He may love Baile Funk but DJ Sabo’s heart is in New York City. DJ Sabo has the city’s melting pot sensibility pulsing through his veins and his blood is the color of many cultures. Sabo has been serving up spicy beats for a decade, gaining international props and passport stamps from Brazil, Spain, Dominican Republic, Austria, Mexico, and Kosovo, as well as various cities in the US.
His productions include seven EP releases on his own label Sol*Selectas, two 12″ releases on Wonderwheel Recordings, and a full length album, “Global Warmbeats” with production partner Zeb. From Brazilian to Afrobeat, Disco to Reggae, Hip Hop to Dub, Miami Bass to House, Latin to Techno, Sabo flows seamlessly from one genre to the next.
If you haven’t caught him spinning around town you may need to step outside your box: He’s been a special guest at Turntables on the Hudson parties for the last 7 years, manages the Turntable Lab NY store, is an instructor at the Scratch DJ Academy, and has DJ residencies at Bembe, APY, and Nublu in NYC. He Dj’ed the infamous PS-1 Warmup Party in 2003, The Cooper Hewitt After Work Series in 2004 – 2006, and was nominated to URB magazine’s Annual ‘Next 100′ in 2006. He’s opened up for the bands Yerba Buena, Brazilian Girls, Antibalas, The Pimps of Joytime, and Si*Se, and has remixed tracks for Nickodemus, J-Boogie, El Guincho, DJ Sun, Nappy G, Kokolo Afrobeat Orhcestra, Los Monos, Pacha Massive Sound System, and Balkan Beat Box. Did we say this man is busy?
Mundovibe managed to track down DJ Sabo in his bassment lab (Turntable Lab that is) and make contact. In addition to his signature “funky music to make you feel good” style Sabo is also disarmingly nice and after his stint DJing for Huffpost’s inaugural party he was kind enough to be interviewed by Mundovibe via e-mail and to supply us with four hot mixes for our reader’s listening pleasure.
MV: DJ Sabo, congratulations on the release of “Global Warmbeats”, a truly worldly, mellifluous and deeply rhythmic recording. How did this full-length recording happen?
SABO: Gracias! This album started basically as me wanting to produce/remix tracks and having no clue how to do it. I started paying Zeb to come to my house and tutor me in Reason. I already had all the loops and samples and ideas ready to go, and Zeb would show me how to arrange and mix everything. After only a month or two we had like 4 tracks done. After that the songs were becoming more collaborations than tutor sessions, so we decided to just keep going and make a whole record.
From the day in 1945 when Lionel Hampton saw this ecstatic 5 year old jumpin’ with joy at what he had just heard, and handed him the gift of a lifetime, a set of his vibe mallets& his destiny was set. Today, Ayers continues to pack venues round the world, playing with the same energy and passion that he exhibited back in 1945.
With 2004’s release of Virgin Ubiquity: Unreleased Recordings 1976-1981 , Roy’s loyal and deserving fans were treated to a selection of unreleased gems. The second volume of the series, out in May, will feature more never-before released Ayer’s tracks. Ayer’s latest full-length “Mahogany Vibe” combines re-interpretations of his most memorable classic tracks with Erykah Badu on the classic Searching and Everybody Loves The Sunshine and Betty Wright on a stunning update of Long Time Ago . Philly newcomer, Kamilah and MC Sakoni add to the album’s rich flavor. This album once again proves that Roy’s ears are as much to the streets as to Jazz s lineage of sounds.
Roy s career maintains a timeless momentum; in the studio, on the stage, in the US or abroad, for Hip Hop and Jazz heads alike, for your mother and daughter, for slow dancing and serious funk aficionados, Roy s vibes are forever.
Mundovibes: It’s just an honor to speak with you and I think it’s incredible that you’re doing what you’re doing today. I’d lke to begin by talking about your new relationship with Rapster and BBE records and ask you how firstly that came about.
Roy Ayers: Well, you know, the relationship is good. I told Peter Adarkwah from BBE that I had some tapes from back in the day when I was recording. I had all of these tapes that I had recorded since I used to be a fanatic in the studio. I was always recording something, I always had something and set it aside. I’d almost finish something and I’d say ‘well, this is not good enough.’ Then, my mind’s so fast I’d go and change to another song right away. And, of course, I write very spontaneous anyway, that’s the way I am. So, I was doing all those songs in the ’70s and ’80s but as I was doing them I was doing other songs which represent most of the albums that I put out. Either the albums or other productions because I had a production company; all of the things I was doing was with the production company. So, I just kept doing things. I mean I’ve got a lot of things, even on this new album, that were meant for different people, like this group called Brood (sic) out of D.C. I did that and I just decided to put my voice on it because why not put Roy Ayers voice on it? It was a nice track, but the relationship between myself and Brood never got off the ground but we just started recording to see what we could have you know?
So, I told Peter had these tapes and he shot over here from London. We went into the studio and took them out, and we had to bake them because they were old, and then transferred them to Pro Tools. And he flipped out, he found one album and then he wanted to do another album and another after this. This is some nice stuff man, it’s all analogue, it’s all real groovy. As I listen to it I say ‘damn, I was a bad MF!’ When I listen I say, ‘damn, this was good!’ (laughter) It’s something that I did, and this is stuff that I had never even thought twice about but I had the tapes there. I wasn’t going to throw the tapes away and after we baked them we found that there’s some nice stuff, and we still have another 75 tapes that we haven’t even touched.
MV: You’re on volume two now of this “Virgin Ubiquity” series and this is going to be a series of how many?
RA: Well, it’s probably going to be a series of at least four. It gets better all the time so I’m excited about it and I’m glad that Peter and K7 and everybody’s into in whole heartedly. And I guess for them to have some quality Roy Ayers is like a rare opportunity for anybody to have. I’m doing it to get myself out, to get it released and to get it distributed.
MV: Right. And for anybody that loves your music this is another side to your musical history.
RA: Yeah, this one makes it 93 albums and or CDs under my name.
MV: You’re extra prolific!
RA: I’ve done that many and I’m not even talking about the one’s I’ve done with other people under their name. I have to count those, but the albums I’ve done under my name is 93 now.
MV: I’m sure you’re going to over 100 real soon.
RA: I think I will, just as long as I live long enough. Let’s see, Lionel Hampton did 134 in his lifetime albums, Dizzy Gillespie did about 101, and Tito Puente did over 100. It’s amazing how many albums these guys did, and then Whitney Houston has only done about 12. And she’s sold so many records it’s ridiculous. So, maybe in my 93 I’ve sold as many as Whitney (laughter). But I also recorded with her, which was nice.
MV: Well, on “Mahogany Vibe” you did some collaborations with Erykah Badu and Betty Wright. Tell us about “Mahogany Vibe”.
RA: That was nice, also is out on Rapster. It was a very nice recording, when I had talked to Erykah about doing it with me she said she couldn’t come to New York so I said I’ll come to Texas. So, we went to Dallas and we did it with her there. She did a very fine job, she’s very professional in the studio I admired the way she handled everything; she was real cool. It was interesting because we were recording and she said ‘You know Betty Wright is in town.’ And I said ‘Oh, she is. Is she playing somewhere?’ She said ‘No, she’s not playing, she’s my friend. She came to see me.’ And I said ‘Oh, that’s wonderful’. So, she called Betty on her cell phone, she gave me the phone and I said ‘Hey Betty how you doing, can you be on my album?’ Betty said yes and an hour later she came to the studio and recorded two more tracks with me. So, other than the fact that Erykah is a classy diva and a very talented woman, she also puts things together like that. Very nice. I was very surprised and happy with it.
MV: Yeah, she’s a very talented woman. You know, Erykah’s kind of at the lead of this newer generation they call the ‘neo-soul’.
RA: Yeah, she told me that, she said ‘you’re the neo-soul king’. I said, ‘what are you talking about, what’s neo-soul?’ (laughter). She said people like her and the Roots and Jill Scott, they like to emulate my sound in their music. And I thought ‘that’s beautiful, that makes me feel good’.
MV: Well, you’ve influenced so many people. Did you ever anticipate that happening?
RA: I never knew that it was going to happen. When it happened it was really wonderful because I never pursued it and I never went after anybody to record my music or sample it. And it’s been fantastic because it’s been economically rewarding, for me very rewarding. When you have people like Mary J. Blige who does your song and samples your songs and plays your songs and sells 3 million records, triple platinum. So, you get paid for that. And you got Tribe Called Quest and Brand Nubian and all these people. I’ve got more sampled hits than James Brown. James Brown has more samples, I’ve got more sampled hits. It’s a wonderful career I have had.
MV: Talking about your sound, you’re a fantastic vibes player and in a sense that leads to the energy of your music.
RA: Yeah, I think that’s probably the essence of my music, it really started out with my vibes because that’s my first instrument, that’s my first love. And of course I incorporated the singing. It probably pisses me off to some extent when people say ‘Roy Ayers, you mean the singer?’ Because I’m a vibist before I’m a singer, a better vibist. And some people know that but I’ve had a few hits with the vocals in my career. It always surprised me when it happened but I’d realized the importance of crossing over and being versitile.
MV: Well, there’s a younger generation that doesn’t realize you have a long jazz history.
RA: Yeah, I guess you’re right but I guess it comes through when you keep chugging along.
MV: Absolutely. I want to touch on your formative years because you started at such a young age and it seems like you were almost pre-destined to be a vibes and jazz musician. A lot of people today, they don’t necessarily have the schooling and the influence at an earrly age. I just wondered how important that was to you?
RA: Well, it was very important. As I reflect on it I think about my mother and father who instilled a lot of postive substance in me. They were very instrumental in creating a desire within me because of the enthusiasm, because of their approach. They gave me a lot of confidence and I think about that all the time. My mother used to say things like ‘one day I’m going to see your name in lights’. And she kind of put that in my brain. And that became a reality. My mother did see me before she passed, she did see me and my family saw me. It was a wonderful goal to try to reach because of their input, so it was a good thing. It was something that was wonderful and positive. I continue to try to tell as many young people as possible the same thing if I can. Motivation is an important factor that you can give a person. And that’s what my folks gave to me, they made me believe in myself and made me believe that I could do anything that I put my mind and time into.
MV: And the musicianship is so important too.
RA: That’s right, I can remember going to see and playing with older musicians, guys that I knew knew more than me, especially in the art of improvisation. And when I realized this, cause I had been playing with a lot of young cats and I realized ‘man, I’m going to start playing with them real musicians’. I played with giants like Bobby Hutcherson, Curtis Amy and Gerald Wilson’s Big Band. It was jut wonderful and I learned very fast, I was like 18 or 19 years old. I was with the pros man and it really paid off for me. That’s the reason why I’ve been able to be as versitle as I am: I’m open to not just bebop or jazz but I’m open to R&B and funk and blues and soul. I play it all and I feel good doing it all.
MV: How did you make a transition from a more traditional jazz artist to funk?
RA: I saw the need for it. I realized it was time, especially when I did my first album on Polydor, that was the first album I did with vocals in it. That was 1970 when I realized that it was important to incorporate vocals. I wasn’t that good a vocalist, but I realized that instrumental and vocal would work. And it’s been good for me, I’ve been working ever since.
MV: Well, you devoped your own style working with female vocals.
RA: That’s right, I was smart enough to use people like Dee dee Bridgewater, Edwin Birdsong, Carla Vaughan, Silvia Cox and Chicas and several other woman who have worked with me over the years. And I found in the quality of their voice, when I put mine with theirs I had no problem making myself sound as good as I could.
MV: It also creates a nice exchange. It’s sexy and nice and warm.
RA: Very true.
MV: You also worked with Fela Kuti, can you reflect on that?
RA: That was a unique experience for me to have been in Africa. For any musician to go to Africa is a wonderful experience. When I went to Africa it was wonderful because to meet Fela and to experience it. As Fela would say ‘this is the African way’. To meet this brother who was married to 27 women, who did alot of things because he wanted to rebel against the government because there was a lot of corruption in the government. And he spoke about it, he was very courageous, very instrumental in a lot of things. He even ran for president in Nigeria. But he was a brilliant man and he was a loving man, he loved Nigeria and he loved Africa. It was good to know him. In knowing him and having spent some time with him that stands out as one of my most unique experiences, in meeting him. A real warrior, a real fighter and a great talent. He was a great dancer, singer, performer and musician. He was all the things a musician wants to be and to have known him has been a great pleasure for me.
MV: So, where are you going in 2005? What’s up for the new year?
RA: Well, I’m going all over, doing a European tour. I just came from Australia, that was a long trip but it was a wonderful tour down there, it was a great experience for me again. I play there every two years, they want me back in two years from this. The remainder of this year I’m going to be touring the United States and of course I’ll be in Europe, doing a lot of things there. The next thing I’m working on is a video that we have of Fela and myself. It was something I filmed when I was over with Fela so you’ll be hearing about it. It’s “Music of Many Colors”, it’s a beautiful video.
MV: Well you’re a busy man, thanks for taking the time to speak with us. Please keep kicking out the great music.
On the fifth album of his career, appropriately titled Cinco De MOWO!, Adam Dorn a.k.a. Mocean Worker (pronounced Motion Worker) has assembled the quintessential feel-good summer record of 2007. The opening number, quite simply, says it best: Shake Ya Boogie. In what has become the incomparable Mocean Worker sound, Dorn mixes and matches the best of modern beat-making with live musicians like trumpeters Herb Alpert ( Changes ) and Steven Bernstein ( Shake Your Boogie ), bassist Marcus Miller ( Brown Liquor ), alto saxophonist Cochemea Gastelum ( Les & Eddie and Son of Sanford ) and vocalists Morley ( I Got You ) and Alana Da Fonseca ( Que Bom ). Cinco De MOWO! follows up Mocean Worker’s 2005 release Enter The MOWO!, where Dorn’s vision for the definitive Mocean Worker sound began to gel. Dorn began to more liberally embrace his jazz and funk influences, while keeping the focus on crafting songs with undeniable hooks. On Cinco De MOWO!, that vision has come into full focus. More than just funky break beats, tunes like Shake Ya Boogie, Tickle It and Sis Boom Bah find their way deep into the sub-conscious with melodies that reverberate long after the record has ended. Dorn also further explored sounds and flavors from different periods in music’s history, re-conceptualizing them for the 21st century. Les & Eddie and Changes are obvious nods to the late ’60s/early ’70s soul-jazz-funk gumbo of artists like Les McCann & Eddie Harris, while songs such as Tickle It, Son of Sanford and Brown Liquor draw from ’30s big band swing. Jump ahead to the late ’70s/early ’80s and Que Bom parlays elements of Nuyorican soul. Go even deeper and Pretty is a contemporary Bossa Nova. From the opening rumble of Shake Ya Boogie, it’s audibly apparent you’ve entered the world of Mocean Worker.
