“It’s a Bay Area thing.” That’s the extent of what most out-of-towners at this year’s San Francisco Treasure Island Festival have heard about Wallpaper — the Oakland-based, over-the-top party-funk duo. Maybe that’s because their performance is so difficult to describe: a Justin Timberlake doppelganger for a singer, some serious grooves with influences ranging from the ‘70s to today, a goddamn six-piece African percussion ensemble and — most elusive in the age of indie rock — a whole lot of white people dancing.

The first noticeable characteristic of Wallpaper mastermind Eric Frederic is his sense of humor. And with his track record, why not? It even comes out in his song titles, like “I Got Soul, I’m So Wasted” and “Doodoo Face” (the title track of his latest LP). His remix of Jay-Z’s “Death Of Autotune” douses the rapper’s all-too-serious attack on superficiality in schmaltzy synthesizer and — you guessed it — autotune. But the comedy never subtracts from the music; Wallpaper’s half-winking parody only makes the throwback grooves that much more irresistible.

Frederic took time off from his current tour to talk to The Guardian about his past, his future and the funky good times to be had at Wallpaper’s upcoming performance in San Diego.

The Guardian: Could you give us an idea of what Wallpaper is?

Eric Frederic: Wallpaper began as a sort of pop satire that eventually evolved into the thing it was mocking. It’s influenced by everything from ‘70s funk to ‘80s pop to ‘90s gangster rap, and the band is fronted by Ricky Reed — a living, breathing, sexing party machine.

G: Ricky Reed, your alter ego?

EF: That’s correct.

G: Is there a collaboration between the split personalities, or is it more of a Jekyll-Hyde situation?

EF: Ricky, he’s a dude — not me. I graduated with a degree in music composition from UC Berkeley. I am a super music nerd, really into the composition and theory of music. That’s definitely not Ricky Reed. He’s more of a lazy, womanizing weirdo — with a good sense of humor — who comes in and does all the vocals.

G: Wallpaper seems to have a pretty religious local following. Would you say Wallpaper is a Bay Area band?

EF: I thought we were for a long time, because that’s where I grew up and that’s the scene I know and love. But the first time we played in Philly, we were surprised to get that same vibe. People were just really engaged and dancing in this let-it-all-hang-loose atmosphere. Then the same thing starting popping up in San Diego and then in, like, Springfield, Missouri — anywhere that people were able to be open and honest with themselves and get down.

G: New York too. I know you gained some notoriety for your remix of “Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell” from Brooklyn’s Das Racist — a runaway hit last summer. How’d you get involved with that?

EF: Well I know [Himanshu Suri and Victor Vazquez] from Das Racist. They’re awesome. I heard that song about two years ago and I knew it was an amazing song and that I had to remix it. It took a few months for the remix to catch on after that. The funny thing about them is their other stuff is so incredible — they’re so much better than that one stray song.

G: Where’d the title for your latest album, Doodoo Face, come from?

EF: If you Google image search someone like James Brown or Bootsy Collins playing live, you’ll find them making this face that’s all scrunched up like they just smelled a little doodoo. It’s the face you make when something is just super duper funky. Unbelievably funky, even.

G: To the point where you lose control of muscle function?

EF: Right. Funk players, gospel players, blues — when it’s something real nasty you’ll see them yank that face. That very special face. Doodoo face.

G: But in addition to the retro funk vibes, there’s a lot of autotune on the album, which a lot of artists like Jay-Z are starting to question the validity of. What draws you to it?

EF: When I started Wallpaper it was all satire. Back then, autotune was known mostly in the music industry as the ‘Cher Effect’ because she used it in “Believe.” I wanted my voice to sound as mechanical and removed from the song as possible, so we cranked it up on the songs and I thought, “Wow, this sounds so cool and it gets my point across.” I totally thought I was going to be the guy who breaks this thing, you know? Of course, that is not what happened. I remember the first time I heard that E-40 song on the radio, I called my mom saying, ‘Oh shit. This guy’s doing exactly what I’m doing. He’s using autotune, and this is going to be huge.’ And of course, it is fucking huge. But to tell the truth, I don’t use it at all anymore.

G: So you’re going in a new direction with the next album?

EF: Well [with] everything I do, I try to push what I’ve done even further. While a lot of Doodoo Face was over the top, musically it was very minimal, very arranged. Now I feel like my patience for subtlety has worn thin. Everything I’m doing now is just meaner, louder, nastier — if you thought it was over the top before, now it’s so over the top that it’s fucking under the bottom.

G: I’m really looking forward to it. Anything else you’d like to share with UCSD?

EF: San Diego is one of the best places for our shows. The crowd is always excited and young and just really getting down. If you want to mingle and meet members of the opposite sex, or really get into some loud, live music, you need to roll out. I know we need to come to UCSD. I don’t know if we’re in your guys’ radar, but we’d love to get in it.

G: Our Sun God Festival in spring, maybe?

EF: Shit, we’ll even do some house shows, we don’t care. Put in a good word for us — we want to get all up in UCSD’s butt.

Wallpaper will be at the Casbah on November 7. $12 in advance, $15 at the door.