Interviews

Wyndell Long - Hookers n Ho's

This was a discogs gamble in my first flat in London, to pad out an order and get free shipping. At the time I was working for a consultancy in the city and spent most of my money on records and most of my time mixing and jamming on my ms20-mini in my little smokey bedroom. There's a breakdown towards the end with just the hats and I'd keep moving the needle back to loop it, obsessed with the swing. Then there's the killer jazz samples and the vocal sample just at the peak. Man, this one really gets me going.

D'angelo - Playa Playa

The first minute of this track was really revelatory for me and was one of those tracks I really tried to listen deeply to and helped me learn a lot about rhythm. The interplay between the drums, bass, and guitar in that first minute, you can’t help but want to dislocate your neck, but they’re kinda almost hitting on the same beat it’s so swung, and it’s the little gaps between them that make that happen. This was one of those tracks that made me realise rhythm isn’t just drums, that rhythm comes from every element in a track.

Zalla - Prime Nebbie

I go back to this one a lot. Those chords really do it for me. Understated and cool. I sample a lot but I end up avoiding the tracks that really inspire me, maybe out of respect, maybe out of fear. But if you think of sampling as borrowing ideas, I’ve certainly borrowed plenty from this as it’s a mood and vibe I find myself wanting to replicate all the time, consciously or not. Piero Umiliani was a certified badman.

Hodini - Chronic Gangster Boogie

A real neck-snapper for me. This was another track that helped me click with rhythm. I remember wanting to replicate that off beat swing, I think I might even have put it into ableton to try and understand it and realised it was all in those lagged hats with the bass and the snapped clicks. The whole Money $ex Records catalogue has inspired me a lot. Deep House from the perspective of a Hip-Hop head.

Arcoiris - Paraiso Sideral

Ethereal and psychedelic. One of my favourite bands for sure. I discovered them when I was in Argentina back in 2019. I spent a day in Exiles Records, it was raining a lot so it was quiet which was great as it was just me, a French guy who was a real digger, and the guy at the store who obviously had a lot of knowledge. I left with about 10 records and a thorough education. I’m drawn to a lot of 70s music, probably due to my parents and some fond deep memories, and I came home so inspired after finding this and the whole experience.

Sonic 3 Final Boss theme

I could have picked any number of tracks from the Sonic Sega Megadrive era, but I think I hear most influence from this one. I feel genuinely lucky to have had exposure to the very broad array of scales and modes, as well as complex and effective arrangement on display on the Sonic soundtracks, and I must have heard them over and over as I played a lot as a little kid. This track really used to heighten my senses as I knew it was about to go down! And even better that you really had to earn it as it only plays at the very end of the game. Shoutout to Hydrocity Act II as well.