All Aboard the South London Soul Train

Jack went to the South London Soul Train to catch the Dutty Moonshine Big Band live in concert

It Is a pretty cool time in the UK vintage remix scene right now. With the release of the new Captain Flatcap album just over a week ago, any concern that the scene might be turning in on itself that I may have had started to dissipate. Add to that the imminent prospect of new music from Electric Swing Circus and reports from the festival scene that Jenova Collective are going from strength to strength, plus the arrival on the scene of Tuxedo Junction, and things are starting to look really interesting.

If ever there was an act that I felt could potentially develop a following outside the vintage remix scene it is the Dutty Moonshine Big Band. Having played sets on some pretty massive festival stages (Glastonbury’s Shangri-La and Boomtown’s Town Centre), they have had the sort of exposure that they’d need. But perhaps more importantly their music is varied enough to create an hour-long set that feels at one and the same time part of a unified concept but with enough variety that it doesn’t get repetitive.



I had the chance to put this theory to the test this weekend past as I headed along to the South London Soul Train at the CLF Art Café in Peckham. As you might guess from the night’s name, this ain’t no vintage remix night. Now, Dutty Moonshine might not be the easiest thing to come to terms with if you’re not familiar with them, so I was interested to find out what the crowd would make of them.

As I often do when I’m attending a gig for journalism reasons, I went by myself.  This is a great way to ensure that a) I don’t get too hammered, meaning I don’t have to make up half of the review, and b) it forces me to talk to other people at the gig, which helps to get an impression of what people make of it.

I’d been to the Art Café before for a Correspondents gig a few years ago. It really is one of the coolest venues in town. Set over three floors, it is a far cry from the trendy clubs in Shoreditch that often host Vintage Remix nights – no snazzy sofas, no quirky light fittings, no overpriced cocktails. The concept is simple: put a stage and a bar in, and let the people dance. The bare concrete of the stairwells helps to create an underground-y vibe. Furthermore, it is conveniently close to my house, so that’s a big tick.

The next thing to say is that the crowd is undeniably cool and sexy. I lost count of the number of times I had to double-take as some vision of loveliness sashayed past en route to bar or dance floor. The style is very relaxed: unlike many vintage remix nights, I was the only person in the place wearing a trilby, so far as I could tell. What’s more, everyone was super-friendly, being more than happy to chat to me. Of all the people I spoke to, maybe six or seven in total, not one had heard of the Dutties before, and no one was there specifically to see them.

Read Syed's interview and post about Dutty Moonshine

When the band came on stage shortly after midnight they got a warm reception, and if there were any doubters, once they’d played their first couple of numbers the doubts were banished and the dance floor was jumping. There’s no doubt in my mind that if you really want to make a vintage remix night pop you need MCs, and in HypeMan Sage Dutty Moonshine have one of the finest. His delivery and presence on stage are fantastic, as is his appreciation for the original sound. Tracks like ‘Caravan’, ‘Bonklet’ (for which Captain Flatcap stepped out from behind the decks, where he was deputising for Dutty Moonshine’s regular disc-botherer, and gave his flute a tootle) and ‘SuperSharpSwinger’ were definite favourites with the crowd. My personal favourite Dutty track, “Yeah, Yeah” was received with similar enthusiasm. By the end, the chant of ‘one more song’ shook the floorboards, and for an encore the gang delighted the crowd with a Game Of Thrones / Mary Poppins medley that was weirdly heavy and amusing at the same time.

Once the set was over I hung around for a short while. If you’re a vintage remix fan and you’re in London but can’t find a specific vintage remix event, the South London Soul Train is as good an option as anything. It has a certain griminess to it that’s very appealing, and if you like old tunes in modern contexts like I do you’re laughing. It’s a welcoming, fun crowd, the drinks aren’t stupidly expensive, and getting home (at least, if you live where I do) is easy. The atmosphere is similar to one found at a vintage remix night – no aggro, no posing, just people dancing and having fun together. The next Soul Train pulls in on 17th December with a James Brown special… I’ll be there with (Crimbo) bells on.

The High Priest of Funk

Max Golfar

Max Golfar spoke to Will Williamson aka Father Funk, about his various musical ventures, including his new project Tuxedo Junction.

