Artists - Guest profiles

Born in a small town, raised in a just a lil bigger one, I had no clue of what "growing with the commercial radios" was. My father was into rock annd very old school jazz and my brother was into reggae and new wave... so I took a lil bit of everyone and felt in love with indie rock and classic bands. The big moments of teenage period are my father showing me to play bossa jazz classic and my love of drums listening to John Bonham patterns... That's where the big love in music took a clearer sense for me.

I went to university, and I was baad...but I got CDs, I was trained under the influence of Bernard Lenoir on France Inter (french John Peel or so), and I got the feeling I could go further. So I went heavy into Jazz, Soul, House, Techno, Blue Note Rare Grooves type and so on. I got my first show on Radio Campus Dijon and was playin' the early french touch bands as Alex Gopher, La Funk Mob, Daft Punk and Mighty Bop.

My cameo at the time was my radio show name: Apollo Funk. My studies and connections made a job possible at Yellow Productions in 1998. I started djing around Europe and Canada but never got my name used as brand and with no productions out around... I slowly stopped djing regulary and and came back to my teenage dreams: making music. A mpc2000, 2 turntables and a zip disk...and here we are: I meet the incredible François Faure, this amazing tripping out key players whom range of music goes from A to Z. I knew Thomas Naïm from Tom & Joyce since the Yellow years and this outstanding guitarist became one of my closest friend, the dude plays guitar...and last but not least Guillaume "bassyourface" Farley, I met G thru François and this dude can't be out of this game.

...is Blackjoy a band? Yes and no. I'm the mentor, I do drums, arrangements, editing, producing but the instrumentalist part of the music couldn't exist without the team..

The first EP, Untitled was released in 2002 and got heavy play from specialists and legends such as Kenny Dope, Phil Asher, Lil' Louis, Kerri Chandler and Dj Deep... Then I started to work on remixes but the next big job came with the production of Moustache and La Stache for Yellow. Recorded from Disco Jams I learned a lot from it. This is was a « success » too and I got huge response from it. Still doing remixes I was going to deep and producing the first album which I started to work on in 2001.

The album is now on the way to be released in France first in October 2007 and two first singles are due in the next months. First one with a song from General Elektrics's RV signed now on Quannum for his supergroup Honeycut, then we'll give commercial birth to the magnificient remixes of Metalbossa from Phil Asher's Restless Soul. The album contains 2 songs from Shawn Lee, a Weather Report's « River People » cover and diverse blues and soul atmosheres.

Now back on track to play music for the dancefloors, expect we might come with a live band one day..

Hate it or eat it... we just want to feed you with groove!

Crazy Penis started by duo of Chris Todd & Jim Baron back in 1995 recording for the awesome (sadly now defunct) paper recordings . Now on there 4th album and renowned for their tight production and funky summery grooves this duo latest album sees brand new tracks from an intense studio session and a more organic direction to create a fluid album of digi-discoid-electro-funk. "A Night On Earth" the brand new Crazy P album is an epic journey to the dark side of the funk, full of rare groove and disco flavours, a coming of age album for a truly gifted group of musicians.

Having met whilst at Nottingham university, the two’s love of 70’s disco & soul and the thriving British/U.S. house scene saw them start crafting their own unique brand of soulful dance music. With very little equipment and a name to shock, the budding bedroom producers started writing and recording together. Having got lots of positive feedback from mates who heard their tracks, the lads plumped up enough courage to send some of their quirky funk off to the newly formed, but already reputable label, Paperecordings, based in Manchester. Within days of sending the tape, paper head-honcho, Elliot Eastwick was on the phone; they loved the tracks and wanted to sign them for release. This was the start of an eight-year relationship with the label, which spanned numerous 12”, remix and album releases.

Having made an impression on the worldwide dance scene with their debut album ‘A Nice Hot Bath With….’, requests started coming in for Crazy Penis live shows across Europe and the world. Chris & Jim knew they needed help to translate their richly orchestrated sound to the live format and so started their search for like-minded muso’s to join the merry throng. They didn’t have to look too far…..Bassist, Tim Davies (an old school-mate of Jim’s, and involved in the conception of the first Penis album) was drafted in along with ex-cream percussionist, Mav. The final member to join, vocalist (& Manchester socialite) Dannielle Moore was spotted by Jim doing a rousing Shirley Bassey impression at a Manchester house-party in the very early hours of the morning!!! The line up was complete.
The band is a tight combo taking in dreamy disco grooves, wicked diva vocals and funked-up, jazztastic beats that can bust out into some broken beat/nu-jazzy/house hybrid while laying down sweet-deep grooves. Where they really shine, though, is in their soul. Like Zero 7, they have a very dreamy R&B sound that's quite laid back, relaxed, and more dependent upon their own musicianship, songwriting, and vocalists than on the latest gadgets on their drum machines.

