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DJ Alixir from HKClubbing.com Interviews Soul of Man ...
In the late eighties, producers Justin Rushmore and Jem Panufnik began to forge a new breed of funk that has been adamantly influential during the course of a style we know today as breakbeat. A sound first hinted at during the early eighties by fairlight wizards, The Art Of Noise, with tracks like “Close To The Edit” amongst other sampled break/backbeat classics. Originally, Justin and Jem’s Finger Lickin’ label was created as a vessel to launch themselves as upon the dance scene.
Apart from achieving their own recognition, Finger Lickin’ has become a stage for them to be seen as world class leaders amongst the ranks, with global heavyweight acts such as The Plump DJs joining their musical wagon of continual success. Justin and Jem have already unleashed breakbeat classics such as “Killabrew” and “Love and Hate” under the guise of “Soul Of Man”, tracks that have dominated the dancefloor and become firm favourites with DJs and producers alike. HKClubbing.com’s DJ Alixir caught up with the dynamic duo and questioned them on future tours, an expected album release and all things that “break” in the night…..
A: How long have you both been in partnership for producing music? What came first, the DJing or the music?
Jem: Justin and I first met and almost straight away started making music in '96- we started a tiny label as a way of releasing house tracks we were making called "Spirits of Inspiration". The creative relationship worked so well because Justin, a fairly prolific house DJ, wanted a musician/ producer to help put his ideas down, and I needed a much more specific club-angle to the funky grooves I was knocking out and he was able to provide that. The result was me learning about DJing and Justin about production and the mix is not only pretty balanced now, but goes hand in hand.
A: What lead yourselves into the world of Breaks? What inspires your sound?
Jem: We can both identify a point when we thought "wow - we can do that!" when we heard a Freestylers DJ set on the radio about seven years ago now. It seemed to fuse our passion for house with all other things funky and hip-hoppy, at a time when a lot of dance music was sounding very much the same and uninspiring. Justin had also started his record shop, Vinyl Addiction, and could see this underground genre bubbling away first- hand. It was a very exciting time.
A: Q As most of us know, partnerships take a lot of work but when they work, they work well. Has Soul Of Man always been about the both of you? How long have you worked together and do you often work apart from each other?
Jem: As said above, the roles were initially more defined - Justin with his DJ head on would come up with a concept, perhaps even a sample, and I would translate that musically into something we both dug and off it would go. We have both learnt an enormous amount over the years about each other's trade and the roles have blended somewhat now, but it still acts as a constructive factor, and we never proceed with something unless we're both happy. We are lucky to have a good communication and a good understanding of each other. We don't always agree - but that's life!
A: What lies at the bottom of the experience that is Soul Of Man?
Jem: Probably the things I have mentioned - we both have our musical influences - Justin with house, me with funk, and the way we've been learning to apply it to our music - the result is deeply funky hypnotic dancefloor monsters! Djing provides a lot of experience - knowing what you would want to play with behind the decks means getting in the studio and actually making it. There is nothing more of a buzz than witnessing something you've been hammering out in the studio, imagining it on the dancefloor, and then seeing it do it's job!
A: What do you believe that makes your sound so encapsulating and rewarding upon the dance floor?
Jem: The funk! There are an awful lot of breaks producers who seem to forget the general purpose of dance music - to make people dance! If we're not jigging about in the studio it's probably not going to make the crowds move...
A: Is there something formulaic about your sound or do you not tend to follow templates for production?
Jem: There's nothing formulaic - you will notice that not many of our tracks sound that similar, although there is definitely a production sound - inevitable when you do everything in the same studio. Tracks seem to take their own route a lot of the time. What may have been started with a specific concept will invariably take a life of it's own by the end.
A: Best gig ever played so far? Why was it so memorable?
Jem: The one that will probably stay in our memories for ever was the first time we played Field Day at New Years in Sydney in 2002 - it was a huge outdoor breaks-lead event that climaxed with a Finger Lickin' Allstars set at the end in front of 17,000 people - us, Plump DJs, Matt and Aston Freestylers and Krafty Kuts spun back to back in front of a sea of faces - it was an awesome spectacle from our angle! It was one of the happiest and proudest moments in my life - being on the other side of the world, and the people loved the music they were hearing. It will be hard to top that!
A: You've done a lot more remix work than current releases to date, was this intended or have you not had much time for the studio?
Jem: It is hard trying to make time in the studio - Justin deals with the business side of the label and has fingers in other pies too - it's pretty full on! It's ironic since Finger Lickin' was set up really as a vehicle for our own stuff, but it's totally taken over! We are on a mission though- we are aiming to complete an album by July and it is already shaping up pretty nicely.
A: Where are you headed for the summer? Big gigs and festivals abound?
Jem: Loads of big gigs and festivals - we're off to do a tour in Australia in July - setting off the day after Glastonbury which may be tricky (!), Big Chill, Shambahla in Canada, plus Poland, Spain, Finland, Ibiza - it's going to be busy!
A: You've already played acclaimed gigs in Japan and various other locations in Asia and Australia, is there anyone who's supported you in those areas that blew you away?
Jem: What most bowled us over in Japan was the excitement and enthusiasm for the label - needless to say DJs supporting us were also technically brilliant! In Australia the hat goes off to Jesse Kinobi - talented, energetic and a top bloke too.
A: What's up the evolutionary ladder for Soul Of Man, breaks forever or experimental dips into other musical genres?
Jem: It's never been "breaks forever" - there's an undeniably housey side to our sound and we both yearn to knock out some purely house monsters sometime...doing this album too has enabled us to be a bit more indulgent and we've been messing about with much slower tempos and sounds. Making tracks as 12" singles can be limiting in that you are providing music with one function - for DJs to play and people to dance to. An album is something people have in their homes and cars, and as a result you can take them on a different sort of journey - you can afford to be more musical and expressive. There is a lot of unchartered waters with our music making - limited only by the time we have to experiment. The mission is to make more time for it, and stretch the boundaries even further.
A: "The Lick" is soon to grace us on the other side of summer, will this release be twinned with a large scale tour of worldly proportions? Perhaps Hong Kong?
Jem: It's not actually going to be called "The Lick" any more! The album was initially going to be a sort of compilation of our remixes and bootlegs and that name suited that well - we're still going to do it, but further down the line. We're now instead producing an actual "artist" album (working title at the moment is "Soul Shaker"). There most definitely will be a tour to support it in October and nothing would make us happier than to come to Hong Kong! The Plumps had a fantastic time there at the beginning of the year and we want to see it for ourselves!
Visit there label website at http://www.fingerlickin.co.uk/ for more information.
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