dealing with the entire space aged, cartoon concept. And the band delivered on the music, by this time, over 12 people strong, and punching with hard, Parliament-influenced Funk and Hard R&B. Average Mans’s World, Sickest Gas Station (original guitarist Baribeau’s tour de force), Love Massage, Is It Glee, Whatchoogot, Mid Show Funny (featuring rapper Josh Maldonado), There Was A Man, and Dat Reel (the band’s most famous live closer, which they closed shows with from late 99-mid 03 consistently) all exhibited this style. The only turn away from the dancefloor was the Rock ballad I Still Stand, which had a classical spin on it as well.The album did well on the radio, especially among hard rock stations (strangely enough) in the Massachusetts area. The group’s song Dat Reel was being played alongside Godsmack and other hard rock groups local to the area and new to big time rock radio. Another tune, Mid Show Funny, was being played at a couple of strip joints in the area, just improving local opinion of the deep stanky funk that these KIDS were playing. Sickest Gas Station was playing on a station in Vermont, and Average Man’s World was being played on college radio in New Hampshire.The band delivered the album live just as well; complete with theatrical imagery, costumes, character voices, and a big sound to match, Sweet Motha Child started playing larger and larger gigs, such as The Rockingham Park Race Track at New year’s eve, and the IceCenter, both in Salem, NH. Bedrosian at this time donned the outfit of Mr. Grooveytunes himself, complete with duck bill and eyeball-tipped wigs. Bedrosian and Munoz often donned a sheet instead, and Munoz also dressed as a Samurai. Elise Bedrosian had a number of sparkly outfits, died her hair orange, and sometimes dressed as Robin from Batman. Drummer Chris Monty was a deranged Uncle Sam, Guitarist Baribeau was a hillbilly with overalls and a HUGE rubber cowboy hat, bassist Normandin switched between fatigues, and a Colonial Revolutionary War costume, trombonist Larry Nguyen dressed as Where’s Waldo, trumpeter Steve Casey often wore silk shirts and straw hats, trumpeter Adam Trull switched between a cross dresser and a zombie, and Maldonado donned more traditional hip hop gear, fused with bizarre hats and glasses.After 2000, the band started changing even more, with members leaving, being fired, and coming back, and other newer members joining the ranks as well. After producing the debut album for funk band (and SMC fans) Red Fish, Blue Fish, Bedrosian decided to hire the band en masse into SMC. Guitarist Baribeau had gone to school with the RFBF band, and thought it a good idea as well, given the recent firing of SMC’s horn section, and the quitting of guitarist Munoz and bassist Normandin.With the new members in tow, the band’s third album, another concept masterpiece entitled Doubtful David Diffendorff, was the band at a slightly more scaled down level (8 people) with already senior members Bedrosian, sister Elise, Josh Baribeau, and Chris Monty remaining on, and newcomers John Deming (gtr), Matt Soucy (sax), Mike Blancato (perc, 2nd drum), and Mike Ricci (tpt) coming into the fold. Other members had joined the band at this time, such as bassist Sean Carmichael, trombonist Matt Maynard, and DJ Dan Forberg, but they did not yet appear on the albums.This album was a return to darker moods, with the apocalyptic face of David Diffendorff (a made up astrological pattern in the sky whose face, when turned downward, indicates the coming of Armageddon, due to humans own misdeeds) donning the cover, painted by Boston artist Erin Pipitone. The songs had a lot of FUNK on them on this album too, with a newer jazz feel as well, in hard hitting songs such as Tip Your Hat to the Side, Negative Brain, Evopollution, Funk Me Fo Free and the title track. More of Bedrosian’s liner notes stocked the inside of the album, detailing this sad but poetically apropos story. Newsflashes dot the audio inserts on the album, with prophetic doomsday notions being spun by the crazoid news casters, played by original members Bedrosian, Baribeau and Monty.Other songs on the album take the mood into different directions, such as drummer Chris Monty’s metal infused jazz piece, Three-Fourths of Montigua, Bedrosian’s mentalcase doo-wopping in The Horse Hop, and absent bassist Sean Carmichael’s collaboration with Bedrosian and co, the Dave Matthews influenced Man & Girl. The title track is another Bedrosian composition, a diverse two part song, with the