Sunday, December 16, 2007

Basic Soul Interviews

Jon K
Fat City/Eyes Down/SnipSnap



Jon K is a man with a prodigious knowledge of music that has made him the first port of call for many of Manchester's finest Djs and taste-makers when searching out music in his capacity as resident record slinger at Fat City. With a much lauded reputation for playing music from all four corners of the record shop cemented via his seminal and sadly currently dormant Eyes Down night as well as his residency at Friends & Family and guest slots at nights up and down the country he has recently embarked on a project to develop an agency that will provide music for television and film.

Read the interview here.

Karen P
Karen P Productions/Red Bull Music Academy Radio



Karen P is a radio producer, podcast/internet communications pioneer, DJ and writer. Karen established herself at the tender age of 23, as the youngest producer at BBC Radio One, on Gilles Peterson’s weekly ‘Worldwide’ broadcasting phenomenon. She enhanced the original ‘join the dots’ concept of the show, while changing the format, by organising sessions and live events, and introducing established artists whilst continuing to nurture new talents. Under Karen’s watchful eye, the Radio 1 Worldwide show toured the UK and international spots at the Miami Winter Music Conference, Sonar Electronic Festival in Barcelona and Exit in Serbia among many.

Always hungry for whatever’s new, Karen has quickly established herself as a global authority on podcasts and “post-broadcast” audio, setting up the groundbreaking projects that underpin the company that takes her name.

Karen set up an internet radio station to coincide with the annual Red Bull Music Academy in Seattle in 2005. The station has gone from strength to strength with many of the shows being seen as being essential listening for musical connoisseurs worldwide.

From starting off in radio at the age of 18 on a few weeks work experience to initiating and running some of the most forward thinking programming in radio today, Karen has done very well for herself in a relatively short space of time and we, as listeners, are all the better for having her in the world of music.

Read the interview here.

Elliot Bergman
NOMO



Michigan’s NOMO have been making waves with prominent taste-makers and record collectors the world over with their take on the afrobeat sound in the tradition of the foundations lay down by the likes of the great Fela Kuti and Francis Bebey. NOMO is based around a core of eight multi-instrumentalists lead by Elliot Bergman and comprising Erik Hall, Jamie Register, Dan Piccolo, Olman Piedra, Dan Bennett, Ingrid Racine and Justin Walter. After previous releases on Kindred Spirits and Ypsilanti Records they have now found a home on Ubiquity Records on which they released the superb ‘New Tones’ - easily my album of 2006 - and on which they are set to drop their next album in the spring of 2008. They’ve already garnered plaudits from the likes of Urb who chose them as one of their coveted ‘Next 100’ in 2005 as well as from the sadly defunct jazz bible Straight No Chaser who said, ‘If you’re a fan of Antibalas, Daktaris, Tortoise, YNQ and post-Fela funkiness, then this should fit very nicely in your get-up-and-dance collection.’ With a future that is looking increasingly bright and a schedule that is getting fuller by the passing day, band-leader Elliot Bergman kindly took the time to answer a few questions for us here at Basic Soul.

Read the interview here.

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