Mundovibes: Do you love the ocean or the motion of the ocean?
Adam Dorn: Um, never thought of it that way. I’m a terrible swimmer and actually I have great fear and respect for the ocean and so should you kids out there. Remember& .stay in school and SAY NO TO DRUGS!
Clearly you enjoy playing with meaning and context, both in your music and its titles. Did you study semiotics at Colombia (sic) or read lots of Derrida as a kid?
I ate lots of Doritos as a child yes, that’s quite obvious in my many works that have latin influence. I have an ex-girlfriend that went to Columbia University, does that count?
You have evolved quite a bit since your earlier recordings of dark, atmospheric drum’n’bass. What happened along the way to create this change?
I just got bored with drum and bass plain and simple. I once had a phone conversation with a DJ of some note from the UK and I knew I wasn’t long for that genre when this guy ( who started the conversation off by yelling at me for calling him in the first place since he was famous and didn’t want strangers calling his house ) asked me what tempo I wrote in. I was like. I don’t understand your question I knew right there and then I had sort of run the string out on my drum and bass interests. Besides what folks ( mainly media ) seem to forget is that half of my first three albums all had matrerial that was edging towards the sound that finally appeared on ENTER THE MOWO!, CINCO DE MOWO! Is an extension of that style and though and now the actual fully realized style and voice Ive been trying to find and convey with my writing.
You have said that you originally started producing music almost as a joke. At what point did it become apparent to you that you actually were a musician and your productions were “legit”.
I did a remix of SUMMERTIME by MAHALIA JACKSON on my first album. It was done live to dat and when I played it back the next morning after having slept on it. I knew I had something. I knew I wasn’ t fooling around with toys in a room anymore. I started focusing more and writing music and trying things and not thinking too much about the outcome but just going for it. That record alone was the starting point for all the Mocean Worker stuff. Intersting how it wasn t even remotely a drum and bass piece either.
“Cinco de Mowo!” is your fifth album, which is quite an accomplishment. How does it feel to have this many recordings under your belt?
It’s kind of wild. Since they are all kind of different from each other. In some ways it feels like it’s been a really long haul and tons of work and in other ways I’m just basically happy to be able to make music and not really have to worry about much else. I’m proud of each album for a different reason. They are all reflections of what has been going on in my life at the time.
What is the world of Mowo! like?
Pretty simple. I make my bed everyday. I like to eat pudding. Sometimes I like to watch futbol. Nothing much else on offer really.
How does “Cinco de Mowo” work as a follow up to “Enter the Mowo!”
I don’ t think that’s up to me to decide. I know that as I made CINCO DE MOWO! I did keep in my mind the thought that I would love for people who enjoyed ENTER THE MOWO! to totally dig this album. I was concerned with having made three totally different albums the last three times out. So there was a concentration and focus on continuity. I wanted the flow and style of ENTER THE MOWO! to act as the template for this record. Obviously I didn’t want to copy it vibe for vibe but I did want to have that feel again.
What would you say is the concept behind “Cinco de Mowo?”
Shake ya boogie, shake shake ya boogie, shake ya boogie, shake shake.
“Cinco de Mowo!” is climbing up the charts and seems destined to be a summer hit. Is this taking you by surprise?
We’ll see, the jury is still out on that. I’m not surprised by anything anymore in this business. Seriously, I just try to do stuff and get it heard by folks and that’s about all you can ask for. MY version of a hit is way different than, say, a major record label’ s version of a hit. A hit to me is Hey you get to make another album and tour without going completely into debt & hahha. Seriously, if I can get the music heard and sell some records in the process& great! I’LL TAKE IT!
What was it like growing up surrounded by the music your father produced?
It was incredible. My old man is my best friend. Never one moment of bull shit between us. I think I enjoy the humor we share and the honest relationship we share more than the time spent around studios and musicians and making music. I learned a lot by watching how he dealt with artists. Let’s face it, artists are demanding and annoying and nuts and afraid a lot of the time. He deals with that very well. I DON’ T. I learned I don’ t like being around it. Haha, but seriously. That’ s my man right there, my old man and I can easily sit around and watch a Yankees game and not one mention of anything related to work will come up. We’re buddies, that’s far more important to me than anything.
Were there any memorable moments that might have influenced you?
Playing a sound check with the Neville Brothers at like the age of 15, jamming on bass. I knew I had arrived and I knew I was gonna be a musician in some way shape or form from there on out.
Having a sense of fun and irony seems pretty key to getting your music. Clearly you don’t take yourself too seriously.
I don’t. Hey, wait a minute how dare you. I have studied at the best conservatories on earth and have worked& & .HOW DARE YOU& & & I’M VERY SERIOUS! ( ***calls lawyers*** )
You’ve become very skillful at matching jazz with beats and electronics. What is your methodology in creating your music?
Make a beat that gets their ass moving. Then couple it with a melody that is catchy to the point of being ALMOST annoying. DONE DEAL. Stimmer, reduce, garnish and serve (repeat if necessary).
“Cinco de Mowo” features music from Herb Alpert (“Changes”), Steven Bernstein (“Shake Your Boogie”), bassist Marcus Miller (“Brown Liquor”), alto saxophonist Cochemea Gastelum (“Les & Eddie” and “Son of Sanford”) and Rahsaan Roland Kirk joins the party from the great beyond. How did you go about incorporating their music into yours? Are these collaborations or did you sample passages of their music?
It’s quite easy actually. With Herb and Marcus I sent them files and said do what you want on top of this and then I’m going to slice and dice the results. They were very willing participants. With Steven Bernstein and Cochemea we worked in the studio and I usually had passages of a song that we would focus on and I would simply ask them to try out specific ideas. I’d then chop up the things they gave me and tried things. Rahsaan sadly passed away in 1977 so that s me manipulating a sample. A long sample ( 2 min.) I siced off phrases and pitched things up and down and assigned samples to notes on a keyboard and literally played back snippets in real time to get the part that I wanted. I literally played Rahsaan as an instrument of sorts. Was a lot of fun.
You also collaborated with vocalists Morley (“I Got You”) and Alana Da Fonseca (“Que Bom”). How did these tracks develop?
I first saw Morley perform at Joe’s Pub here in NYC. My good buddy Bill Bragin who books the club took me backstage to introduce me to her and we hit it off right away. I asked her on the spot to write a tune with me for the album. It took a bit to get it together, but it worked out really well. Morley is such a great artist in her own right and I know that doing this track was at first a bit strange for her as she doesn’t really make music like this. I think I gained her trust though and we just really hit it off as friends that she went along for the ride and I thank her for that. Really proud of the tune and so psyched to have her on the album.
Alana is a bit different. Mostly a creature of the studio. I met her actually on myspace through another friend ( sounds creepy but it wasn’t ) I sent her a stupid email being a wise ass and we just hit it off. We started talking about doing some work and I really didn’t have anything sitting at the time that I thought would be right. I then was messing around with some sort of Braziliant hing (that turned out becoming QUE BOM) and it dawned on me that she spoke fluent Portuguese. I think she wrote the melody in like 20 minutes and she sang me ideas over the phone. Working with her was a blast as she is one of the best pro tools engineers Ive ever worked with so for a change I didn’t have to do the vocals or any tech stuff myself! I had never really seen a vocalist not only write a melody but also track the vocals all at once. Was cool. She’s a bit insane though. DO NOT GET INTO ARGUMENTS WITH HER ABOUT BUBBLEGUM.
For “Cinco do Mowo” you have said “I really just want people, all kinds of people to put this record on and have a nice time, enjoy themselves, clean their houses, throw a party, whatever it takes, it’s all good.” How challenging was it to do this, knowing this was what you wanted?
Wasn’t at all. Wish I had a slick hip answer. I just know when something grooves and makes me smile that, well, I think it’s gonna also make other folks dig it. Also it’s important to know that I actually didn’t say that. The quote was changed and the way it should finish is “clean their houses, throw a party, DRINK THEMSELVES INTO A STUPOR, whatever it takes, its all good. Someone out there made it a bit too P.C for my tastes. Hahahha& just wanted to clear that up. There, I’m at peace with it now.
What do you think you’d be doing were you not producing music?
Something in sports. I love me some sports.
You recently have a live “residency” at the seminal New York City club NuBlu. Tell us about this.
We play every other Tuesday night (for the time being ). The band is a six piece unit. Trumpet, sax, bass (me), drums, piano, percussion. It’s a new thing for me. I have to say without being a braggard, this band kind of kicks ass. It gets right to the heart of it. No pretension or BS. We are there to groove. NUBLU is the perfect venue for us to play in. We play early too so for any folks who want to come down please keep in mind we play from 10-11pm every other Tuesday. We’re playing for hipsters but we keep bankers hours! Hahaha& just was the best time slot Ilhan the owner had for us and we’re more than happy to fill the place up and have a party each time out.
Where will the next six months take you?
Touring, touring, touring and hopefully more touring and possibly some film score work and some TV writing. Just want to keep the Mocean Worker b(r)and out there and get in the ears of as many people as possible. I think we have something nice that we are creating that will be something folks will look forward to coming to their town.
Nina Miranda and Dennis Wheatley come together as Shrift
Dennis Wheatley and Nina Miranda
BY JOHN C. TRIPP
Shrift are not just a group but a state of mind, where time melts and the subconscious is free to associate words and music. In recording their debut CD, the group’s two members, singer/songwriter Nina Miranda and multi-texturalist/producer Dennis Wheatley, let ideas float in on their own, allowing chance and improvisation shape their sound. The resulting recording, Lost in a Moment is a delicate, soothing and higly atmospheric blend of electronic, acoustic sounds that sooth the soul. The mood is dreamy and soft, almost mystical at times, but with a worldly and modern edge.
In forming Shrift Miranda and Wheatley brought successful and somewhat divergent musical backgrounds to the table. Miranda is vocalist for Smoke City, a British group which was one of the first to blend bossa nova, trip hop, jazz, reggae and funk. Additionally, Miranda has lent her unique voice and words to projects Bebel Gilberto, Nitin Sawhney, Arkestra One, Jah Wobble and Da Lata. Her singing style was formed by a variety of influences such as the childhood she spent between homes in Britain and Brazil. She is equally comfortable singing in English, Portuguese or French, and she shifts between those languages several times during the course of Lost in a Moment.
Wheatley is best known for his work with Atlas, a British electro band with a history of taking existing elements (Brazilian singers, string quartets, Randy Newman’s “Baltimore”) and whipping them up into delectably, danceably new ethno-electro mixtures. Miranda was familiar with his work, finding it cinematic and otherworldly, and not long after meeting the two were building songs together in a series of London recording spaces none of them conventional. Some tracks were recorded in a room overlooking the Thames river, some in a flat located directly over the Farringdon tube station, and some in Wheatley’s home studio. All of these environments affected the sound of Shrift s music and visuals, which played a large role in shaping Lost in a Moment .
Mundovibes spoke separately with Nina Miranda and Dennis Wheatley from London to get their take on being Shrift.
DENNIS WHEATLEY INTERVIEW
Mundovibes: It’s interesting how you and Nina have come up with a sound that is unlike either of you are associated with.
Dennis Wheatley: I think the thing that Nina and I have in common is we try to create another place, in a way. There’s times when you have that experience where you are somewhere else, and they’re usually in between places, funny enough. This is one thing we kept coming back to. It’s like that feeling you get when you get on a plane and you’re on a trans-atlantic trip or something. You just leave things behind you’re transformed from just being on the ground suddenly you’re above your life. I just love that feeling when you’re detached from it, your life abstracts into this state of mind where it’s just a lovely place to think and be. And the title track Lost in a Moment was kind of about that I suppose. At some point your lose touch with where you are and you could be anywhere.
MV: Right. Well that seems to be the case with Lost in a Moment . The vocals are very moody, I suppose, part of the atmosphere.
D: Yes, definitely. Nina is really amazingly unprecious about her voice, it’s just about capturing a feeling that you might have that day. She’s very open to the moment, so you never know what you’ll get. A lot of it was improvised.
MV: And a lot of the recording was done in various locations?
D: It wasn’t a conscious thing, more because of moving around a little bit with the studio. None of it was really recorded in what you’d recognize as a studio, it was kind of just in rooms that we had. Usually places that I was living, actually. For example, I had a studio space on the River Thames. It was amazing really that we had this you could literally feed the ducks out the window, this in the center of London. And it was really cheap amongst everything so expensive. So, it was a parallel life there as well. The first few recordings were done there. We literally used to open the windowso the sound of the river would come into the recording. We didn’t really have a sound proof studio to do it. And the next place we were in was a friend’s house, he lived above a railway station. The room literally did shake with the train like the line Nina sings in ‘Lost in a Moment’. And then I moved to another place which is kind of where we finished the record and actually built a studio room within a big space that I was living in.
MV: It’s interesting because there is a cohesiveness to it, even with various locations.
D: Well, I’m glad you say that because it was done over a period of time. At one point we kind of worried that maybe these things don’t all belong together. It’s funny, a lot of it has to do with sequencing as well. When we made the selection of songs it was amazing that they would come together just by putting them in a certain order.
One of several Shrift studio locations.
MV: You had a few tracks that you produced a few years ago. I was just curious if at that point you ever saw it becoming a full-length project and what the challenge of that was.
D: We did one song called ‘Airlock’. I was still with Atlas and Nina and I had a mutual friend. So, we just got together and suddenly we just found ourselves working really quickly on about two or three things and felt ‘hold on this is something different really, we need to find a way to make time for this.’ At the time Nina was quite busy with Smoke City as well and they were finishing an album. So, it took a little while but we just carried on when we could and gained momentum quite quickly. We both saw it as important and it seemed obvious early on that it could be interesting and experimental. We were doing things we hadn’t been able to do with other projects. We were like ‘we don’t know what it is, but we interested in knowing what it might be’.