opening funky dance section masking the brooding, dark, inflective second section, with amazing musicianship and vocals.This album propelled the band into more radioplay, especially in the college circuit, where Bedrosian was leading the band into more and more. In Boston, other parts of Mass, NH, VT and Maine, Tip your Hat to the Side, Negative Brain, and the Horse Hop were in regular rotation on college stations.The college crowd was taking a real liking to SMC, and the band was playing at dormitory festivals, Basketball court concerts, Union Building Theaters, Frat Parties, Local Bars and Clubs, House Parties, and anywhere on campus they could get their show, which was already starting to grow again, with the inclusion of the aforementioned newer members, as well as backup singers Andrea Quigley, Ken Wilk, and Violinist Carolyn Kokko, the return of Adam Trull, a brief respite for Normandin and Maldonado, and the writing of even more new material.In late 2000 the band began work on their most ambitious album yet. The large concept masterpiece entitled Histories. This album took the style bending tones of Soul Servant and expunged upon them in an even deeper and more progressive fashion. The music was starting to get very technically deep at this time, and the lyrics were, as always, bending the limits of all things social, political, sexual, natural, technological, scatological and cosmological. The album had it all, and worked in a similar way to Soul Servant. It opened with the funk-dance of Everybody’s Rich on the Dancefloor, but then has a HUGE jazz streak in it, with the jazz ballad Nameless Song, the hilarious one part elevator jazz and one part hard rock Good Shopper/Bad Shopper, the four part acapella MeetGreetStealFeel, Bedrosian’s amazing fusion Sonata Horizontal Insomnia, Baribeau’s Rock/Jazz Fusion tune Forever, and Monty’s modern Jazz/Pop/Rock monster Sender. The classical sound also is prevalent especially in inserts like the intro, the funny Nostradami, and the outro, but also in the Bedrosian/Monty collab Timeline, which features a mix of Classical, Jazz, Funk and Hip Hop. The Deming/Carmichael/Bedrosian collab Aritificial Insmelligence is a hard rock/funk ass kicking nightmare about cloning. And then there’s Slave 6, based in Armenian modes, and dedicated to the victims and survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Keeping the consistency with the last album, Pipitone painted the cover again, which appeared in two different versions.The album itself was worth playing in one listen; The only songs to be played on any radio from this album were on college radio, and were few and far between. Of them all, Everybody’s Rich on the Dancefloor saw the most college radioplay, mostly in Lowell, MA and Durham, NH. Although the album wasn’t as commercial as any of the previous SMC undertakings, it proved to be by far the most overtly artistic of SMC’s albums, and most conceptually spacious, as well as grandiose in design and arrangements, as Bedrosian incorporated even more genres into the fold of SMC’s already wide stylistic reputation. Despite the lack of airplay, Histories proved to be SMC’s best selling album by far.The album was really an experimental foray for the band, and was intended more to prove to the competition that SMC was not just another dance band or another jam band; It was to prove that they had much more. Danny and Elise Bedrosian were classically trained on piano for over 20 years already by this point by their master pianist parents, and Baribeau later trained in nylon stringed Classical guitar, and played the Mandolin. Newer guitarist Deming, trumpeter Ricci, and percussionist/2nd drummer Blancato had significant jazz chops as well, and current bassist Carmichael was starting school at Berklee in Boston. Combine that with the incorporation of Kokko’s Violin and the largest SMC horn section to date, and adding melodica and turntables, this created a bizarre symphonic section that Bedrosian manipulates well with his arrangements on Horizontal Insomnia and Nostradami, to name only a couple. Main drummer Chris Monty is also in devastating form on this album, amazing to all who hear and see him play. His polyrhythmic, menacing style was a determined, consistent, and important part of the overall group.The band's concerts were famous by their third year, playing all the major clubs in the New England area, extending to places like Vermont, New York City, and Long Island, to name but a few. The band started