This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

The original Mothership was sold for scrap metal in 1983 to pay off some debt. A years-younger twin Mothership was donated to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture in 2011 to centerpiece a "Musical Crossroads" exhibition that just opened a few months ago.

Now relegated to touring around in an Earth-bound van, George Clinton still manages to make it to shows on time, though.

And so, the people of Salt Lake City become the latest witnesses to Dr. Funkenstein's traveling circus, as Clinton and his Parliament Funkadelic bandmates play The Depot on Friday night.

"Tell 'em when they come to the show to bring two booties!" Clinton exhorted in the parting shot of a swerving, tangential, Faulknerian-stream-of-consciousness phone interview with The Salt Lake Tribune.

The 75-year-old funkmaster is keepin' on keepin' on in part because he intends to make enough money to "recapture" all the copyrights he lost to his back catalog in the '80s, but also because he's simply not yet finished saying all he has to say.

"Oh, hell no! I got a fresh batch!" he said. "I got grandkids and their friends in the group, I got them interested. So they're taking me right back in with all these young hip-hoppers, with the Atlanta sound, and we mix it all with the band."

Clinton released a 33-track Funkadelic album, "First Ya Gotta Shake the Gate," in 2014, which took off thanks in large part to a remixed version of the song "Ain't That Funkin' Kinda Hard on You" featuring verses by rap icon Ice Cube and new-school superstar Kendrick Lamar.

Now, he is planning to build on the momentum in 2017 with another pair of albums — one under the Parliament banner and a second as a George Clinton solo effort.

Regarding the Parliament entry, Clinton said: "I got a lot of music, and I don't wanna put it all on one record, so I think I might just give it to 'em in three parts and make it cheap. … The same album in three parts, like a couple of months apart. It takes people a long time to absorb funk, and I can't do no Snapchat funkin'! If I'm gonna funk on Periscope, I got to get into it! I respect the fact that today's is a shorter attention span, so I'm trying to service that. And they can chop it up the way they want to later, but I have to give it to 'em the way I do it."

As for the solo project, Clinton said he's working with producer Flying Lotus and his Brainfeeder label, and that he expects that music to take on a vibe wholly different from horn-dominated Parliament and rock guitar-driven Funkadelic. "I'll pretty much be under their influence, whatever that might be. … Not just do what I do, but what somebody might think I should do or could do."

He said his ability to navigate the different headspaces required to make such disparate music stems in part from a general love of music unfettered by genres, citing everything from Alabama Shakes to country to jazz to punk to mambo as a current influence upon him: "When you're a songwriter, you like a song regardless of if you'd even be the one to sing it; you respect the fact that it's cleverly written. We used to call it a 'Hail Mary' in Motown — if you'd just luck up on a record."

He added that his ability to embrace and absorb new and different styles is what inevitably fuels his return to relevance any time waning public consciousness threatens to reduce him to the footnotes of history.

"Doing it from a songwriter standpoint, you ain't gonna be sold on what you think your style is or your bag is; you can just flow with what's getting ready to happen by watching the kids that's up under you coming along and see where they're trying to take stuff," Clinton said. "So you're a little ahead of yourself by paying attention to them; before they push you out because you're too old, you learn to like 'em. When they first start doing the stuff, it sound really corny to you as a grown-up, [but then] realize it only sound that way because it's threatening. You know that that's getting ready to be the next s—-! So if you act quick, you can be on top of 'em without copying them — you can be a part of what they're trying to do."

Beyond fixating upon new musical styles to delve into, Clinton said the current social climate lends itself to keeping funk alive.

"It's a good environment to create some late-'60s, early-'70s type funk. You got a lot of bulls—- going on in the world, and whenever that's happening, people are needing to dance their way out of the bulls—-," he joked.

And so, given his latest batch of creative stimulation, he doesn't foresee his retirement coming imminently.

"Not yet, not just yet! I may clone myself one more time and keep it going!" Clinton said. "… I'm inspired like never before."

No Mothership required.

Twitter: @esotericwalden —

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic

With Talia Keys

When • Friday, Dec. 30, 7:30 p.m.

Where • The Depot, 400 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City

Tickets • $35 advance, $40 day of; Smith's Tix