Peshay! He’s funking well back. But not donning his D&B hat right now; he’s returned with the 70s-meets-the-noughties funk stylings of Generation out on Tru Thoughts. Wait a second: there’s a rumour that Peshay once had dealings with the legendary Mo’Wax label in the 90s. So I asked if Generation was a nod back to that mysterious encounter, what with a shared ‘street soul’ sort of vibe. The slower tempo, the gritty artwork too? And was told…
No.
The ‘Generation’ album has nothing to do with mo ‘Wax or the sound back then. Mo Wax was a good label with some great artists like DJ Shadow, Money Mark and Attica Blues to name a few. But that was then and this is now.
Moving swiftly on, what does the title refer to?
‘Generation’ is about different styles of music that have influenced me over the years. That is always my inspiration: to listen to music from past generations and get ideas.
I pick up certain certain things when I listen to this: Miles Davis regarding the horn sound, Lalo Schifrin, Isaac Hayes, even moments from Café del Mar in the beautiful rare groove and soul departments, does that sit ok with you?
Yeah that does sit ok with me. I get so many influences from all different types of music from all different times, past and present.
So what are five influences?
Sugar Hill gang – Living In The Fast Lane
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OLLv9mYdbWM
Larry Levan – My Fist Mistake
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNr_IYTw9jc
Weather Report – Gibraltar
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lndw4UA9wuU
Raw Silk – Just In Time
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKniL0ukQbo
Greg Henderson – Dreamin’
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ft8uYVnrzgc
Coming back to D&B: certain D&B artists like you, Makoto and London Elektricity share a similarity in that you love D&B but also love slower, soul-infused works as well, do you think that reflects on you as people, that you have rich histories in music?
Well, D&B is my favourite music, but I am also a really big fan of so many different types of music, including, funk, jazz, disco, boogie, hip hop, soul and house music from the late 80s & 90s. I’m not sure that what music people like necessarily reflects on them as people, but I always like to have a laugh in whatever I’m doing and so maybe that sense of humour comes out in the music maybe? In that that it’s uplifting?
I think for me, what type of track I produce can be influenced by what mood I’m in at the time as well, so it could be anything really.
I love the short, simple titles of Generation: the sense of ‘streetlife’. Titles like ‘Midnight Express’…
I did this track after listening to the ‘Shaft’ soundtrack. I love film music and music that evokes emotion and so after listening to the soundtrack I was really in the mood to try and have a go at making a track like that. I worked with some musicians on the track and it was put together from three different sessions I had. And after finishing it, I thought it would fit nicely on the Generation album along with all the other tracks.
Overall this material sounds like it was fun to produce, was it?
Yeah it was so much fun to produce and I really enjoyed myself doing it. Hearing it all come together over a few months was a nice feeling as I’ve never done a non-D&B album before. I’ve done downtempo stuff before, like on my ‘Miles From Home’ album, but never a whole project without D&B. It’s good to do something different if you believe in it and have the conviction to see it through and to me there is nothing wrong with doing something different which people don’t expect from you
I’m dying to ask: for someone with your history, what’s a memory you could share with us?
That’s a hard one as there have been a lot of inspirational memories over the years, but one for instance is the time when I think around the late 90s I did a gig in some really remote place in Austria. It was a festival and I remember being picked up in a mini bus with some of the other DJs going to the gig. I got talking to one of the other DJs and as I was talking to him I realised it was Sven Vath! As we were talking he asked me what my name was because he said he recognised me. I told him and he said, ‘oh yes’ I know you and have heard some of you’re music and like it.
That was an inspirational moment for me.
Playing so many shows in your career so far, is there somewhere you’d love to play but as yet haven’t?
One place I would like to do in the future I’ve maybe is an old club in New York called ‘Vintage Vanguard’. It’s an old Jazz club in New York where John Coltrane used to appear. That place has so much history, It would be great to do something there. To feel the atmosphere in a famous club like that would be amazing. One can dream!
To wrap up, apart from Generation what’s been cooking and what’s coming up sir?
For the last year or two I’ve been working on different music projects for my new label ‘Peshay Music’ which will launch at the end of Jan next year. I’ve also been working with musicians doing lots of sessions for my new D&B album which will come next year sometime. There will be a D&B release from me every month next year on the label starting with the first release ‘Knee Deep’ and ‘Operation black Ops’. I’ve also been working on my next Tru Thoughts album too which is going well and am eight tracks in now, so along with Generation, I’ve kept myself busy!