The last few years have seen the group blossomed into a fully-fledged eight-piece ensemble, with a fast-rising reputation as one of dance music’s best live acts. It’s certainly a far cry from the days when Chris and Jim would knock up sample-adelic dancefloor tracks using just a sampler and a battered old Atari ST.

Live Highlights of the year included the Good Vibrations tour in Australia where 9000 people went ballistic during a heatwave, The Big Chill, Moscow and the renowned Irish craziness of Dublin and Cork (so good, the promoters rebooked the shows within days!!!).

Not content on that alone the two have been working on here own solo projects, Chris under the name "Hot Toddy" and Jim has also written one of the killer tunes of last year ‘For the people by the people’ under his new DJ alias Ron Basejam.

Bettina Constanzo is the driving force behind Bougie Soliterre , an act known for producing superlative jazz - flavored house tracks .

A native of Montreal , Canada , she relocated to Europe in the mid 1990s to begin her career in earnest . Wasting no time in learning the ropes , she quickly became the Promotions Manager for Roger Sanchez's Narcotic imprint , one of the decade's most successful labels . She used that experience as a stepping stone to founding two ventures, the Global Dance distribution company and Flipside Records, for which she records .

The group began with e c o r d s , " Got the Bug " and " Something , " gained massive acclaim in broken beat / nu jazz circles, as she was affiliated with top - flight labels such as Sfere and the venerable People Records. To date, her biggest tune is likely " Besides You, " an irrestible vocal tune sung by former P - Funk vocalist Stef Frank that remains a club classic.

Among her many remixing credits includes Victor Davies, Kavita and Jazztronik .

The Capoeira Twins are Tim Hancock and Ian Stratford and were born out of one of the Midland's longest running and most respected club nights, 'Stump Juice'.
Nowadays they're probably best known for their stunning version of 'Four' (4x3), originally released on John 'Dope On Plastic' Stapleton's 'Blowpop' label at the end of 1999. It rapidly became another cult classic. It Particularly pleased the boys since it defied all the pigeon holes and drew fervent support from dj's as diverse as Mr.Scruff, Graheme Park, The Wiseguys, Judge Jules, Steve Lamacq, Emma B...and of course ..Pete Tong, who loved it so much he signed it to his label ffrr and made it the first tune on that season's Essential Selection CD. Mr. Scruff's excellent remix of 'Four' helped to make it an enduring piece of vinyl, still highly sought after.

While it is true that as DJs, they were supporters of the Latin style at ‘Stump Juice’ way before its current widespread popularity, they are as much influenced by Jazz, Ragga, Hip Hop, Soul, Breaks, D+B and 'just good music in general'. Though if you do push them to try and explain their style they will happily tell you that all the best Two-Tone bands came from the Midlands and if anything they see themselves as a continuation of that legacy!

How Tim and Ian became 'The Capoeira Twins' is a long story, but one they're very proud of. It has its roots in both their love of Latin music and their desire to fight back at 'all the full on shit' they encountered when ‘Stump Juice’ first opened. Capoeira has received a lot of profile in Britain over the last year or so which pleases the lads very much because it means that besides 'telling a story that needs to be told' people are actually starting to be able to pronounce their name after all these years!

Now signed to Bristol's Hope Recordings, their next singles are the self-penned 'Lose Control' featuring acclaimed musician and singer, Helen Marcia McDonald and current “Essential New Tune” “Vanish. An album is currently being completed for a late spring release.

If fresh country air and deeply funky house music seem antithetic 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 a l l Rurals recordings as well as artists like Richard Gow and John Plays Special.

Andy Compton and Pete Morris, borrowing their name from Andys club promotions outfit and first record label, "Rural Promotions ". After a few releases as Green Belt and Rainbow Garden on the Ideal 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 bassplayer, 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 south west 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.

Look out for their forthcoming release  A Rural Life  on Peng Records due to be released on 30th May 2005.

Serge Santiago’s taste for music started very early with his guitarist father playing classics from jazz artists such as Stanley Clarke or George Duke. Serge’s musical career began with Brighton's warehouse party scene, later becoming ‘’Stompa Phunk’’ and still alive today. So far, Serge has remixed an impressive
list of artists under the name of ‘’Radioslave’’. These include Bent, X-Press 2, Justin Timberlake, FC Kahuna, DJ Ali, Bob Sinclar, Missy Elliot…, to whom Serge added his special touch and warmth to make proper party tunes.

Coming soon, exciting collaborations with other like minded producers: Ivan Smagghe, David Duriez, Ewan Pearson, Dan Ghenacia. Don’t miss this exclusive visit to Birmingham !