MV: That’s the whole inspiration of creating, you don’t know where it will take you.
D: Yes, it’s like we wanted to get lost really, we wanted to get creatively lost somewhere and surprise outselves and be open to whatever. I found it really pushed me away from a comfortable place.
MV: And in terms of how you created each song, would it be you laying down some atmosphere first?
D: Yes, pretty much. It would be having basic progressions of quite simple ideas, in essence a mood of some sort and that’s when Nina just sang and we’d work on that and it would just develop. And then there’d be ones like ‘Yes I Love You’ where Nina just sung a melody to me and that developed into this mini-epic. So, there are quite a few different ways I suppose but mainly the first way.
MV: It’s probably very tempting to lay a lot of things in there or fill in the gaps, but you really kept it with plenty of space.
D: Well, I’m glad you think that because I thought it was still to over-stuffed with stuff. I mean, there’s a hell of a lot of stuff on the screen. There might be 150 tracks on the screen for some of them, but I really wanted to calm it down and tried to be relaxed about over-filling it.
MV: My observation is that it’s very acoustic and atmospheric. How did you combine the electronic with the acoustic?
D: It’s kind of a challenge really. Almost every time it was the case of the acoustic going into the song after. Even if we pared it right back to what was played in acousticly there was always something there initially. I guess the voice is the really obvious one where a lot of it is treated like an instrument as well. But some of the other sounds like the violins and the string sections, it’s hard sometimes to hear if they’re acoustic or if they’re electric or sampled. But generally they’re people who have played and then I’ve processed them. We worked with some really nice people on this like this really lovely Polish guy, Piotr Jordan, who played violins.
The other thing, like with the artwork, is letting things happen organically from what’s around you rather than trying too hard. And making something out of whatever you’ve got. I’ve never thought of that before but necessity being the mother of invention and all that I think I think it’s something to do with that really. A lot of the objects on the artwork are all just things we were kind of playing with in the studio that we brought together. We just scanned a lot of things. We were always bringing things for each other, visually. Like the lion on the cover, we see of him as like the guide through this sort of weird world. It’s quite heroic how he’s on Mt. Fuji, which was just one of Nina’s t-shirts.
MV: I like it when graphics are done this way, letting randomness play a role.
D: Yeah, it’s nice. I mean, you think of reasons why afterwards but it wasn’t very self-conscious at all, which is actually what we were trying to do with the music.
NINA MIRANDA INTERVIEW
MV: I wouldn’t call the Shrift recording Brazian-influenced but your work with Smoke City was very influenced by it.
NM: Yeah, I think the music was more influenced by Brazilian music. Dennis, before I met him, really didn’t know anything about Brazilian music but I would show him things I liked and then he got quite interested. And he realized, of course he’d heard some of it and liked it. It was quite interesting for me to work him. With Smoke City and Chris and Mark we very much had a similar record collection, although it was eclectic it was much more similar. Dennis had stuff I woud never listen to and some of it I was like ‘I don’t like it’. But then it meant that I had a very different kind of canvas to sing on, which was nice for me.
MV: And that was very appealing to you then?
NM: Definitely, because it brings out other parts and you’re going on a different adventure, a different journey, kind of unpredictable. Perhaps on a different side of my character.
MV: Right. How would you define Shrift?
NM: I’d say it was about taking away some of the harshness of life and just being a kind of soothing friend. The music is contemplative, very thoughtful. It’s kind of like musical poetry and very cinematic with a lot of space. And what I like about it’s very open, so you don’t have to worry about verses and choruses.
MV: Your voice works so well in that context.
NM: I think so. I’ve never been one for discipline. If something felt like it was a task or homework it was a real turn-off. And with this I could basically go where my imagination took me. And Dennis is very open about that.
MV: How did you develop your vocal style?
NM: I always liked playing around at home, singing to my mom and sister, just being really stupid. Or when I got drunk I really liked being loud and silly. But I was too shy to really take it further and I didn’t think it was practical or anything. But I had an audition with one band, they were really kind of funky and loud and I got too shy and my voice just turned into a mouses voice. So, it didn’t go very well. And then I met a guy who friends said ‘oh, he’s into Brazilian music, that’s what you’re into’. And that went really well and that was a project called Sweat Mouse. We actually put a couple of 12-inches out, that was like trip-hop in 1991. So, I sang in Portuguese then and they really liked that, and that was pefect because I didn’t have to be self-conscious about the lyrics. And I could sing in the Bossa-Nova way, which is very quiet and mellow. So, that’s how I realized I could do it, it was just natural. I’m still not very good at singing loudly, I feel like I’m shouting.
MV: I guess the bossa nova influence would be the quietness.
NM: Yeah, and the slight melancholyness, kind of that longing kind of searching thing.
MV: I know that you recorded in several locations, how important is travel and where you are?
NM: The last location we recorded in was Hackney and towards the end I was pregnant and that was kind of horrible because Hackney is quite rough. I used to get really paranoid that somebody was going to stab my tummy. It sounds a bit over the top, but there’s pockets of London, just like any big city where you have people that should be in institutions but because they can’t afford it they just leave them outside walking around. So you get these crazy people coming up to you. So, I’d be going there and to get to Hackney you have to get a bus, the tube and a train. So, that felt like this huge journey. But just having the backing tracks we were working on just made it all alright. I’d be listening to them and if I didn’t have experience that there’d be nothing to sing about. If it was all pleasant and easy and calm I wouldn’t need to make the musical antidote to my experience getting there. Then we had another studio where we met, which I think really helped me want to work with Dennis as well because it was right by the river and it had great pictures up on the wall and all of the photos were really beautiful and interesting. For me, the visual reference really helps when I’m singing.
MV: Would you consider this to be therapeutic music?
NM: Very. I listened to it before you called just to remind myself of where I was when I wrote it. And, now I’m back in winter, you know how in winter every one becomes quite hermit like, especialy in England. And you come to think ‘is this it?’ and you can start to think this is it, this is what life is like and you’ve just got to keep remembering that it changes. And in spring it’s mad how everyone calls, it’s just something in the air. All kinds of people will call you and turn up and they’ll have this spring in their step and life is so fertile again. So, there are little bits like that put in the songs.
MV: How did you come up with the titles and the lyrics?
NM: ‘Lost in a Moment’ came with (singing) ‘dodaladoom, dadladoom’. I just recorded the first thing that came to my head, which is that. I had this melody, as you heard and the next time I came was in another studio again which was above a train track. And then I just kind of looked out and imagined scenes going on in different houses and different places. And I just kind of made it up as I went along really. And then every now and again I’d wake up and say ‘the room shakes with the train because the train made the room shake’. And the other half, which became ‘Lost in Portuguese’, I actually went into Portuguese, it was this ridiculously long take. And we said, ‘OK, we’ll chop this into two songs’ and have the English one and the second one was about the idea of a brother looking for his brother and then he realizes that his brother is actually himself.
MV: I love hearing children’s voices like those on ‘Lost in a Moment’. How did that come about?
NM: What’s funny about those voices is that they’re really quite manic. How that works for me is how you can really go off in a dream and be in the busiest place. In fact, that was a really manic swimming pool with all the kids jumping around.
MV: So, how are you going to present this to the U.S.? Do you have any remixes now?
NM: Well, there’s a Da Lata remix of ‘As Far as I Can See’, Dennis has done another remix and he goes to this club where everyone will take their CD-Rs and stuff that they’re working on at home and they get to see straight away how the public reacts. And a lot of the public will be other people of the scene making music. And so, one of these nights he had a lot of people coming up and saying ‘oh, great track’. So, through that he’s got more people doing remixes. And Six Degrees records is very much a co-operative thing and they’re not into the big bucks being spent on remixes but it’s quite nice because then the people that really want to do it become involved.
MV: Well, it’s really a beautiful recording and it flows perfectly.
NM: We worked on it bit by bit but that was the whole thing, we wanted it to be a satisfying listen that you can put on and it not jarr you too much. I always worry if I sing on a whole album if it’s just my voice the whole time won’t it get boring so I was really happy that there’s nice intros and outros of just music and lots of space.
Hailing from Bristol, England, Up, Bustle and Out are producers Rupert Mould and ‘Clandestine Ein’ who met in 1989 while hosting the pirate radio show. ‘For the People’ radio boasted Bristol’s most inspiring DJs – Daddy G & The Massive Attack, Smith & Mighty. The pair produced an early single, “Une Amitie Africaine” (released on their own Forever Groove label in 1991) bringing early attention to their talents for fusing sounds.
The pair pursued other interests until 1993, when they reformed to produce material they eventually sent to Coldcut’s Ninja Tune label. Impressed with their work, Ninja Tune released Up, Bustle and Out’s debut, “The Breeze Was Mellow (As the Guns Cooled in the Cellar)” in 1994, catching the ears of American hip-hop DJs as well as the more eclectic British underground.
Getting an itch to disembark from their Bristol home, the duo travelled for two years, archiving source material for their follow-up, “One Colour Just Reflects Another”, utilizing field recordings from excursions to Mexico, Central America, the Middle East, and the Andalusian mountains, where Mould played with and recorded Gypsies, smugglers, thieves, and revolutionaries. Combining those source tapes with hip-hop beats, percussion and instrumental tracks recorded in the studio, and vocal and spoken snippets, the group fashioned a unique, signature blend attracting fans of Latin jazz and world music as well as hip hop heads.
From this point on the Up, Bustle & Out quest continued with 1997’s “Light ‘Em Up, Blow ‘Em Out” with more wordly flavoures with elements of the bands’ journeys as well as deleted and previously unavailable material. On October 8th 1997 the group released a timely EP single in memory of Che Guevara on the 30th anniversary since his death in combat, a sign of projects to come.
UBO’s Cuban connection and desire to combine music, text and film was fully realized on “Rebel Radio Master Sessions”, a Havana-meets-Bristol project that encompassed 2 CDs, a book (‘The Rebel Radio Diary’) and a 16mm film shot by Mr Jules ‘Shoes’ Elvins of ‘Waldo Films. Working with the renowned composer-arranger Richard Egües, the group alternated their trademark smokey-urban sound with Egües’s tropical arrangements. “Rebel Radio Master Sessions” was a groundbreaking moment for UBO, showing that traditional and more contemporary urban sounds can fit together just as generations can.
At this point UB&O departed from Ninja Tune and took some time out, releasing the “Urban Evacuation” album on Germany’s Unique Records. Fast forward to 2004 and the UB&O ship lands back in Bristol for “City Breakers” a hip hop-reggae crossover featuring the talents of MC Blaze (of Roni Size fame). Her powerful stage presence and delivery has projected UB&O’s Sound System into bigger performance halls. In addition to MC Blaze, Spiritual Rasta ‘Ras Jabulani’ from Black Roots adds his mystique and deep, earthy tones as does Rudeboy DJ ‘Mexican’ with his frank, witty and hard-hitting toasting. Spanish Guitar Maestro Cuffy ‘El Guapo’ adds his touch to the mix. The mix between vocal and instrumentals is equally thought-out with songs like ‘Bob Your Head’, ‘Everyday’, ‘Dance Your Troubles Away’, ‘500cc Revolutionary’, ‘Song For You, Soldier Boy’ are all experimentally funky productions.
City Breakers collaborators: Jabulani, Mexican & MC Blaze
“City Breakers” was met with overwhelming critical praise and UB&O have wisely followed up with 2 vinyl-only remix 12″s that have become must-plays for leading DJs and radio programmers. These two volumes bring together an impressive array of remixers from across the board, including Lightning Head (aka Biggabush) King Britt (“Dance Your Troubles Away”) GB (“Bob Your Head”), Beatfanatic “Tabla Talkin’ Dub”) and Butch Cassidy Soundsystem (“Everyday”). As if proof were needed, the City Breakers remixes shows that UB&O are not to be discounted and are clearly headed toward bigger horizons.
In addition to their work as Up, Bustle and Out, Ein and Mould are also involved in solo projects extending well beyond the boundaries of their combined effort. Mould performs with a traditional Andean flute group, while Ein is a studio producer and engineer, also recording club tracks under a number of different names.
Infused in all of their efforts is a political and social outlook that is both revolutionary in imagery concept and humanistic in tone and content. Up, Bustle & Out were there at the beginning of the whole urban music game and they will most definitely be there at the end when with music and cultural awareness minds open and social change becomes reality.
MUNDOVIBES: You have travelled a great deal and performed in many “exotic” locales. What are the roots of this? What got you into this way of life?
RUPERT MOULD: Principally I feel that music belongs to the world, is outside of its political boundaries and that the same time represents the many cultures of this world. It is important to remember that many cultures live around frontiers and are not often country specific. It is also the eccentricity that is created when meeting musicians with different perspectives to my own, and working on something together. What often happens is an unusual encounter where fusion becomes the root.
Literature also opens the world without necessarily travelling in it. I have learned a lot by reading, listening, seeing films — such as the great Eastern European film director Emir Kusturica, through his films I have learnt about Gypsy music. After we release “City Breakers, the Mexican Sessions”, we will be following with a new album set in eastern Europe. It will be called “Bohemia: Former Kingdoms Speak”. We already have done a 12-track production, what I need to do now is go over there, travel and see what the route throws up at me.
With portable recording equipment, professional at that, I am often lucky to capture moments of great magic, such as the Mexican sessions when I visited Catemaco, Veracruz, home to black and white magic, known as ‘la brujeria’. Here, just the geography and colours and strangeness of it all was sufficient for me to write 2 songs. What I found there were huge trees with roots that were divorced from the soil, a volcano that had blown its top, becoming a black crater full of black water, with black shoreline where strange birds chattered as if wanting to talk to you in their strange language. In the evening I was invited to communicate with such a strange world through percussion and dance. This is what I did and then read up on the mythology of catemaco, and began to make songs about surrealism, circumstances outside of our everyday lives, where there is a lot of confusion in what is principally a love song, where animals are converted into stranger creatures, muses, musicians, almost like a battle between nature, forces and characters. And finally out of this anarchy comes harmony.
I am grateful to the witches of Catemaco for allowing me into this unusual world and not only as a spectator rather as an artist to then reinterpret these experiences musically, painting a musical canvas full of imagery and this whole idea that sharing cultures, working together can create these magical fusions.
In Europe people have always crossed borders, looked beyond their continent, married. The distances have never seen too great, and adventure is a very prominent seed in our souls.
