Did you know Indianapolis possesses the highest concentration of funkalicious musicality in the entire Midwest?
In fact, the only place funkier in the entire world is the ten feet surrounding famed force-of-funk-nature George Clinton at any given time.
Where in Indy can this nexus of nastiness, this gathering of groovalicious funkadelia be found? To be honest, it can’t be found right now. It temporarily closed in July of 2017. But it can be found again when it reopens this summer, at the Museum of Psychphonics.
The museum is a sensory-saturated overload of American weirdness, dedicated to that secret streak of strangeness that we rarely bring out in polite company. It’s an ode to the part of you that sings in the shower or the part that jiggles your hips when you pop in the earbuds. You know exactly what I’m talking about.
Originally tucked away in a 100-square foot room of Indy’s hipster-haven, Joyful Noise Recordings, the Museum of Psychphonics will soon be reopening in a (slightly) larger venue in Fountain Square.
Featured exhibitions are as mysterious as they are bizarre; both staff and visitors are strongly encouraged not to share the specifics of a visit to the Museum of Psychphonics, only the broad-stroke emotions. Exhibits are hush-hush. Spoiling a movie is bad manners; spoiling a funk fan’s first visit to the museum is groove’s biggest party foul. Open mouths are discouraged, but open minds are necessary.
The only exhibit I am comfortable sharing is a UFO, since it’s already had some serious press. Not a UFO, exactly.A Mothership. And not a Mothership, exactly, but a model of a Mothership. And not just a Mothership. Specifically, the small Mothership used by the Parliament Funkadelic in the 1970s in concert, just before Dr. Funkenstein, George Clinton’s alter-ego, emerged from the larger Mothership onstage. Fans of P-Funk will…well, they’ll be in awe.It’s an artifact of modern music, marking the transition of funky to Funk.
Keep tabs on the museum by following its Facebook page here. Fans expect the reopening announcement soon, and in the meantime, we can follow the advice of Dr. Funkenstein himself: “Put a glide in your stride, a dip in your hip, and come on up to the mothership…” Want to Know More? I Know You Do.