receiving many acolades in the college circuit especially, but tended to play as many different types of venues and crowds and they did genres. Just about any type of music could be found in SMC's VAST, VAST catalog, and just about any type of person could be found in SMC's extensive Northeastern Fanbase.The shows were exceptionally exciting, full of musical, artistic, and technical talent amongst the band. The group always left an impression with their look; never conservative, always looking a bit crazoid; influenced heavily by the look and sound of P-funk music. They tended to use costumes, theatrics, and antics of various kinds to initially draw the listener in. This could be anything from starting the show with everybody on the wrong instrument, where the suddenly switch to correct positions, to hiding band members in the audience, to having backup singer Wilk play the trombone and do a comedy bit to open the show (keep in mind Ken Wilk does not really play the trombone). All of these things captivated the college audiences and slowly brought them in. Then, once they had them, they turned on the juice and hit the audience with the FULL sound of a 19 piece funk orchestra.Every show was a new challenge for the band, especially honorary sound guy Josh Baribeau, and Bedrosian, who were afforded the daunting task of organizing all of the amps, drums, percussion, keyboards, guitars, basses, turntables, microphones, mixers, power amps, cables, horns, and other various pedals, bells, whistles, and thangs on many variably sized stages, and ‘staging areas’ (sic). This also of course included mixing all these things once they were set up, and making a consistent on stage sound. Special mention to Chris Barrett, Mike D’Angelo, Mike Sawicki, Kevin Hogan (one of SMC’s main Engineers), Jarod Winters, Gregg Albach, Nick Ricciardi, Jon Picken, and countless others who on more than one occasion helped the group with equipment, sound, transportation, and help at the venues.In late 2001, former members Munoz, Normandin, Robidoux, and Maldonado all came back into the fold. Drummer Chris Monty left at this time and was replaced by Mike Blancato, then Dave Smith, and finally drummer Seth Ceders, who held down the drum chair from late 2001 until Monty’s return in mid 2003. At this time, Bedrosian, Munoz, Normandin, Robidoux, and Ceders formed a five piece hard rock/funk/fusion group called Dr. Sloptapus. The band recorded a killer album that year, and toured extensively in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Eventually the band became a section of the ever expanding Sweet Motha Child show, and it was this combination (as a 17 piece) that played SMC’s first ever tour outside New England, in Long Island and NYC in 2002.Many of the best shows were at Bedrosian’s alma mater, UNH, in Durham and the surrounding seacoast area. When SMC moved their base of operations from the Merrimack River Valley, to more coastal northern regions in late 1999, the group started really growing in popularity; this was the period between 2000-2003 when SMC was in full swing, playing all over the northeast to sizeable crowds in clubs, bars, schools, frathouses, festivals, and house parties. They still hold the record for the largest ever single gathering off campus in UNH’s history. It was a show during a HUGE party at SpringFling 2002. The crowd exceeded 4,500, and teamed out into the streets of frat row, encroaching the main campus area itself. The police could not contain or control the crowd, so they left SMC alone, because shutting down the concert would have been a bad move, given UNH’s penchant for rioting at the drop of a hat during Springtime.To top things off, this historic show, just one of the hundreds SMC played, was a whopping 9 hours long!! The band had such a huge catalog at the time, that Bedrosian and crew only had to repeat two songs, and they were at the request of a tardy fan, who had missed the first few hours of the marathon show!!
This was around the time that the band was peaking to a 19 piece ensemble, complete with guitars, keyboards, drums, percussion, bass, brass, woodwinds, strings, a dj, two rappers, two female backup singers, and a GIGANTIC sound.
The group had challenged the supremacy of other groups in the area, and had managed to struggle their way to the top of the hearts of the local music loving population in and around UNH, the campus community, surrounding major cities like Portsmouth, and the greater collegiate area of New England in general.