MUNDOVIBES: Your creative method seems to be based heavily on travel and you clearly have a “global” perspective. How much of your music comes from you and how much comes from the culture or place you are involved with? In other words, how you meld your ideas with your collaborators?
‘CLANDESTINE’ EIN: Up, Bustle & Out are firstly a Bristol, UK-based band and this is where our roots are to be found, the soul of UB&O if you like. The city has always had a rich and varied musical heritage, with all the influences of Jazz, Reggae, Asian, Latin and Hip Hop combining to create a great working environment for us. This means that we are never short of musical collaborators to inspire us; there is always a new perspective fresh musicians can give to our projects.
For example, our latest release “City Breakers”, is true to this way
of working. Rupert and myself work on a basic backing track with just a few beats, chords and basslines — we try to keep it simple. This gives room for the others to express themselves. Eugenia, our long serving percussionist from Argentina is usually the first to add her fluid and experimental beats that help to give the whole mix a human rhythm. Cuffy ‘El Guapo’ now adds an original Flamenco guitar to the mix along with Colombian Freddy’s authentic Latin-style trumpet playing. Lastly our resident Jamaicans ‘DJ Mexican’ and ‘Ras Jabulani’ come in to give it a realistic roots feel on vocals .
DJ Dave, Eugenia, Ein & Cuffy
However, once this is all done it’s up to the UB&O crew to give it our unique flavour on the mix ,this is what really gives us our ‘sound’. We have all the tracks up on the mixing desk and here we start to mix and mute the music, applying our own ideas and perspectives to create the sound we want. Radical use of eq and dub effects help to give it that special flavour in the time honoured tradition of Jamaica’s ‘King Tubby’ .
Past UB&O albums have featured a bewildering mix of so many cultures and styles from across the globe, but on ‘City Breakers’ we have moved on to experiment with a more home-grown style, but still based on the varied influences listed above. Having so many collaborators close at hand with their own cultural input into our projects has helped to keep our sound fresh and inspired, constantly moving in new directions, instead of being pigeon – holed into a standard dance/world category. Our upcoming “Mexican Sessions”‘ project will continue this theme but this time including contemporary Mexican influences and working with renowned artists from that country.
MUNDOVIBES: So, collaboration is an imporant element of Up, Bustle & Out concept. What other themes, ideas and concepts are central to what you are?
‘CLANDESTINE’ EIN: The most important concept for UB&O is that of experimental fusion of styles and influences, the creative freedom to mix in elements from Latin, Jazz, World and Dance genres . This means that there isn’t really a standard UB&O style, but people will always remember ‘Hand of Contraband’, ‘Y ahora Tu’ and ‘Carbine 744’ as our signature tunes, though these were all done some time ago. Since then we have branched out to encompass Flamenco, Dub Reggae, Ambient, and Hip Hop styles, as you can hear on ‘City Breakers’ .
This musical approach perhaps echo’s our own personal outlook of the world, that perhaps we should not allow ourselves to be guided by rules and convention and always apply our own set of values to what we do. Having said that, integrity, honesty and sharing should be the guiding principles and this is reflected in our creative output. We are, after all doing this because we want listeners to enjoy our sounds and receive something meaningful from our music.
On the subject of sharing, file sharing in particular, I am excited by the way that new technology has helped people to hear our sounds, even though our record company may not agree with that. It’s pretty amazing that with the internet you can send music around the world in seconds and this has also helped us in our writing of songs. We have been able to collaborate on tracks with musicians thousands of miles away by sending demos and mixes between studios, and all without having to use jet airplanes and their contribution to global warming.
To draw another parallel with the real world, recycling has always been a creative tool near to my heart. Instead of relying on preprogrammed sounds in the studio, I find the search for unique elements on long-deleted vinyl a real labour of love, and my local car-boot sale every Sunday is a rich seam of ‘sonic gold’. There is no direct sampling of musical riffs or songs, just the minute clips that can be collated and assembled into unusual sounding backing tracks, all in our original UB&O style.
Politics, there’s no way of getting away from this one in our shrinking global world. We have tried to steer clear of any direct political message in our music, it makes more sense to let people work it out for themselves. However, I hope our experimental and diverse sounds will encourage free and forward thinking, not easy in today’s climate of total media saturation and political manipulation. But if there has to be a message it is that there is only one Earth and we had better take good care of it and one another.
MUNDOVIBES: The Up, Bustle & Out sound combines many seemingly disparate elements? What is the logic or philosophy behind this mix of sounds and music?
‘CLANDESTINE’ EIN: All music is a blend of all that has gone before, constantly combining and cross-pollinating styles to create new genres. What we are doing is simply continuing this concept, taking elements from many cultures from across the world and through time to make our own sound all within the framework of our trademark mixing philosophy. All musicians should be free to try out absolutely anything if it sounds good. There should be no conservative restrictions on what is ‘cool’ or what is ‘current’, the only arbiter should be if people enjoy hearing it. This follows a parallel with real life where those who are less confident endlessly follow the crowd here and there, whilst others are setting out on new journeys both physical and intellectual. Having said that we do have the greatest respect for those musicians who have excelled in established genres and further refined those art forms, I am thinking here of the Jazz masters and those working on the cutting edge of new music today.
A worrying modern development is that of the ‘tastemaker’ a job with disturbing Orwellian overtones, that is to say someone who tells other people what they ‘should’ be listening to, what they ‘must’ enjoy and what they should be thinking. I mean, isn’t musical taste supposed to be a reflection of your own personality, or is it just another way to blend in with the ‘in crowd’ to be unseen. Whatever, UB&O will be making music that challenges the influence of this insidious group, the so-called tastemakers.
MUNDOVIBES: How do you find or choose your collaborators?
‘CLANDESTINE’ EIN: Our collaborators a drawn from a wide circle of Jamaicans, Argentineans, Cubans, Mexicans, Indians and Europeans, in fact anyone who has something to contribute to our projects from far or near. We invited vocalists such as MC Blaze, DJ Mexican and Ras Jabulani to articulated their own thoughts, thus giving others on input into the philosophy of the whole “City Breakers” project .
Our percussionist Eugenia has been with us since the beginning and together with Flamenco guitar maestro Cuffy has added an essential live element to our music. Freddy who played trumpet on the album was actually in the UK with his band from Colombia when we asked him to contribute on the off chance. This idea of collaboration has become yet more important to our writing process, and our future projects will definitely be moving in this direction.
MUNDOVIBES: What was the concept behind the “City Breakers” release? How did this project come together?
‘CLANDESTINE’ EIN: Perhaps unlike many of our other projects ‘City Breakers’ is more urban based ,and more centred on one locality, less of the world and more of the city which is maybe a world in itself. Living as we do in a city with a rich multicultural heritage we wanted to do a project that said something about where we we from and about some of the local culture that has influenced us and this is why it has featured heavily the local musicians of Bristol. The atmosphere is certainly more smokey, just like the town, giving voice to some of the ups and downs of inner city life, but with also a positive note of hope for the future .
MUNDOVIBES: What role do visuals play in UBO?
RUPERT MOULD: Important. As mentioned above even instrumental tracks are sown with imagery, beginning with the title. I’ll give you an example, ‘the revolutionary woman of the windmill’ tells the story of an isolated woman working the land, her life has peace. However this is threatened when a man invades her world. The woman is represented by the flute, the man by the Spanish guitar. The music creates harmony, then becomes tenser until the music is halted and the sound of the guitar is heard. What follows is a chase between instruments, and various promotions are created throughout the song’s lifetime. So that is imaginary.
Also, many of our albums have been made with the inclusion of film, the Cuban master sessions have five films in total, they are filmed on super 8 and 16 mm film, both great mediums to capture imagery. It was important to film the Cuban master session series because we wished to show life on the island, the people, the colours, the nature and overall show to the public the effort and experience that had gone behind the making of this to album series. When we perform as a sound system we also project our films behind us, they are well liked.
MUNDOVIBES: You had a longstanding relationship with Ninjatune. What brought it an end?
RUPERT MOULD: Ninja Tune have done very well, worked hard to become successful. We have respect for this achievement. However, us being from Bristol always made us feel a little bit isolated, for me they felt like a London boys club. This was at odds with the hard work that we put in for the label, in fact it was our sound that brought the world to Ninja Tune as we were multicultural and attracted European, American listeners. Yet we didn’t really partake in their overall philosophy, and showcases. We made the most number of albums on their label, 5 and in a very short space of time. We currently are working on our tenth album, and still looking for a good home. At least though, we have the freedom of experimentation, the right to work in our own way and produce our own sound. This counts for a great deal, it keeps us in the vanguard, and responsible for the revolutionary sound.
‘CLANDESTINE’ EIN: We had a very rewarding relationship with Ninja and they gave us the freedom to develop our own ideas. As one reviewer said ‘only Ninja would back such a madcap project as this. Of course the label were proved right in the end as our records are still selling well. However, we wanted to move away from the monolithic Ninja tag and develop in ourselves in our own right as a band.This has also given us inspiration to experiment with musical styles that may not fit with the Ninja sound, however there’s no saying ‘never’ as far as the future is concerned.
MUNDOVIBES: You have worked in two musical regions, mixing urban beats with genres like cumbia and son. Is there a bridge between the urban music culture and the more rural music culture of places like Mexico, Cuba and Colombia. Can music create a common ground?
RUPERT MOULD: We often travel, explore not just geographically but musically, always looking for new fusion, and exciting combination of genres.
we must remember that Up, Bustle and Out are quirky by nature, a great fusion of musicians, producers, personalities – and all this we have brought to our sound. Some of us are more traditional in our views on the world and take our own inspiration from folkloric music, some of us are more rooted in the beginnings of hip-hop, funk and urban grooves. So we bring all this together, and make danceable music, often with a message, even trying to so imagery into instrumental songs. Of course music can create a common ground due to the fact that it can unite people in a musical language that talks even when they don’t share a common spoken language. working with people from different countries can be very rewarding and add progression to your overall musical capability.
MUNDOVIBES: You refer to important revolutionary figures and ideas in both your music and imagery, Che Guevara in particular. With the world more oppressed than ever by corporate rule as opposed to the former model of colonialism, is it time for a new “revolution” and if so, what kind? What can music do to help accomplish this?
RUPERT MOULD: I am now convinced having travelled the world, met the people in, fluent in many languages, travelled across hard and inaccessible lands that corporate rule will inevitably lead to a world of greed, a form of ‘take manufacture and throwaway’ society and beliefs, and yet what will destroy is quicker will be environmental issues. Of course, I am aware that corporate greed is fundamental in the destruction of the environment, yet also is overpopulation. I am convinced that the next revolution will be global, people-orientated, a united global cause where people will want corporate businesses, governments to listen to the environmentalists, anthropologists, scientists, botanists, etc. and take on issues that will affect every single one of those living here – overpopulation and destruction of the planet.
Of course through music we can send messages, all the great musicians who cared about their communities, the world they live in, immediate surroundings did so. I am talking about Juan Luis Guerra, Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Gill Scot Heron, Last Poets on Environment etc… Up, Bustle & Out have always sent out messages of a social, political, environmental, fantastical, and reality vibe. There are levels to which this may be done, it is a good to preach to music, neither is a good to have a high moral tone. So you need a lightheartedness, and through music with rhythm and melody a good message is often effectively carried.
In Juan Luis Guerra’s music, for example ‘Ojala que llueva cafe’ – we have a song about one crop economies, about how the people of the Dominican Republic are suffering and poor, they need rain and they need it desperately, for only through rain will they be given the possibility of having a fruitful coffee harvest. the song opens with the title, the asking to Providence, to a god, to some other force or being that can possibly help them. The whole songs full of imagery of the countryside of the hard work of the dryness, and yet the song is light-hearted, and brings the real issues without a depressing, heavy musical tone. And who is singing for this change? The whole nation, United and hopeful.
‘CLANDESTINE’ EIN: No, is the answer to this as revolutions can be very messy affairs and afterwards it’s the same old faces in control. What we need is a slow revolution of our minds. It won’t happen over-night as we are all so addicted to our 21st Century lifestyle, but gradually people are beginning to see it will be in everyone’s interest to live a life of peace and respect in harmony with our world.
We must all realize we are individually responsible for everything that is done in our names, it’s no good blaming the politicians and businessmen, it is we who are buying their crazy schemes. Wishing for ‘strong leaders’ is no good, it’s up to everyone to make the difference themselves, the task is too great for one man or woman. However let the likes of Che and Mandela be an inspiration to us and show what can be done against the odds if there is the will.
MUNDOVIBES: Imagine Up, Bustle & Out is as popular as, say, Michael Jackson. What would you hope or imagine your impact might be?
RUPERT MOULD: I would want to use my influence in the most beneficial way to mankind and the world we live in. I would invest in education, and form an environmental group, bringing awareness to environmental disasters, depletion of natural habitat and animal life. This may sound unthought out, of course I would seek the influence and knowledge of some of the leaders in this field, such as university professors, and work with a group of like minded leaders in an informed and passionate way that would not isolate my audience through heavy jargon, rather make more aware of the challenges we face if we are to survive as people in a beautiful and complex world. education is fundamental and the youth must understand that in this world of quick access, purchase power – it is in fact that things that we study for, work towards, achieve that bring the greatest rewards and happiness. If I was on the world stage this is the message I would get across, however I will also look to home and invest in a department to my local university for those who want to study the issues of population, environmental concerns etc, for these people might go on to become the ones who revolutionise the way we think, live and reflect upon the world we live in.
Let’s face it, leaders like George Bush have no concerns about the environment, poverty, climate change, making changes…they are all just petty gestures that come as afterthoughts. The environment is the most important challenge we face, it is not an issue at the bottom of the pile. History will look back on leaders like George Bush and expose him for the short-term, money orientated individual that he is. When future generations are faced with major problems they may well ask how it is that in the years 2000, political leaders were so slow to take on the environmental challenge.
War for oil is so petty in comparison. It just keeps a few shareholders, arms traders feeling better about themselves. Murdering 120,000 people is nothing to be proud of, and it is no answer to the real issues of poverty and global concerns.
‘CLANDESTINE’ EIN: It is something I would not really want to imagine given the way that Michael is being treated at the moment, to be surrounded by parasites and yes men and hounded by an obsessive and biased media. I feel that his predicament is a clear statement of the values of our society, after all doesn’t everyone want to be ‘famous’? Think again.
