It’s an exciting time to be a fan of The Funk Hunters. For the past couple of years, the duo has been touring the world over with Jurassic 5 founding member Chali 2na. The fruits of that collaboration will be featured on ILLectric, the debut EP featuring all of these acclaimed artists. Due out on October 14th via Westwood Recordings (pre-order here), Funk Hunters’ Nick Middleton tells us what ILLectric means to him.

“Working with Chali has been a dream for sure. We’ve been on the road touring and performing with him all around the world the past couple years which has been incredible – he’s one of the best performers and lyricists ever. But it wasn’t until we started to work on this record and get into the studio together that that really hit home for me. I was constantly blown away by the verses he would come up with for these tracks. It’s an amazing feeling to drop a verse from Chali 2na onto your new production! And even cooler to then get to go perform it with him live after its done!”

With the album coming out in a matter of days, The Funk Hunters are keeping anticipation high by sharing the second track. Titled “Get Involved,” the exciting song was the fruit of a long collaboration with Canadian producer Defunk. “He sent me a bunch of demos, and he had this one that had a really strong idea that I thought could be great for verse section on the new record. So I took it to my studio and we ran with it, we added new bass drops and choruses. Then it was off to Chali to write some verses and a hook, and suddenly it turned into this epic “Get Involved” message! Its one of our faves on the record for sure!”

While “Get Involved” has great music and lyrics, the song comes to life in the band’s brand new video. Shot entirely in Chali’s hometown in Chicago, it’s a surprise layer of animation that turns a music video into a work of art.

“We called our friend Ben Leonard, an amazing animator and creative dude who works on alot of the live visuals content for some huge electronic artists like Excision,” said Middleton. “He had this great idea to tastefully animate overtop of the footage and the result is so killer, really pumped how it turned out!”

Check it out for yourself! We’re excited to share the great new video for “Get Involved” with you, streaming below.

The track has already been a hit with Funk Hunters fans, as Middleton tells us about their experience debuting “Get Involved” at Burning Man. “We premiered this track live with Chali 2na at Burning Man this year – we had a headlining slot at Camp Questionmark on Friday night, so it pretty epic to hear it blasting out over the desert at midnight to thousands of people on a PK Soundsystem. It was actually the first time I had ever heard Chali recite the verses live before, it was a cool feeling.”

If “Get Involved” is any indication, the band’s new album is sure to be a hit. ILLectric is due out on October 14th, and you can find the pre-order via iTunes here. The Funk Hunters and Chali 2na are heading out on the road throughout the remainder of 2016, so don’t miss out. You can see their tour dates below, and get all the information on the band’s website.

The Funk Hunters and Chali 2na Tour Dates

OCT 28 – THE MULE – PENTICTON, BC
OCT 29 – HUME HOTEL – SOLD OUT – NELSON, BC
OCT 30 – WILD BILL’S LGENDARY SALOON – BANFF, AB
OCT 31 – ROCKWATER BAR – GOLDEN, BC
NOV 25 – THE INTERSECTION – GRAND RAPIDS, MI
NOV 26 – BOTTOM LOUNGE – CHICAGO, IL
NOV 29 – HIFI MUSIC HALL EUGENE, OR
NOV 30 – FORTY-FIVE EAST – PORTLAND, OR
DEC 01 – NECTAR LOUNGE – SEATTLE, WA
DEC 02 – WILD BUFFALO – BELLINGHAM, WA

The Funk Hunters & Chali 2na – ILLectric Tracklisting

1. Oh S**t
2. Get Involved feat. Defunk
3. Funk Back
4. Word To Spread feat. Thom Thumb
5. Right Right Up feat. CMC & Silenta & Verse iTal