The group achieved a vast radio network, receiving a smattering of airplay, mostly in the period from 1999-2003.With an exceptional growth of interest, Sweet Motha Child repackaged and re-released their first two albums in new anniversary editions. This gave an opportunity for all of SMC’s newest fans to hear music that had been sold out for years, in a time when digital downloads were not yet happening.Sweet Motha’ Child’s last album, Monofunksitism, was a new funk party album, with an amazing combination of all the era’s of SMC’s history. You had some class of 98 (Bedrosian, Baribeau, Munoz, MoonChild, Trull) from the Class of 99 (Robidoux) from the Class of ’00 (Deming, Soucy, Wilk, Quigley) Class of ’01 (Kokko, Ceders, and late arrival trumpeter Nick Winslow) Class of ’02 (new bassist Jeff Bonhag) and Class of ’03 (Dr. Sloptapus Rhythm guitarist Matt Lemieux). The album opens with the classical tinged intro, and commences to Funkin and Rockin some hard Soul encroaching anthems like the title track itself, Wilkshake, Kitchen Stink, OneInfiniti, and the closer, Bump N Da Nite. The Rhythm section, Horn Section, Vocal Section and String Section all pulse between each other on these tracks, and sear the way good funk should, but don’t be mistaken. There is nothing regular about SMC’s sound.The album also had a lighter side, with the John Deming penned prostitution-themed jazz number Kitty, the Pop flavored Co-Writer, and the vocal swapping R&B of Tabernacle. The album does SMC proud as it’s final farewell on record, a whopping Funk trek with some of the most difficult arrangements in the band’s catalog, but it swings hard.In June of 2003, Bedrosian left his sister Elise and co-founder Baribeau in charge of the group, so he could travel to faraway Tallahassee, FL to pursue work with P-FUNK master George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic. Accompanying Bedrosian initially was SMC first Trumpet Adam Trull, and SMC Second guitar Marc Munoz.
In less than nine months, Bedrosian landed a gig with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic, after much time as a studio musician at George's studio. In June 2004, Bedrosian became George's newest P-Funk All-Star, as the new Keyboard player in the current touring P-Funk group ever since, touring the world with George Clinton, Fronting his own band Secret Army, and heading up his production and publishing company, BOZFONK MOOSICK, which handles many new up and coming Funk, Jazz, Hip Hop, R&B, Rock, Fusion, and World music groups.Munoz went on to work as the Guitar technician and Stage Manager for The P-Funk All-Stars, starting in late 2007. Starting in 2008, he also began working as guitar technician for Enrique Iglesias, touring the world with both groups.
Virtually all the members of the group have been featured in some way on some of Bedrosian's newest Secret Army material, but Marc is a full time member of Secret Army, both on record and live on stage.Elise Bedrosian and Josh Baribeau continued to hold the band together and they played one or two more shows before officially disbanding in mid 2004. Elise continued on with a lucrative solo career, and a brilliant album Sweet Dalliance. Elise currently plays with brother Danny's band Secret Army as well.Josh Maldonado moved to NYC, and went on to start a very successfull career in casting for major cable stations, as well as some commercial work, and video game and music reviews for major publications. He also fronts his own comedy troupe which is based in Brooklyn.Onetime SMC drummer Seth Ceders continued playing drums with a number of bands, including Somn Fierce, Secret Army, Asphalt Panda, Red Flag, and the Soular System. Other SMC members such as Troy Normandin, Steve Robidoux, Ken Wilk, and Matt Lemieux reunited with Bedrosian and Munoz for a time and revamped Dr. Sloptapus in Florida. They also did some studio work with BOZFONK in 2004-2005 as well, and played in P-Funker Jerome Rodger's band The Church of High Voltage. Normandin and Lemieux still play music together, Robidoux still plays and sings, having done intermittent work with producer Jon Picken and Secret Army. Wilk currently plays in a Funkadelic cover band, and trumpeter Trull is still in the music business, with his Boston-based bands, as is John Deming, and Mike Ricci, who are cousins and play in a band together in the NYC area. Another former SMC bassist, Sean Carmichael, currently resides in Denver, and continues to play music. SMC D.J. Dan Forberg is still playing music, and has a couple of electronic and funk music projects in Springfield, Massachusetts.The music of SMC will live forever, as fans keep springing up post mortem all over the globe; from Denmark and Germany to Japan and China. Covers, samples, and remakes of SMC songs have been redone by Danny Bedrosian himself, as well as sister Elise’s band Soul Hole, erstwhile jam band Liquid Sand Band, and Florida jazz singer Teresa Jimenez. Everyone who listens to the old albums, or hears old audio or sees old video of shows is won over by the sounds and the sights of the group, and their enormous concepts.This site was founded to remember the great times that the group was around, and is primarily for the musicians in SMC. It is dedicated to the following amazing musicians and vocalists.