However if our music was as widely listened to as Jackson’s we would feel as if we had achieved something really worthwhile on a personal level. I mean what musician could be happier knowing he/she is influencing so many people with their sound, and what a great legacy to leave behind.
Impact wise, I would hope it would encourage everyone to be more open minded about music, to know that experimentation is for everyone to explore. Music is for people, not for money making machines.
MUNDOVIBES: Rupert, your writing has been a separate creative outlet for you. How do you approach being both an autor and musician. Is your music and writing all part of one creative vision for you or do you separate the two in terms of themes?
RUPERT MOULD: literature is so important to me, you really have to feel what you are writing whether it be a song or a book. Such feeling can come easily, or be difficult to find, yet I love what I do, my music and my words live in me, and I cannot imagine my life without this creative tension, outlet. words are generated through the need to express feeling, as is music, for this they are closely linked and it is no surprise that so many musicians are also considered poets, and continue to publish books. Words have rhythm and are musical too. I often look in to a sentence, move it around, change it, chisel it so as to give it a good, solid flow and rhythm. I would like to be a successful writer, I am proud of my first two books and have more inside me waiting to be written. I just wish I could find an agent who would take me on. the approach is similar, first comes the feeling, the idea, what needs to be said and then you think, experiment about how you are going to get this across. I have studied music and read literature beyond a master’s level, I feel it is important to have a very good solid understanding of what great people in the world of literature music have had to say. music and words live in me, they have formed the person that I am, I cannot imagine another way of living, for me it would be like living and having nothing to say.
Now I am off to Turkey, and I hope to make it to the East and to the border with Iraq, my sister wishes to work with the Kurdish people, and I have agreed to accompany her.
MUNDOVIBES: Will we see an UBO tour anytime soon? What adventures are on the horizon for the group?
RUPERT MOULD: We are dying with enthusiasm to make a tour across Europe, the Americas – particularly Mexico. We are just waiting for the invitation, a record label to support us and then we shall be releasing three albums in succession, with videos, photography and literature.
Stood in a hot cave holding minty Mojitos we were thinking up sub-genres for Nicolette. A glass elevator moved up and down behind us emptying fresh crowds into the hollows of the Dom im Berg, Graz’s small but perfectly-formed mountain. Chrome and plasma gleamed in the UV lights; enormous screens flickered above our heads. Dr No would have pawned his pincers for a sweet pad like this.
My next song’ s called “Unconditional Love” ! (Nicolette, sounding like Mary Poppins) & because when you have fire in your heart you can love freely, like a butterfly! Yes! breathed the flower of central Europe’ s musically-minded youth. Their foreheads shone brightly in the multicoloured gloom. Some flapped wildly with inflatable guitars as her funky-eerie vocals took off, skimmed some heavy breakbeats and bounced smartly of the naked rock surface& Space-bass? Click cabaret?
It’ s like a fucking David Lynch film, this and Nicolette live: one of the bizarrest high points of this year’ s springfive festival and that’s just the beginning. Spread out over five days and twelve venues in Austria’s otherwise sleepy second city of Graz, uncountable genres of electronic music gathered to welcome in the summer with a complicated, bass-heavy fertility ritual for the future of European dancemusic.
At any given moment you might have been watching Spoonface outside the Parkhouse while eating speciality battered buds, as broken beats boomed round the treetrunks and scattered with the falling spores. Or at the end of a steep and chill passage through the bowels of the Dom you might have caught an Al Haca Soundsystem bassline so ripe and heavy drinks were jumping off the tables like glass apples in a gale. Or, on the other side of a river swollen with melted glacial snow, you might have found Michael Mayer towering over the PPC, sowing the dark, moist mass of twisting limbs with seeds of newborn Cologne techno.
Marky, Kilo, Tosca, Kissogramm, the Mad Professor, Fingathing, Roni Size, Quantic& a line-up this eclectic (see www.springfestival.at for the full register) is some serious achievement for any festival, especially for one so young. It s also a sure sign that, as springfestival veteran DJ Alan Brown put it, Austria is no longer the country of 70 beats per minute . Kruder & Dorfmeister, Austria s most successful musical export since Mozart, may still be going strong in various different guises, but the monumental downtempo style built ten years ago has cast a long shadow over their country’s dancemusic.
Alan "Cuki" Brown of Soul Seduction
I think one of the problems has been our success, says Alan. Having escaped London several years ago to head up both communications for G-Stone Recordings (K&D s home, along with Tosca, Peace Orchestra, Stereotyp& ) and exports for Viennese club legend turned distributor Soulseduction, this is a man who knows. Once you ve been very successful at something you re always known for that and it s very hard sometimes to break away, he continues. Kruder & Dorfmeister still sell a lot of records all over the world, but just as important is a new breed of artists like Stereotyp, Urbs, Megablast, Parov Steller, DSL that are not strictly lounge or triphop. And one of the reasons this change has happened is because of what they re doing here at springfestival. This festival is a fantastic opportunity for the people and the artists of Austria to experience what the artists of Germany, UK, France, all sorts of places are doing. So big up the springfive crew.
Springfestival is all about making connections, explains Daniela Andersen. As chairman of Graz-based label/culture and communication association Zeiger, responsible for more than 40 events and parties in the area annually, Daniela has been co-coordinating the festival with its organisers Stefan Auer and Pietro Masser since 2001 s very first springone. Eventually we want to become the meeting point between middle-Europe and Eastern Europe. Slovakia, Croatia, Hungary, Italy, they re all only a few hours drive away from Graz, and since the borders opened up there has been a lot more exchange between cities like Ljubljana, Zagreb and Trieste. For us those cities are closer than Vienna, she says.
In fact, a more-than-healthy rivalry between Austria s two major cities and an equally healthy sense of pride in Graz music as something unique and independent of Vienna s are two major forces shaping the character of springfestival. Thanks to Zeiger, a scene structured around groundbreaking labels including Houseverbot and Soundsilo, artists like Dr Nachtstrom or Binder & Krieglstein and innovative clubs like the PPC and Postgarage is being consolidated and celebrated every year. Springfestival has already made its presence felt outside Austria, and with international events like last year s Styrianststylez showcase at London s
Electrowerkz, the Graz sound is already on the map and giving Vienna a run for its money.
The music scene here in Graz is very creative, says Stefan Auer, Zeiger s deputy chairman. We have a strong breakbeat and drum & bass community as well as
an alternative techno and tech-house scene which is very different from Vienna s loungy, downtempo flavour. It will take time to create something special, but the whole Balkan-jazz and turbo-folk movement is a strong influence. I think this sound will become something typical for the region now that the club scene is getting more into it.
With all these elements thrown in the mix, the springfive vibe had a distinctive flavour of its own raw but sophisticated, home-made but hi-tech, a feast balancing all the major food groups against a hi-calorie techno base. A touch more jazz and Escoffier would have pinched the recipe. There s a lot going on here that s really different, says Spoonface, co-producer with Bugz in the Attic s Seiji of this year s massive dancehall gets bruk single Yin Yang . I ve met a lot of artists that I would never normally listen to, which is cool. But it needs a bit more vibes from some of the nu-jazz, broken beat heads; some of the more organic stuff. I m real to the fact that broken beats are still quite an underground form of music. I don t understand why though, cause it s so jazzy, and so fun. There s no hostility going on there, there s no attitude it s just straight hardcore dancemusic.
Spoonface on the controls
Straight and hardcore it may be, but maybe not enough for Austria just yet. (After two Spoonface sets dancing solo in a corner, Mundovibes can tell you that for free!) That said, springfestival is still in its infancy compared with events like Sonar, and the process is all part of the fun. When it came to extra-curricular activities it was untouchable, and not just in terms of crazy venues, scorching weather and mean Mojihos. The Red Bull Academy sessions, for example, had Michael Mayer, Cleveland Watkiss, DJ Patife and MC Stamina talking shop over two chilled afternoons in the Hotel Daniel. Opportunities like that for punters with a deeper interest in what they were dancing to and where it came from don t happen every day.
The visuals also came directly out of the top drawer with a line-up of VJs including Vienna s Fritz Fitzke, London s Mox and VJ Anyone and local Graz outfit Exclusive Lingerie, and a visuals workshop was running right through the festival, hosted by 4youreye (Vienna) and Headspace (London) with support from Graz s University of Applied Sciences. As VJs we re latecomers to the scene, and so in general the balance is not quite there yet with recognition, says Montreal-born Anyone, aka Olivier Sorrentino, DJ Magazine s 9th best VJ of 2004. But I got the impression that the audience was really quite cultured in visuals and I think this festival has had a lot to
do with that.
Music is a tree with many branches, Cleveland Watkiss told his Red Bull Academy audience a perfect pearl of eco-sonic wisdom for rounding up springfive. Some branches reach further than others but they all just keep on growing, and with events like this opening up fertile ground still untrampled by the festival establishment, we re in for a bumper crop.
For more on springfestival and Zeiger www.zeiger.com events that fall somewhere between art and commerce, at the intersection of subculture and mainstream, and on the cusp between the demands of passionate youth and those of the cultural establishment www.springfive.at for this year s line up. Keep an eye out for www.springfestival.com later on this year for future information and past line ups, which can presently be found at www.springone.at, www.springtwo.at, www.springthree.at and www.springfour.at
springsix
festival for electronic art and music
May 24-28
The 6th update of the spring-festival holds on to the philosophy of the previous festivals: International electronic pop acts, superstar-DJs, visual artists, clubculture-pioneers together with local hopeful electronic artits, offspring DJs and Graz based underground heroes will rock through distinctive venues in the city.
Belting out hot and saucy Afro-Cuban and Jazz rhythms has been the sole (or soul) mission of London’s fast-and-furious Mark ‘Snowboy’ Cotgrove for nearly two decades. His fierce interpretations of Afro-Latin music have gained him a global reputation for originality and authenticity. And with his 12th album, the aptly titled “New Beginnings” out now, Snowboy and his band, the Latin Section return in top form to keep the latin vibes flowing. Having been out of action as a conguero for nearly a year with an arm injury Snowboy is back with the band’s strongest album yet.
Snowboy’s history is a testamony of how far we’ve come and how things have changed in thirty years. His career stretches back to the ’70s when like many a soulboy of the time, he became immersed in U.K.’s Soul and Funk scene, of which he is still active as a DJ and journalist. Inspired by the legendary D.J’s Chris Hill and Bob Jones, he started as a D.J. when he was 17 years old. The young promoter would hire, monthly, the country’s most legendary black music club, the Goldmine. The Goldmine was voted the U.K’s No. 1 club for 12 years and was Snowboy’s grounding in Jazz, Funk and Soul. After doing 24 of these Wednesday events over the years, he found his collection was getting more biased towards the Latin Fusion that was prominent in the clubs in the late 70’s/early 80’s and Snowboy got interested in making all the ‘exotic’ sounds on these records (particularly by Brazilian percussionist Airto).
So after working a summer season as a pretigious ‘Redcoat’ at a Butlins holiday centre in 1982, with his bonus, the day he returned he went and bought his first set of Congas. After a year of trying to teach himself, Snowboy began lessons studying Afro-Cuban and Brazilian percussion with the U.K’s grandfather of Latin music, Robin Jones, whom he met at a Samba night at Londons WAG Club run by the legendary Jazz Dance D.J. Paul Murphy.
His first single “Bring On the Beat” was released in 1985 but it was the legendary Acid Jazz label that provided Snowboy with a platform for his first album “Ritmo Snowbo” in 1988. Acid Jazz released seven albums by Snowboy, and at the height of the so-called ‘Acid Jazz’ movement in 1993, he hit the U.K. Independent charts with the Latin Jazz album ‘Something’s Coming’, which nestled in the top ten right next to Depeche Mode and The Smiths!
Until recently, Snowboy was recording for the famous U.S. Latin Jazz label Cu-bop (a subsidiary of Ubiquity), and had three critically acclaimed albums with them. With Cu-bop he scored a world-wide club hit in 2000 with a version on Edu Lobo’s classic “Casa Forte” remixed by Joe Clausell. Snowboy is now proudly recording for the Chillifunk label. In 2003 he also had a joint Chillifunk-released single entitled It’s About Time’ with the Interns.
Unlike many of today’s overly polished Latin Jazz recordings , Snowboy’s album’s are non-stop Afro-Cuban jams and catchy Mambos reminiscent of the early works of Eddie and Charlie Palmieri and Tito Puente and show a firm understanding of the latin Jazz forefathers. In fact, Snowboy and the Palmieris are now good friends, sharing the tradition of great latin jazz.
The Latin Section are amongst the finest Latin and Jazz players. Various band members flex their skills as writers and arrangers on “New Beginnings” with vocals by the band’s unique drummer and timbalero Davide Giovannini. Also guesting on vocals on I’ve Got To Learn To Mambo is the legendary English Rhythm and Blues recording artist James Hunter. This a cover version of a big Rhythm and Blues tune from 1955 by Ivory Joe Hunter, and Snowboy’s version is the first single from this album.
Though it is becoming increasingly hard for Snowboy and the Latin Section to tour as a group, as they are all in such demand in their own right, the full power-house band will be joining Snowboy for a European tour with festivals in July and August. Mundovibes’ JC Tripp caught Snowboy (call me Mark), just before the release of “New Beginnings”.
JC Tripp: Hello Snowboy! It’s a pleasure to have this opportunity to talk to you. I guess the jump-off point would be in regards to your new recording. The title pretty much says it all. In what sense is it a “new beginning” for you?
Snowboy: Well, there’s many new beginnings because I wasn’t playing percussion for most of last year because of a wrist injury. I have osteoarthritis in my left wrist. And the hospital that did the test said that they didn’t feel there was anything they could do and as far as they were concerned that was it for my playing really. So, I saw some really kind of heavy-duty specialists in London and so I got to the bottom of the problem. I’m back to playing about 80% now, there are still a few things I can’t get back to doing.
It’s more to do with Brazilian percussion than Afro-Cuban percussion. I can’t really play pandera (a large Brazilian tambourine ed.) anymore, I can’t grip itproperly because where the arthritis it doesn’t allow me to grip it for too long. So, the fact is I’m back playing and I was very pleased that I was able to record the album and I was very pleased with my playing on it. So, that was a new beginning, so I’m back playing again. Also, I’ve got a new baby.
