“I like classical, gospel, Bruno Mars, the Killers and the Weeknd. And I always go back to David Gilmour! If it doesn’t suck, I probably listen to it”: Why P-Funk legend Michael Hampton is keeping an open mind in search of his solo sound

Michael Hampton, whose legacy resides firmly within the structure of the house that George Clinton built, aka Parliament-Funkadelic, hasn’t released a lot of music lately.

At 69, he’s settled into a calmer life, albeit a life that still includes plenty of guitar playing and occasionally hitting the road with P-Funk.

In fact, Hampton joined Clinton and company for a seven-date tour at the end of 2025 into early 2026. Does this, along with a new album titled Into the Public Domain signal a change of course for the generally relaxed six-stringer?

“It started with a lot of guys getting together and kicking it in the studio,” Hampton tells Guitar World. “There’ve been sessions on and off, and I had Joe Nicolo [James Taylor, Jazzy Jeff, the Fugees, Lauryn Hill] producing, so it was great.”

If you’re assuming Into the Public Domain will be a strict P-Funk offshoot, think again. The nine-song EP features an interesting cast of characters, including Shooter Jennings, who played keys and did some co-production work at Sunset Studios in Los Angeles.

“The idea of being a solo artist, man – it’s been going fast,” Hampton says. “I just tried to record things as they came to me and hand it over to Joe, who picked out the good stuff and made a good mix. It was about respecting what everybody does and just working on it.”

Michael Hampton Official - Fight or Flight Response Music Video - YouTube

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Cuts like Fight or Flight show Hampton’s pop-rock side, and then there’s the title track, which explodes with the sort of funky fury that made Hampton famous with P-Funk in the ’70s. “I’ve got so many varied tastes,” Hampton says. “I just have them all involved, and whatever surfaces is what goes out.”

Equally varied are Hampton’s gear choices. “It’s really about whatever I had lying around,” he says. “I have a Japanese Guyatone Sharp 5 that I used a lot, plus an old PRS and a Gibson Flying V I’ve had since the P-Funk days.”

Hampton is excited for fans to hear his new EP. In the meantime, he’s listening to all sorts of sounds, with an eye toward hearing – and making – more.

“I’ve been listening to a lot of Kamasi Washington,” he says. “He takes me somewhere. But I get into drone and meditative sleep stuff, too. I like classical, gospel, Bruno Mars, the Killers and the Weeknd. And I always go back to David Gilmour! It’s crazy; I don’t find one thing to settle on. If it doesn’t suck, I probably listen to it.” [Laughs]

• Into the Public Domain is out now via SMN/So Let's Talk.
• This article first appeared in Guitar World. Subscribe and save.