PRESS PLAY: The Groove Lagoon funks things up at the DN
- izzylewismedia8
- Apr 30, 2025
- 2 min read
The Groove Lagoon played that funky music for the Daily Nebraskan's fifth installment of Press Play, an in-office concert series.
The Groove Lagoon is a seven-piece (plus one) band that specializes in dynamic funk-fusion music. The members are lead singer MJ Hansen (Funkatello), drummer Ben Gauthier (L.I.A.M), keyboardist Armin Barr, saxophonist and guitarist DaMicah Burtin (MicahAngelo), saxophonist Andy Guilford, guitarist Matt Squires (2nd Hand Wizard) and bassist Aaron Richmond.
The band also features one mysterious figure: The Creature, who creeps around the stage and in the crowd during the high-energy shows.
“It’s just absolute magic, just a groovalicious dream, as they say,” Squires said.
The origins of The Groove Lagoon started with Hansen, as he first started making music by himself.
“When I started, I always had the goal, I wanted to work with real musicians and live instruments,” Hansen said. “So for many years, I made it my goal to track down very specific individuals to form this band.”
Hansen and Squires worked together on projects. It took time to build the multi-talented cast that is The Groove Lagoon.
“I've always had that name locked in the archives for something that was as precious as this band,” Squires said. “Now it's blossomed into this beautiful masterpiece here.”
The final piece of The Groove Lagoon was Hayden Korn. Korn would host multi-day music festivals out of his house, where The Groove Lagoon participated. He also was the owner of a vintage life-size McDonald’s Grimace costume.
“I said, ‘you should come out in the middle of the show in your Grimace outfit,’” Hansen said. “And people started doing rings around him and partying, and then we could never replicate that at the live show.”
While Grimace may not have been the perfect fit for The Groove Lagoon, Korn had just the thing in his arsenal: the creature mask. Now, Korn dons the mask and embodies The Creature. Though he doesn’t contribute musically to the band, he adds an air of mystery and fun to every performance.
The Groove Lagoon provides a rich musical experience. With Guilford’s sax playing and the occasional appearance of Burtin’s soprano sax, the music gains another layer.
The way The Groove Lagoon truly lives up to their name, makes them stand out. Every band member is moving and grooving, providing audience engagement.
“I think the feeling that I see us having on stage is just a combination of color and noise and just a hodgepodge of so many different arts meshed together,” Guilford said.
The Groove Lagoon released their debut album in January. Now the group is working on a follow-up album and is planning on a summer full of new music and lots of gigs. The Groove Lagoon’s next show is May 9 at the Royal Grove for Psychofest.
Check out The Groove Lagoon's performance at the Daily Nebraskan on YouTube.
Published in the Daily Nebraskan, read here.
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