JC: Well, congratulations.
SB: Thank you. She’s only five months old and she’s beautiful. Also, a new record label, a new manager, a new publishing deal. So, there’s many reasons for it to be new beginnings, really.
JC: I had listened to your music here in the States through Ubiquity and I had great respect for all of your releases with them. And, you’ve really continued and upped the ante with “New Beginnings”. You always seem to grasp a certain energy. What is your primary objective with the music in terms of the energy?
SB: That’s a good point. I don’t quite know why and I guess as I get older it’s going to have to slow down. But, I didn’t come into this scene through the salsa scene. I wasn’t inspired to play percussion through listening to salsa records or Brazilian records. When I first started going to nightclubs in the 70s it was very common to hear next to the disco and the boogie stuff, the more up-front DJs would play jazz-funk stuff. And some of the more adventurous DJs started to play jazz-fusion tracks that were similar tempos to the jazz-funk things they were playing. And through that other DJs started being more and more adventurous with the jazz. And I found when I started going to clubs I was going to those clubs that were playing that kind of thing. And so I found that being an avid record buyer I found that my collection was swinging much more towards the latin jazz kinds of things. And particularly Tito Puente, Ray Barretto, Airto Moreira and Poncho Sanchez.
So, that kind of stuff was getting played next to disco, soul, funk and boogie. So, it was a very good scene to grow up in. Of course, people would choose different records to play to that kind of crowd rather than what would be played to a salsa audience. So, I guess with my albums I’ve never really made an album conscientiously for the couples dancing. Although a few of the tracks I’ve made have been picked up in the salsa scene like off the last album Para Puente with “Los Rumberos de la Habana y Matanzas”. I know that did very well in New York at least.
So, really I discovered latin music through jazz rather than the other way around. And, in fact, I don’t know whether it’s going to happen but my plan for the next album is to do an album just in tribute to Coltrane. Although, apparently I’ve been beaten to it. I think there was a latin jazz album last year that was released in America of a tribute to Coltrane’s stuff but I think there’s room for two on the shelf.
JC: You did another tribute, to Tito Puente on the “Para Puente” CD. You just mentioned him, he must have been a pretty major influence.
SB: There’s no one like him and there never will be anyone like him. I don’t know if you’ve ever read the book on Tito Puente, but it’s just staggering when you read his life story. He’s been everything from a tap dancer to stage dancing and a kick drummer. He studied orchestral arrangements at university and he just came up through the right era really. He’s just been there, he’s been at the top all the way through till he died and he still had that kind of fire in him. He just had that fire and I’m glad he never lost it. He was not having huge selling albums but it was almost like he was making records that he wanted to make, rather than worrying about what the market is for his albums. He knew his music was dance music, but as far as I’m concerned within Afro-Latin music I don’t think anyone ever made records as good as Tito. I think it was Tito Puente and perhaps the Palmieri brothers and then there’s everyone else after that. That’s my personal opinion, but I just hold those people above any other artist and musician, really.
JC: Well, another interesting thing about Tito is that he worked with La India, and did some crossover house music.
SB: He certainly did. I think he always kept young in his mind. He was always interested to see what was happening with club music, so that was very healthy.
JC: Getting into “New Beginnings” you Davide Giovanni on a number of tracks as vocalist. Can you give us some background on his involvement?
SB: He’s the drummer and timbalero in my band and he’s the lead singer in my band as well. Davide grew up in Trieste in Northern Italy. And he belonged to a group there that were interested in Afro-Cuban folkloric music and they used to spend as much as three months of every year in Cuba, just in schooling there or living with people to teach them things. So Davide moved to the U.K. about 14 years ago hoping to get more work as a drummer. I don’t know whether he was hoping to get more work in the pop scene or the rock scene or latin or whatever but I think that he felt that the U.K. was where the work was going to be. And it’s funny really because I still don’t think he’s as appreciated as he should be. A lot of the drum magazines don’t even know he exists and one day when they get a chance to see him they’re just going to be blown away. I think he’s one of the most innovative Latin kit drummers I’ve ever heard. You can just hear everything in there and everything is in its place and he doesn’t copy anyone else, he’s just got his own style.
JC: He’s definitely got a strong presence on the recording.
SB: Davide and also my bongosero Dave Pattman, they both really know the whole Santeria thing inside out, back to front. They both play to a ridiculous standard and know hundreds and hundreds of songs literally. So, that element to my band is very important and I’m glad they give that to me because I wouldn’t have the knowledge to be able to do that. I have the references for it but you have to spend ridiculous amounts of hours every day, really to get to that kind of standard just playing that.
JC: And you also have other roles: you’re the band leader and you’re an active DJ still. How do those all work together?
SB: They work well. I’ve actually been DJing longer than I’ve been a musician. I’ve been a DJ since 1979 and took up percussion in 1982. And I found that different times of the year and over the years, just different phases in my life, sometimes I’m busier as a musician and sometimes I’m busier as a DJ. And, last year if it hadn’t been for my DJing I would have had to get some help because I couldn’t make a living as a musician, just because of my arm injury. I’m more diverse musically as a DJ, because I write for a hip hop magazine over here which does some stuff on funk as well.
JC: Is that “Big Daddy”?
SB: Yeah, it’s now called “Grand Slam”, they changed their title. So, within those funk circles those people know me. They probably don’t even know that I’ve made any latin records they just know me for the funk side of things. It’s not often that I will do a club session DJing, where I would play latin all night. I certainly mix it up between latin and funk, jazz, soul. I think there’s a link and I just try and find that link between all of that music when I’m DJing.
JC: It’s a segmented thing, you rarely find a venue where people can appreciate a variety of music. Just being in New York, there may be a few places like Nell’s that people go for that. But if it’s a hardcore salsa crowd they’re just going to want to hear salsa.
SB: That’s right. I think it’s easier to some kind of salsa or latin jazz stuff, it’s easier these days, certainly in Europe, because whereas it’s totally natural in the U.S. because you’ve had salsa there forever. Obviously, in New York, Miami, Los Angeles, etc. Of course, we had this kind of salsa explosion about 10 years ago in Europe and all these dance classes and stuff. So, the average person on the street seems to have gone to a salsa class at some point or another. So it’s not so hard to play one or two of those records these days, just to an average crowd, as it would have been 10 years ago where as soon as they heard a Spanish vocal they clear the floor. But these days people have had a taste of it in the salsa clubs. Certainly over here, it’s the kind of thing that people might go their local bar after work and there’s a salsa dance class there. So, the secretaries and the office girls go down there and maybe some guys from the factory might go there just thinking that there’s load of women there. I think the average person on the street has heard a little bit of salsa at some point or another these days.
JC: Would you say it’s because there’s more latin culture in London or is it just an opening up of ears?
SB: I just think it’s down to the salsa dance explosion more than anything. The only thing that bothers me about the salsa explosion, not just in the U.K., is that a lot of the people that would go to salsa classes are the same kind that would go to line dancing class years before. People that like to do organized dancing and like to routines. They may do it once a week and not even think about the music until the following week when they go back to their class.
JC: It kind of degrades the music then, or it doesn’t necessarily elevate it.
SB: I’ve heard some shocking music played in some salsa dance classes. My God, how could they even dare dance to this? But there’s a very big Spanish speaking community in London particularly. There’s a lot of Colombians in London and there’s a very big Brazilian population as well.
JC: My wife is Colombian and I have spent a fair amount of time in Medellín. What surprised me is that salsa is not the most popular music, it’s vallenato. There’s an incredible diversity of music in that country.
SB: Oh, right, incredible. It seems to me sometimes in a lot of the latin American countries a lot of the people aren’t interested in their own folkloric music.
JC: Absolutely.
SB: People say that to me about Puerto Rico. But a lot of the youth just want to hear hip hop.
JC: Or reggaeton.
SB: Reggaeton, that’s really popular now isn’t it. But vallenato, I really love that stuff it’s really wild.
JC: Yeah, it’s basically country music now but it started on the coast.
SB: I’ve got an affinity with that because my first professional work was with playing with a Tex Mex artist from San Antonio called Flaco Jiménez. So, for about three years whenever he came to Europe I would do all of his European dates on percussion. You’d never dream of using a percussionist in San Antonio or certainly that part of Texas, but the guy who booked him also booked the musicians and he envisaged a percussionist in it. So, it was good for me because Flaco played on my second single back in ’86. And I’ve always got great memories of those days because of playing with Flaco. I loved it so much because of the accordian playing.
JC: In your career span there have been so many genres and movements. How do you feel about things in looking back in terms of the evolution and the changes?
SB: It’s funny because at the moment in this country there’s no kind of scene that I fit comfortably into. It’s got to the point where I just have to keep doing my thing. I think it’s going to be a while for my music to evolve into another style. I think it does it album by album, there’s no kind of perceivable difference from one album and the one before it. I just want the songs to get stronger and the musicians obviously their playing gets better all of the time, the song writing hopefully gets better. And we do more live gigs so hopefully that reflects in the albums.
A lot of the people who have been around in different club cultures over the years seem to have heard of me. So, a lot of different scenes check out my albums even if they wouldn’t necessarily play them in their clubs. And I’ve had all kinds of people, from drum and bass DJs to house artists or whatever. I’ve met most of the main people from all the different scenes and they all know of me or have heard my music at some point or have seen me live or even own one of my records, which is always quite amazing really.
JC: Would you say that you are bridging the divide between, say, classic Afro-Latin music and a jazz-dance sensibility?
SB: Definitely. I think my music is as much jazz-dance as it is Afro-Latin certainly. You know, sometimes people will say what about your music, do you think it’s different than other bands?’ I don’t think my music is different than any other latin-jazz group, although if it is it’s because I come from a different background really. As I said I haven’t come into it from the salsa scene.
JC: This is somewhat of a touchy issue, the whole legitimacy thing. Well here’s this English speaking guy’. As a conguero do you ever have people giving you a hard time about that?
SB: No, the only time I encountered it was when I was with Ubiquity because you get one or two reviews where people would pick up on that. All of that kind inverse racism in critical circles really makes me sick, you know? It’s now a small world. I’ll tell you this much, all through the 80s, when there’s was an embargo in the states with Cuba Irakere used to spend three months a year in London. They used to play Ronnie Scott’s twice a year, for three months every year. So, they would do workshops, give lessons. And Los Muñequitos de Matanzas came every single year. Los Papines, all of these people. We never missed out on that stuff, there was so much knowledge flowing around because people were just coming over and spending so long and giving lessons and having workshops. So I don’t think where you’re coming from has anything to do with it anymore, you know? You’ve only got to look at the Japanese salsa band, La Orquesta de la Luz. Their lead singer Nora has a fantastic voice, she sang it perfectly, but she couldn’t speak a word of Spanish, she didn’t understand what the hell it was. And yet for a few years they were possibly one of the biggest salsa bands in the world. An incredible band, I must say.
It’s weird to feel that you have to kind of justify yourself to do something that you love and that other people obviously like enough to want you to record it. And people like it enough to go and buy your records. And then you get some of these people saying how dare you, you’re not even latino’.
And I think the nicest thing of all is that I’ve become very, very good friends over the last five or six years with a Yale University professor, Robert Farris Thompson, one of the world’s most respected authorities on Afro-Cuban art history and music. Whenever there’s any new movement that’s Afro related he goes there he was the first person to document bossa nova. He’s in his 70s, he speaks Yoruban fluently and his books are the bibles of that music and yet for some reason he really really goes mad about my music. He’s gone out of his way to be friends with my family and at one point there was a club I was doing in London and he flew over monthly, so it was 12 in the year and he managed to make it to eleven of those. It was a Sunday night, he used to get there on Saturday evening, sleep, go to the club on Sunday and then he’d leave for the airport at 5 o’clock Monday morning.
JC: He’s pretty devoted!
SB: Yes. He said that he was getting bored of the same old thing in latin music and my music got him inspired again. I find that absolutely incredible that he would feel that way about my music.
JC: That’s a great testament of what you’re doing, really.
SB: Yes. He just finished a book about what is black about the tango, he actually found the black link in tango. And his next book is a history of mambo and the last chapter is just about me, which is just amazing to me.
JC: Well, you’ve been incredibly prolific and have developed a unique style.
SB: Well, people really love my music and that’s the best reason for doing it in the first place. It’s my career and I can’t do it any better than I’m doing at the moment.
Some things, like cocktails, food and music, are all about the mix of ingredients. And it´s the mix of its member´s musical histories, cultures and influences that makes Long Beach’s OO Soul (Double-O-Soul) the groovey outfit it is. Reflecting the cultural and racial mezcla of its Southern California home, the band’s members represent a broad range of experience, culture and age. The band´s 8 members have played in seminal funk, jazz, experimental and punk bands stretching as far back as the seventies–an era who´s influence on OO Soul´s sound is strong.
For anyone with a sense of underground music history OO Soul´s members have played a part in several recent movements. Drummer Troy Howell came out of the hardcore punk and paisley underground scene, playing in such bands as the Salvation Army and later the Three O´Clock. Bassist Steve Armstrong, from the seminal funk band Sol, joined the band early on. And sax-flautist Jack Fulks has played with the likes of Roy Porter, Billy Higgins and Garbo Szabo. Trumpetist Hank Ballard Jr. has worked with War, Lonnie Smith and Theodore Wilson, and the list goes on. Says Howell, in a recent phone chat, of this wide mix, “It´s a very diverse band. We come from all creeds and colors and age ranges. When the band first started we had some kids in the group, now we´re a bunch of old guys, but we still kick it.
That’s a wide gap for a group to bridge, but 00 Soul manage to put their diversity to work, combining tight musicianship, fresh ideas and funky arrangements into the perfect soul stew. There´s a strong nod to their influences in 00 Soul´s sound: a blend of soul, jazz, latin and soundtrack, without going too retro. As founding member, guitarist Ian Yater explained, “The hard part is not to be a retro band, you know? Even though it is, we try not to be. Our sound happens to be what everyone in our group likes and so it just comes out in that way. Its not like were trying to copy an old style or anything.”
It’s this diversity of influences and depth of experience that make 00 Soul one of the funkiest and tighest outfits playing out live. Like New York City´s Groove Collective, the band are in a category of their own making and are a big draw on the SoCal scene. Since forming in 1994 by DJ Gary Tesch and guitarist Yater, the band has been an innovative and popular force on the scene.