Father Funk at the Altar

Firstly, congratulations on releasing your new EP, was it difficult to make and how long did it take you?

Thank you! It's been a long time coming actually, most of my stuff I write really quickly but some of the tracks on this I started maybe as long as 3 years ago. Realistically though it came together in a few months earlier this year. I wouldn't say it was difficult to produce cause I love making music but I certainly tried to push myself to make it some of my best music to date. I've also been making an album and getting the Tuxedo Junction thing started so I think what's really been difficult is working on all these different projects at once!

(READ MAX'S REVIEW OF THE EP HERE)

What got you into the Ghetto Funk sound?

Really if I was going to credit one person it would be Tyler (Stickybuds). Someone played me one of his Shambhala Fractal Forest mixes a few years ago and instantly I was like "this is what I'm gonna do". Hearing him incorporate all my favourite styles of music into a seamless, fun and funky DJ set really inspired me to do the same, I've always been really into cross genre stuff and always made all sorts of music, so the Father Funk thing is kind of me combining all of my influences and production styles into one project. As you can imagine playing the Fractal Forest this summer was a bit of a dream come true, was pretty crazy playing the same stage that inspired me to start Father Funk in the first place. 

What would you say is the best programme for making those funky basslines you're known for?

I use mostly Massive and Serum but I'm gonna be a massive hippie and say your mind! Ultimately it doesn't matter what you use to make music, what matters is the outcome, and nothing beats a good idea. Also the most important part is the notes, not the sound, especially with funk. Too many people get caught up in making a crazy bass sound when they should be writing a dope bass line. Sometimes the simple stuff is what works best too. I remember someone asking me how I made the bass in my "Fuck Shit Stack" remix, I was like - dude, it's pretty much just a saw wave and a filter haha.

Which artists inspire you?

That's a tough one to answer. So many. But I think what I am most inspired by is my friends and my peers, people like WBBL, Slynk, Asa, Koan Sound, Featurecast... Seeing my friends killing it makes me super happy and inspires me to push myself too. Also I think I appreciate music on a much deeper level when I know who made it. Besides that though artists that have really inspired my music recently are Swindle, FKJ, Vulfpeck, Exmag, GRiZ, Document One, Haywyre, Skope... I could go on but I think I've waffled enough so far ;)

You've started a new duo with Bear Twists, could you tell us a bit about that.

Yeah Tuxedo Junction! My latest project, I have a lot of them now haha. Basically me and Angus (Bear Twists) got super into jazz recently, I've always loved it but we've started digging for it a bit more and we were like "why is no electro swing any where near as good as the music it samples?". A lot of it is just one little loop from a classic swing tune made into a house track... There's also so much amazing jazz out there, yet no one digs that deep for samples. Tuxedo Junction is us bringing jazz to the 21st century and doing with it what I'd hoped Electro Swing would have done. I wouldn't even call it Electro Swing as the whole point of it is that we're doing what no one else is doing.

You run your own night, The Church of Love, what's it all about and how did it get started?

Oh man the Church of Love... Another one of my new projects! Damn it's a good time. I think it might have been Aidan from Tremor Soundsystem’s idea, basically it's both of us that do the Church of Love, I've been working with Tremor for a few years now so this is us finally doing a regular thing together. I could easily play in Bristol all the time but as I can pull a big enough crowd to put on my own shows here now I'd rather do that - do a few a year, make them really special and get all my awesome friends to play. It's such an amazing vibe every time and I think a lot of that has to do with the fact that everyone I book and everyone involved are bloody lovely people who love each other to bits. So many smiles!

What is next for Father Funk?

Well the next thing I hope to release is my debut album! Very exciting! It's completely different to anything I've done before (man I sound like a cliché here haha) - fully original, no samples, lots of my guitar playing and a few features from friends playing saxophone, singing etc. I'm really excited to finally get it out there as I've had it pretty much finished for a long time I've just got to make a few final changes and work out how I'm gonna release it. Hopefully it comes out by the end of the year as I'm a bit sick of hearing it already haha. Also got my Shambhala mix coming out soon which I'm SUPER excited about, never thought I'd be uploading my own Fractal Forest mix but there ya go! Oh and we've got another Church of Love coming up next month, November 12th, with Too Many T's! Busy busy...