And whereas DJ-based bands are now common, combining loops with live instrumentation then was definitely a new thing. The genesis of 00 Soul was a humble attempt to make electronic music more organic, as Yater explained in a recent pre-rehearsal phone chat. “From the start it was trying to make dance music. We wanted to make music that you could dance to that wasn’t electronic. At the time there wasn’t anything I liked. Now there’s lots of stuff I like. But that’s why I started this thing: ‘I want to go dance but there’s nothing I like’. But, with all of our influences with Afro-beat, and Brazilian and a lot of latin and we just mixed it all together with all of our hip hop likes.”
The SoCal acid jazz “scene”, which blew up to give birth to 00 Soul as well as bands like the Galactic and Greyboy has since moved on. 00 Soul have evolved as well, growing from a three-member outfit to a full-fledged band. Gone is DJ Gary, who played a considerable role in forming the band’s early sound but who’s role seems to have stagnated as the “band” became a Band. Now technology isn’t such an important element in 00 Soul’s sound. “When it first started it was me and Gary with samplers. I was writing songs with samples because I couldn’t work the drum machine so I got a sampler to sample drum loops that I liked. And he would come up with loops and would write a song around a loop. And that went like that and some of the loops we would never use and some were just a noise that kept some kind of tempo. But that doesn’t happen anymore. Since he’s gone, especially, but even when he was here for the last few years of his time he wasn’t putting in any of the technology into it in the songwriting process. It was more of an after thought. We would write songs and he would put his stuff into it,” said Yater.
If technology is no longer a big part of their live show, it has certainly been useful in putting their self-released CDs out. The recordings, both done on low budgets and with home studios, have garnered them an international following–without ever having toured outside of their state. For their debut recording, “The Solid Sounds of the 8-Piece Brotherhood” the band hooked up with Chris Fuhrman, who was a big fan of the band. ”He really saw that he could do something with us. So, he cut us a nice deal but we really didn´t give him a chance to produce us because we had our own ideas about what we wanted. He was amazed, he said we were the first band that ever cared so much themselves for what they sounded like.” If the results were less than the band expected, nobody noticed. “The Solid Sounds of the 8-Piece Brotherhood” received stellar reviews and still sounds fresh.
For their second CD, the aptly titled “All Brothers, Different Mothers”, the band really took charge. “On the second CD we just did it ourselves. We just kept it low key and with friends equipment. We just recorded recorded the drum and bass tracks in our garage. We had one of those Roland digital recorders and everyone took it home and did their own part. I just did all my guitar parts at home on my own. Then we took that to a friend´s studio down the street and had him put it to tape, which warms it up.
And with 8 members contributing their opinions, how exactly does OO Soul create music? Well, democracy still exists somewhere, as Yater explained. “There´s probably three schools within our band and they all mesh together. There might be three of us that totally understand where ´someone is coming from and the other people dont even get it at all, even if you explain it. But they have their own vision and we we just give and take and what happens happens.”
Their songwriting process is basically jamming, which the do in twice weekly sessions. “I would say at least half of our songs are from us jamming and everyone in the band can tell that ít was cool. And we just keep working on it, you know?”, said Yater.
The process is exemplified by the standout song “Arroz Con Grandules”, an infectious latin groove from the second CD. “Well, that was just a jam. I don´t know if it was me doing that lick or Mike Vasquez coming up with the latin drum feel. But I had that guitar lick and it sounded somewhat latin so we just took it that way. And the song was pretty much done and Mike came up the lyrics. Every new song now has some lyrics to it and it is always an afterthought. After Mike listens to it and hears it he´s like ´I got an idea for some words to it.´
Samples also play a part in the process. “Sometimes we name a song after the sample that´s in it. We still call the song by the name of the main sample and we´ll have to change it to put it on the CD.”
With two CDs under their belt, one would think OO Soul would be touring heavily to promote them. With a strong international following and outlets like Dusty Groove and Amazon selling their releases, a tour would seem a must. But 00 Soul seem perfectly content with their SoCal presence, only occasionally venturing out of the hometown. ”We are not really pushing ourselves too hard because we have local shows and make good money,” said Yater.
“It is hard to get everybody in our band to go on the road and if you want to take a band further that´s what you have to do. And a lot of the members have families so we´ve accepted that we can´t do that. So, we just do what we can do, playing songs and doing our gigs.” A Southern California attitude if there ever was one.
IN FLAGRANTI + ORGANIC GROOVES + CODEK RECORDS SASHA CRNOBMJA
BY JOHN C. TRIPP
As a founding member of New York’s Organic Grooves, a stalwart of the city’s dance underground, and as a prolific producer, Sasha Crnobmja has explored the outer galaxy of dance and groove music since the ’80s. Growing up in Switzerland, Crnobmja’s globally attuned ear led him to drumming and DJ’ing. Studying drumming with master percussionist Cosimo Lampis of Brainticket, Crnobmja began a rhythmic quest which continues to this day. In 1993 he moved to New York, initially working in fashion. Then in 1995 he started Organic Grooves with partner Erica Lively. The travelling event started in an apartment building basement on the Lower East Side, where four musicians came together to create music beyond the usual confines of rhythmic music. The early events attracted a small but receptive group which steadily grew through word of mouth. From the start Organic Groove’s was a fluid event, landing in settings ranging from Tribeca rooftops to Brooklyn warehouses, always putting the music first. The band’s lineup evolves as people come and go and includes musicians playing turntables, trumpet, keyboard, melodica, kora and multitude of percussion instruments.The music is a melting pot of styles reflecting Crnobmja’s eclectic tastes, as well as the revolving crew of musicians.Various types of world music, deep house and Afrobeat all meld together to create a sound with its own distinct character. The fact that Organic Grooves is still going strong after seven years is testament of the collective’s dedication to its rhythmic roots. While other scenes have come and gone, Organic Grooves still packs in a dedicated group of dancers who feed off and give energy to the music.
In addition to Organic Grooves, Crnobmja runs the Codek record label, which he co-founded with Alex Gloor in 1996. Codek is a homespun operation with an inspiring D.I.Y. approach. Codek releases all of the Organic Grooves recordings, as well as Crnobmja’s projects his alias “Cosmic Rocker”, which are often in colloboration with Zeb or Alex Gloor. The label’s most recent projects include “Care of the Community: the Discerning Dancefloor”, a compilation of outer rhythms, Track and Field’s (Mike Kohler) “In Search of” and “Organic Grooves 4”, twelve tracks recorded live in New York.
MundoVibes caught up with the extra-prolific Crnobmja via telephone after just returning from a very long weekend of DJing in Puerto Rico at an underground hangout.
MV: Do you travel much to the Caribbean?
SC: Well, in the Caribbean I’ve only been to Puerto Rico so far.
MV: Well, a lot of it comes to New York. New York is such a microcosm, such a musical melting pot.
SC: It is and it isn’t. It’s always in certain kind of neighborhoods or in certain ethnic places. It kind of stays there. There’s just a few places where people venture out and try to connect with other people. For example, in Puerto Rico, people probably think J Lo or salsa music, but in the field I’m in there’s really a lot more in Puerto Rico, which I was surprised by when I went the first time. They’re really into music there, anything popular and underground, from dance music to ambient to rock. They’re really into it.
MV: Do you try to be universal with your music?
SC: Yeah, absolutely. We don’t really have a name for our music style but we kind of have that sort of cosmic thing which can by anything really as long as you like it. I’m basically all about grooves and then when you get down to the roots you ultimately end up Caribbean, Africa, Brazil cause that’s where all the dance music really comes from. Even with house music, if you trace it all the way back you end up with reggae and dub, cause they were the first ones putting out 12-inches.
MV: It’s really incredible when you consider how much influence Jamaica has had.
SC: And Puerto Rico has had a big influence, especially here in New York in the ’60s and ’70s. And not just the music, but art, the whole graffiti scene, break dancing, was really big in the Puerto Rican community. And there are certain dances there where you can see where the whole breakdance inspiration comes from.
MV: I guess Puerto Rico is the place to go. Now, you grew up in Switzerland, right?
SC: Yeah. I grew up in Yugoslavia actually, in Belgrade until I was ten and then we moved to Switzerland. My teenage years were in Switzerland.
MV: There’s a lot of music coming from Switzerland now that has many influences.
SC: Switzerland doesn’t really have it’s own music, really. And the young people are definitely not into Swiss forkloric music, so you look anywhere you can for good music.
MV: Did you find it pretty much an open environment where you were exposed to a lot of music?
SC: Totally. It’s pretty much the same as everywhere.It’s more when you start getting deep into it, you realize it’s very limited to what you can do in Switzerland itself, because there’s no music industry. It’s a very small country, very conservative so you get to the edge really quick and you kind of have to make a decision if you want to keep doing it and you know you have to leave the country. And that’s what happened to me. I always wanted to leave the country just because I wanted to live somewhere else, I wanted to live in a bigger city. Not necessarily New York but that kind of happened.
MV: And how long have you been in New York?
SC: Ten years now.
MV: Did you have a vision or did things just fall into place?
SC: I wouldn’t say I had a vision, it’s just the things I was already doing in Switzerland and the
things that inspired me in the first place, I just kept on doing. Like with Organic Grooves, I did something very similar already in Switzerland.
MV: Was that “Go Global”?
SC: Yeah, we did “Go Global” soundsystem but we soon started playing drums. I wanted to incorporate live music with Djing from the beginning I got into it because to me it made so much sense. And it was good, but as I said, you kind of reach a certain level where it’s just not going anywhere. And I came here, not even for music. I came here to do fashion because I’m a trained tailor. So this guy kind of convinced me to come to New York – “hey, you should come, blah blah blah” – and I came and I was making clothes for a little bit. And, I don’t know if you remember the shop Liquid Sky? I was designing for them when they first opened on Lafayette. But, fashion is such a weird thing. You do stuff for other people and you never get credit. I really got tired of it, so I started my own thing. I started ‘Go Global’ with Erica. Even after we opened the shop I really had enough of fasion, because I’m just not a fashion person. I like the making of it, the working with fabric; making a bag or making a pair of pants was good but I couldn’t deal with fashion people so I decided ‘fuck it’ I’m going to do music and do what I love.
MV: And you found like-minded people.
SC: Yeah, Erica and I already were doing the whole clothing thing, we’d done a few parties just for fun, you know. She knew a lot of people and I was Djing. Then we met Zeb at (Club) XVI and he had a similar background. He was born in Italy and grew up in London, but we had similar music backgrounds. It all fell into place.
MV: And now you’ve almost got a mini empire going on here with a party, a label and the like.
SC: You know, it looks from the outside maybe but Erica does some things and I do the label but it all together looks like this bigger thing. But for me, I don’t look at it as “an empire”. Because there’s a few things happening, and yes maybe Erica and I are overseeing the things but only because we’re probably the most responsible out of the whole bunch. And then everyone kind of relies on us being the ones pushing it. Everyone kind of has their own thing, really. AndOrganic Grooves is the same way; all the musicians involved have their own projects going, but that’s just a way for us to get together and do what we like.
MV: So, in terms of how Organic Grooves operates, it really is a loose collabortation of musicians.
SC: Yeah, each of us are very strong individuals basically. And we all have experience in music, have played in bands, etc. We all got tired of that formula of, you know, you have a band and you rehearse these songs, blah blah blah. It was more like we just got together and we just played all night. But with time it developed to where each musician really knows when to play, what to play, and feeding off the crowd. If we play in a setting where you would sit down and watch us play – we did this one time and it was the worst gig because nothing comes out then. It’s really important for us to have the people dance and react to what we do and then you keep going and you kind of push higher and higher until you have this energy going. It’s a different type of band really and it’s hard to describe it. You know in jazz music, where you have a theme, everyone knows the theme and then you have the guys do their solo or they express the song in a way. And if you change the musicians, the song may sound totally different but you recognize the main theme. So, with us the DJ plays the theme and the musicians do their improvisation, they add to the whole vibe. That’s how it works.
MV: I always wondered how that can work. I’ve been to Organic Grooves events and I’ve always been amazed at how seamless it is.
SC: Yeah, you have to listen and be aware of what’s going on. You can’t just be there and look at your guitar and play. You always have to be aware: where is it and at what point are we here with the whole thing so you play the right thing. Otherwise it can be really disturbing if you’re totally out of tune with everyone in terms of just vibing. Like playing heavy metal or doing some crazy solos (laughter) and everyone’s just looking at you. It has a lot to do with really feeling it out.
MV: Does it take time for musicians to grab that vibe?
SC: No. I think it’s more a mental thing. You have to understand what this is all about. It’s not about how good you play or showing off your skills. It’s not about that. You have to understand the whole concept and the fact that you’re playing for the people and you want to keep the vibe. Right now the crew is really tight and we never have to talk about it, it’s just something where you look at each other and you know what’s going on. And that’s kind of cool.
MV: You’ve been in New York for this long and it’s incredible considering so many scenes have come and gone. What do you attribute that to? Just staying true to your roots?
SC: I think so. You know, you see a scene and it can be maybe for a year and then something new comes. But because no one can really pigeon-hole us so in a sense it’s never over, you know? For example, if you take any music genre like drum-n-bass, you know they reached a peak and it was defined years ago what it is and what it sounds like. So, there’s nothing you can change about that. In order to move on you have to change completely. There’s a lot of artists that have been doing drum-n-bass and now they kind of work in different scenes, and you have to reinvent. You change your whole alias and you start almost from zero again in a different scene. Where we are more like in between all these little scenes and the formula we have is the same but of course the sound changes over time. The sound now is very different than from five or six years ago. We kind of managed to stay with the new sounds, we progress but the formula we found is so basic and that you don’t have to change. It’s the sounds, the sounds change. Maybe the drum patterns change but that’s just music and if you stay on top we can progress along with the progression of different genres.
MV: In a sense your creating your own music. You’re outside labels.
SC: Yeah, totally. See, with dance music there’s not much you can change about it. I’m talking about dance music in general: music that makes a body move is always the same in a a sense. I mean, you can play rhythms that are hundreds of years old and you’re still going to feel it and it’s going to make you move your hips or tap your foot. That is never going to change. You know, even with all of these African rhythms or Latin stuff, the basic things are always the same. You may change some of the sounds or how you bring it, but in the end you go back to the main groove and there’s not much you can do different.
MV: I always consider it to be the bassline that gets me moving, which is the simplest form.
SC: Drum’n’bass really is the essential. We all recognize that fact that if you stick to the roots you’re going to stay the longest, basically.
MV: How do you transform this into a studio project? Do you record live?
SC: We do record live. We do both. We sample, we program things, we record live, we combine many different ways of making it sound the way we want to make it sound. There’s different ways to do it, but in the end because of the mindset, it’s always going to come out the way we sound. Maybe it could be more electronic, or whatever, but we’re always going to end up having that kind of organic sound. It’s always going to be about the rhythms.
Zeb, Sasha’s musical
collaborator
MV: Are you deliberately going low-fi?
SC: Well, low-fi has to do with gear and expenses and money and that’s the thing we don’t have. So, we have to do the best thing out of what we have. I know what is possible if you have a big budget. But, we’re so flexible and there’s no studio costs and that’s how we’re able to do it because we’re really self-sufficient. And that’s how we want to keep it. And every CDs going to sound different from the one before and no-one’s going to tell us it’s no good. All of the tracks that we produce I play at the parties and that’s the best test. If I play a track and people go crazy then I know there’ssomething. I have usually the basic tracks and then we work from there, we record the instruments. You have to have the basic groove and it has to be good.
MV: And are you the person at the board?
SC: I’m the one that spends most time with it. So, I do the production with Zeb. And if Zeb is busy doing other stuff then it stays up to me doing it. So that’s the whole thing with being responsible, so if we decide to make an album I kind of take charge and then just do it.
MV: Well, I spent a lot of time this summer with the D’Afro Disco CD and liked it very much. Your moniker, the Cosmic Rocker, is a defining word because the music does go into that realm. I sort of think of you guys on the same plane as, say, Don Cherry or Sun Ra, in terms of your influences.
SC: Don Cherry, definitely. I have to say, Sun Ra, I actually discovered when I moved to America. I never came across Sun Ra in Europe but Don Cherry had some tracks that I used to play. So, there’s something that definitely stuck in my head. But Sun Ra, I would say that goes even further. He’s on a higher level, you have to go even deeper. In the same way, you have musicians like William Parker that’s like dealing with people who are so deep. And we actually did this kind of remix, it’s called ‘Black Cherry’. A guy from Aum Fidelity gave me a CD of William Parker and the drummer Hamid Drake and it was just the two of them. It’s improv jazz and they’re kind of the top notch in that scene. So, we did a remix album but it’s not called a remix, it’s called ‘Black Cherry’ via the sound science of William Parker and Hamid Drake because I used a lot of their sounds and samples. But when you listen to their stuff you really have to be on a different level. It’s not something you just put in and listen to. So, Sun Ra, I think the planet is even further away that he lives on. But definitely-Takuya, who’s plays keyboards and trumpets – he actually was more into that. And I think he even performed with some of the people that performed with Sun Ra.
MV: Graphics seems to play a big part of Organic Grooves identity.
SC: Yeah, definitely, it was always important. That’s Alex Gloor, who’s created the graphics from the beginning. The flyers, the images, the covers, everything. You know, today I still listen to music by the look of it. Sometimes you can almost see the music. I remember the early ’90s with house music there was no visual aspect and it seemed faceless. Our art reflects what we do. It’s a visual look that is not about styling, that’s for commercial stuff.
MV: Speaking of commercial, do you ever feel like others are appropriating what Orgnanic Grooves has developed. Or on the other hand, have you been given huge cash offers.
SC: No, it’s hard because what we do is very unpredictable.
The Rurals, House Music From the English Countryside
An interview with the Rurals Andy Compton
The Rurals in the countryside
BY J.C. Tripp
If fresh country air and deeply funky house music seem antithetical then you haven’t heard the Rurals. The Devon, England-based group, headed Andy Compton and vocalist Marie “Tweek”, have channeled their country life-style into a music that is as soothing and relaxing as a green meadow on a sunny day. It’s also a delight to dance to and the Rurals sound has long been a staple of deep house DJs and heads worldwide.
Since forming nearly 10 years ago the Rurals have consistently released recordings of the highest quality with a total of 7 full-lengths to date, including their latest “Messages”. In addition they run their in-house label, Peng, which has released all Rurals recordings as well as artists like Richard Gow and John Plays Special.The group began with Andy Compton and Pete Morris, borrowing their name from Andy’s club promotions outfit and first record label, “Rural Promotions”. After a few releases as Green Belt and Rainbow Garden on the Idea label (with Matt Cundy and Dean Westcott) the duo settled on the name the Rurals and began producing their distinctive brand of live house music.
It wasn’t until the summer of 1998 that the Rurals had a vocalist. The addition of Marie was fortuitous: a local record shop gave Andy’s number to Marie Tweek. She called him up, and The Rurals soon had a vocalist and ultimately she and Andy married. The additional of Marie’s vocals took the Rurals in a new, more soulful direction. Tweek brought with her a bass player, Pete “Gurner” Middleton, who has been on Peng releases since the label’s birth.
Other Rurals members include Charlie Hearnshaw, a saxophonist, who was in a band with Gurner and producer/mixer Bazil, one of southwest England’s most renowned DJs. Together the group form one happy family of house music and spend a lot of time together jamming, which is the foundation of their music.
Mundovibes caught up with Andy Compton via e-mail to discuss the Rural’s 10 years of delivering delicious deep house and modern soul.
Mundovibes: Firstly, congratulations on “A Rural Life”, your latest full-length. It’s a gorgeous recording and gives some hints of new directions for the Rurals. It is definitely more on the mellow side of things and shows some branching out into slower and more varied tempos.
Andy Compton: Well, our stuff has always been mellow! We sometimes team up with DJ Bazil, who programs solid dancefloor beats, but most of our stuff is for a more chilling environment. I think it’s important to have many different vibes on a cd; if it was all banging house I don’t think so many people would be feeling it — we’re trying to make timeless music that’ll cross over.
MV: The band’s name is interesting since so many people attribute house music to the city. You live in Devon, which is the English country-side. How does house music fit into a life in the country?
AC: Ha ha, I don’t think it does! The nearest decent house music nightclub is over 80 miles away and the scene in our local town Exeter is on a full-on hard house trip. So we have to travel to get a house rush. On the other side there’s nothing better than seeing the green fields of Devon and feeling the laid back tranquil vibes of the country after a hectic tour — home sweet home! it’s a great place to be writing music.
MV: Do you ever feel like you are missing out on the “pulse of the city” by living a rural life?
AC: For sure! I think if we lived in London we would have got somewhere a lot quicker. City folk don’t really take us seriously down here. It’s hard, but to be honest our priority in life is clean living. I want our kids to grow up in a loving more relaxed place, and I now know that family is more important than anything. We’re not asking for to much, as long as we can make a living out of our music we’re happy, a life of fame is not for us.
MV: What are some of the influences that have shaped the Rurals sound?
AC: Mainly soul/jazz and funk, musically it’s our major love! we try and fuse these styles into a more modern sounding music.
MV: The Rurals have been around since the early ’90s and seem stronger than ever. What do you attribute your longevity too?
AC: When I started to learn the guitar at 13 years old I knew this was going to be my course in life, i was obsessed with music. The reason we’re still here is because of pure hard work; we used to jam everyday, our mission was to write a song daily and not to go home until it was on DAT. All this practice made us what we are now. When I hooked up with Marie that took us to a different level as well. It was no longer just druggy deep house, we went in a soul direction, thus exposing us to a greater crowd.
MV: What were your first impressions of house music when you heard it?
AC: I first heard house music when i was at school, things like ‘pump up the volume’, I hated it all! i was into metal at the time so as you can imagine I wasn’t feeling it at all. It wasn’t until I got a job at hmv (in Exeter) when I was 17 that I started feeling dance music. Before I thought it was all really cheesey but when I heard the UK hardcore stuff it was like metal in dance and I was hooked. I slowly started to mellow out.
MV: You released music under Greenbelt and Rainbow Garden. What was this music like and what made you form the Rurals?
AC: I still release under the name “Greenbelt”, it’s more tracky off the wall stuff, it’s like a release of deep house tension — more sample based stuff. We would have been the Rurals before but some people thought the name was a bit dodgy!
MV: How does the Rurals music comes together — through jamming or improvisation? How has it changed or evolved over the years?
AC: It’s always been the same technique, jammin! we just love to jam! if we get a vibe we get it down on tape, if we don’t we just keep on jammin!
MV: The Rurals is very much an independent band, with its own label, Peng, that you run. What brought you to form Peng?
AC: We started peng so we could have full control over our A&R and music rights. You can’t really make a living releasing on other labels in a small scene like this, we got fed up of waiting for labels to get back to us, and had so much music to release.
MV: How important is it to have the control that Peng gives you over your music and its marketing?
AC: It’s very important, if things go wrong I’ve only got myself to blame. It means we’re always in contact with magazines and distributors/shops etc. so we can get direct feedback.
MV: Peng has grown into a sizable enterprise. How does having a band and running a label work?
AC: It’s hard work and I’d much rather be in the studio full time but, I also enjoy communicating with others in the scene. I have to try and manage my time well, otherwise I never make it into the studio!
MV: House music seems to thrive at the underground level but loses its soul when it goes major. What are your feelings on this?
AC: Perhaps majors only pick up things that are more cheesy and less soulful. Or maybe underground heads go off music when they hear it in every shop in town — there must be a middle ground.
MV: For a while there was a great buzz on deep, lush and jazzy house mainly with Naked music. Do you feel like you were over-looked and do you feel you are under-recognized now?
AC: The thing is with naked they came in with fantastic marketing and great music! They made the sound and sleeves a fashion accsesory. After naked music came around people always said we sounded very “naked” and we were always being compared to them. We never had the budget for massive artwork projects or even for full colour sleeves, we just wrote groovy music! I’m sure the naked buzz helped steer a few people towards our sound as well. Under recognized, yes perhaps.
MV: The Rurals sound is very warm and inviting. How much of this is because of the equipment you use, which sounds very analogue?
AC: There’s alot of air in our sound, plenty of old analogue gear and mainly real instruments; this is where our sound comes from.
MV: Your meeting vocalist Marie “Tweek” when the band was first formed was very fortuitous since her voice is a key element to the Rurals. How do you feel about her voice and how it compliments the music?
AC: Meeting Marie was a blessing! I’d been dreaming of meeting a vocalist that would fit in with our sound and push us in a new direction — my dreams came true! Marie is a fantastic natural untrained vocalist/lyricist. She sings with soul from within and does it with minimal effort. It was the icing on the cake for the rurals sound!
MV: The lyrical element to your music is very important. Much of their content is about relationships and personal issues. Who is responsible for the lyrics and how do they fit with the music?
AC: It’s totally marie’s department! I just get the music sorted out, then it’s over to her! She sings about all types of issues, things that have effected her, friends, the world etc.
MV: There’s a certain sweetness and mellowness to your sound. Where do you feel that vibe comes from?
AC: The sounds and vibe comes from deep inside. I sometimes listen back to our music and think did we really write that? I don’t know how it happens, it just does — it’s like magic.
MV: What is the overall mood you wish to create with the music?
AC: Good vibrations, love and good messages! If we can make people feel good then that’s our job done.
MV: Do you every play out live and what are your shows like?
AC: When we play live our shows have a great energy and there’s no drug to compare the feeling to. When everyone’s singing along it’s like we’re in a different world, or even heaven!
MV: How do other members of the Rurals contribute? Are the roles clearly defined?
AC: There’s no rules, we all do a bit of everything! But, if there’s sax needed then Charlie Hearnshaws the man. If we need fat clubby beats then bazil’s over in a flash. And for jamming, pete mo’s my brother. We’re telepathically linked and of course Marie does the singing.
MV: How do you go about recording? Do you have a studio set-up?
AC: The studio’s right next to the office. We just get in there, jam, and see what happens!
MV: Since you career spans so many years, what are your feelings about how house music has changed over the years? Do you feel it has grown and matured?
AC: Yes, I think it has, but to be honest what with having a family and stuff I really haven’t got time anymore to be checking everything out.the stuff I get sent from friends producers in the scene always sound great. In a way it’s good not to hear everything or perhaps with not knowing it we’d sound like everything else?!
MV: Your music was featured on HBO’s “Six Feet Under”. How did this come about? Will there be more like this?
AC: That was really lucky, so was getting the parts for Mavin and Tammi’s “Ain’t nothing like the Real Thing” from Motown — a dream come true. The music supervisor for “Six Feet Under” really likes the Rurals sound, that helps. I hope there’s more to come.
MV: Peng recently released the compilations “Leko The Lazybeat Lion – The Peng Fables Vol.2” and “My Twilight Blues”, which feature a number of unreleased Rurals tracks. Tell us about these releases.
AC: The compilations are a great way of exposing other artists on peng. We get loads of great demo’s, I feel if we’re releasing new music not only do we help unknown artists start a career but we also keep the peng sound fresh. Most of the Rurals songs on the CD’s have been released on vinyl, but not everyone buys the vinyl, it’s good to have our non DJ fans able to have our music on a easily accessible format.
MV: You have an international fanbase that is very dedicated. What would you like to say to them?
AC: We love you! Without our fans buying our music we wouldn’t be able to fund the job we love. In my local post office they can’t believe how many people in crazy places buy our stuff. I love our online shop, it puts us in touch with a lot of these people, who give us direct feedback.
MV: How important are visuals for the group? Do you pay close attention to this and do you have videos?
AC: We have a designer in London called nima (nmo design) who does a great job with our web sites, logo’s and artwork, it’s totally his dept. we’re thinking about videos…if they’ll help promote us then we’re up for it.
MV: What do you think you would be producing if house music never came along?
AC: Really tricky question, perhaps hip hop?
MV: Where can we expect the Rurals in 2005 and beyond?
AC: We just hope to grow musically and our fanbase! Perhaps get the band on the road again — we get lots of requests but now Marie and I have little Rico (2 years old) and another little one on the way. We want to make a stable life for our kids; I don’t want them growing up not knowing
where there home is. It’d be great to do more music for tv/films as well, those kind of deals suit me well as I love being in the studio working on special projects.
MV: It’s really incredible when you consider how much influence Jamaica has had.