The Love Experiment: "Proving the Theory" [interview]

With the worldwide release of the band’s debut album having been unveiled in December last year, The Love Experiment open 2017 with an electrifying introduction.

The Love Experiment may be a new name to many but they have been steadily honing their skills and building anticipation for their first official release since 2010.  Formed in Boston and now based in New York City, the band has established a strong reputation as standout live performers; from throwing secret parties to sharing the stage with seasoned and diverse artists including Talib Kweli, Mad Satta and Si*Se.

Those six years have been more than worth it if this is the result!  Headed up by drummer, Charles “Blvk Samurai” Burchell, the team of Kim Mayo on lead vocals, Parker McAllister on bass, Andrew Burglass on guitar, Jessi Lee on sax, and a slew of other artists and musicians all set the bar remarkably high on their self-titled release and leave you craving more by its conclusion: the dreamy delivery of ‘Slow’, the sweet funk of ‘School Girl’, and the album’s eight-minute magnum opus, ‘Beautiful’, all accentuate the talents of a band dripping with creativity.

The concept of the ‘Experiment’ within the band’s name goes deeper than just their dissection of ‘love’ as a theme, but also something indicative of their overarching musical aesthetic: whilst their sound openly displays the influences of the artists and genres that have inspired them, their own vision consolidates those sounds into a provocative melting pot which is part hip-hop, part jazz and part R&B, making The Love Experiment exciting representatives for a new generation of progressive soul music.  The fluidity of the music on their debut release gives them the freedom to take it in any direction they may want to going forward and, as fans, it will be thrilling to watch them flourish either on further albums or on the live stage.

We’re very excited to have secured time with band leader, Charles “Blvk Samurai” Burchell to discuss the band’s new project, what brought them together and where they go next...



Which artists have been the biggest influence in shaping the sound of The Love Experiment?
I think the artists that have had the biggest influence on us would be J Dilla, Flying Lotus, Erykah Badu, Radiohead, Doobie Powell and Robert Glasper.

How did members of the band initially meet and start working together?
We all met in college in Boston while attending various schools: New England Conservatory, Berklee College of Music, and Harvard University. We were initially assembled to play a black history month concert at Harvard University. However, a week before that we were invited to play a show in a warehouse. At that show people started making love on the dance floor. It was at that point that we decided to really become a band.

What inspired the group's name?
At first it was a joke. The first time to group played it was for a school talent show. As we began writing music for the group most of the songs focused on love and presenting a more realistic portrayal of love. Love isn’t always a warm and fuzzy feeling. We all assume that we know how to love well but the truth is that there’s no blueprint and we are all trying to figure it out. So in essence all love is an experiment. The name just stuck.

How does the creative process of making new music usually work for you all?
All of the members are songwriters and producers in their own right so a lot of our new music comes from one of the members bringing in a track or a sketch of a song that they started and then the band workshops it.
Sometimes we send clips or ideas to different members to work on before presenting to the entire band. I think our magic really comes when we workshop songs as a group. We are all trained improvisers so we like to see what the moment inspires us in the moment as we’re working on new songs.

Congratulations on the release of the debut album: can you talk a little about how the project was to put together?
This project was definitely a process. We all graduated from school around 2012-2013. We then transitioned to New York from Boston. Before most of us moved to New York we started recording this record in the summer of 2013. We set out to record all the music we made in college so this record originally started as 5 EPs. For anyone who’s ever lived in New York then they can understand how hard our transition to New York was. 2014 was basically a transition year and we did as much as we could to finish 25 songs with members and producers between two cities. 2015 we changed the line-up and threw out half of our material so we essentially had to start on a new record. So by 2016 we finally had the tracks for this record decided and finished. We learned a lot during the process and basically transformed what we wrote in 2011-2012 into something that could connect in 2016 and beyond. We are still perfecting the concept of a produced band. We’re all producers and we’re trying to find a sound between a band and live production.

How did the collaboration with JSWISS materialise?
Back in 2014 we would regularly attend these jam sessions at a friend’s house. The session which was called the Blue Light Party was a place for bands, emcees, and visual artists to connect. We met JSWISS at these parties and connected. There was also another weekly session hosted by a grouped called Tiger Speak that a lot of our members played in. JSWISS would come by that session a lot too. Looking back those were some very creative times. We were all trying to find our own space in New York.

Has there been any thought as to what a follow-up album would sound like?
Funkier, more soulful, more sonically adventurous. We already have a lot of the tracks for our follow up projects and the sound has changed a lot from this current record. We will definitely have a lot more production elements and will try to incorporate the full range of what our band can do sonically.

Who would be a dream artist for the group to either record or perform with?
Erykah Badu, Flying Lotus, Anderson .Paak, Pharrell, Kendrick Lamar, Ghostface Killah (really any Wu-Tang Member), Kanye West (just sample us)...  There’s a lot but I really think Anderson .Paak, Flying Lotus and Kendrick are pushing music in the direction we’re trying to go.

‘The Love Experiment’ is available to purchase from Bandcamp now https://theloveexperiment.bandcamp.com/

ZULUZULUU: 'The AstralBeat Sound' [interview]

Roy Ayers once said “The true beauty of music is that it connects people. It carries a message, and we, the musicians, are the messengers.”  Good music touches people; great music can inspire them, but sometimes it’s message can travel that much further and resonate with a generation.

Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ was adopted as a popular slogan among the Black Power Movements; Curtis Mayfield’s music became a source of hope and courage in the civil rights era; Marvin Gaye’s 1971 socially conscious and anti-war anthem, ‘What’s Going On’, is still heralded as one of the greatest songs of its era; Public Enemy’s ‘Fight The Power’ in the late-80s discussed civil rights issues and black pride.  In 2016 – a year where the US general election resulted in the victory of what many believe to be a racist and misogynistic President Elect, and a year where the activist movement of Black Lives Matter grew in response to police killings of black people, racial profiling and police brutality – ZULUZULUU continue in that legacy of socially conscious and inspiring music that speaks to an America struggling to come to terms with its identity.

Comprised of six musicians and producers (each artists in their own right), MMYYKK, Proper T, Greg Grease, DJ Just Nine, ∆RT P∆RTÉ & Trelly Mo, the band proficiently carry the torch for the much-revered funk rock and synth-pop aesthetic of the Minneapolis Sound pioneered by Prince and his close affiliates, The Time and Sheila E, amongst others.

Spearheaded by the brilliant single ‘Fades’, the seven-track release, ‘What’s The Price’, bursts with unrestricted creativity.  Released in the middle of last year, the digital-only project introduced the band’s blend of futuristic R&B-infused funk and soul – a sound they have come to label themselves as AstralBeat – to cover a range of topics including police brutality (‘What’s The Price’) and old-fashioned romance (‘On Our Way’ and ‘Bicycle Seat’).  The project’s wave of high praise and rave reviews established ZULUZULUU as one of the year’s most exciting acts.  Not content to rest on their laurels however, the band capped off an already successful year with ‘The Cover Up’ mixtape, available on Bandcamp, which feature a series of cover versions from heroes including Bobby Byrd Congress, Bootsy Collins, The O’Jays and De La Soul – songs that continue along the themes established by ‘What’s The Price’ but re-imagined within their own AstralBeat style.

Like Renaldo Benson, writer of ‘What’s Going On’, professed at the time, this isn’t protest music – it’s an album with love and an incredible sense of pride at its core but still free to ask difficult questions.  But like ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’ and ‘Fight The Power’, ‘What’s The Price?’ isn’t a question... it’s a statement!

We would have been thrilled to have secured time with just one of the members of ZULUZULUU so you can imagine how overjoyed we are to present to three – Proper-T, MMYYKK and ∆RT – in our exclusive feature.

How did you all initially meet and come together to form the band?
MMYYKK: Personally, I moved to Minneapolis from southern California in 2009. I met Greg Grease around 2012 and we began collaborating on music and visual projects around 2013. I met the other members of the band through Greg. The formulation of the band was kind of a natural organic result of musical collaborations between members. Greg Grease, Proper-T and Trelly Mo are cousins so they have been making music together for years. Technically the first ZULUZULUU show was a Clash Tribute in like 2013 I believe. I wasn’t involved at that time, but I would say the band in its current form officially became ZULUZUZLUU in, like, the end of 2014, going into 2015.
∆RT: I guess initially, we were all doing music together and separately. You have to remember, there is a ton of cross-pollination in the Minneapolis music scene. Pretty much everyone knows each other, so it was really only a matter of time before we all met up. Once we got in the same room there was an extremely powerful energy and we just instinctively started vibing and making music. So basically, it fell out of a jam session in a small studio on the North Side of Downtown Minneapolis.

Congratulations on the release of 'What's The Price?': are you happy with how the album has been received?
Proper-T: ‘What's The Price’ was the first recorded collection of our songs, which in itself was a special day when we completed it. For it to be so well received, analyzed, and appreciated, is beyond beautiful. We are grateful.
MMYYKK: Absolutely! It’s been pretty mind-boggling honestly. It feels great to be able to freely create the music that we want to create and have it be so well received. I think it speaks volumes about a lot of the assumptions of the industry in terms of what listeners want. I think people are getting tired of super saturated insincere music. It’s great to know that people are with us and down with the AstralBeat.
∆RT: It has been very humbling to be part of something new and positive with such amazing talent. I am really excited for all there is to come.

Did you all have a clear idea of what you wanted the music to sound like at the outset of the project?
Proper-T: Our individual styles and careers have grown immensely over the years, and our sound is a culmination of all of our talents. In that respect, when we started, we trusted each other's creative processes and let our sound come naturally. The end result let us know that this approach works.
MMYYKK: Not really. We kind of just got together and started making music. There wasn’t ever a point when we stopped to think about what our genre was or what we wanted to sound like. We just made music. And that’s really still how it is. It’s other people like press and critics who are labeling us and trying to contain our music into a genre, and I get it, I’m not mad at it. You need to be able to categorize things to an extent so that people can find it. But I mean, our sound is the culmination of experimentation in a lot of different genres of music from funk, jazz, and hip-hop to soul, reggae, and afrobeat. We just call it AstralBeat.

With all of ZULUZULUU being producers in your own right, how would you say the creative process of writing, producing and recording new music usually works for the band?
Proper-T: We approach each piece with trust. When we start a session, we'll start with a stem from Greg Grease, for example. From there, Trelly will start building and the other members join in and let the piece grow. That's how we have created for a while, cutting what doesn't work, and embracing what does in the moment. From there, we mould the piece and get it ready to mix.
MMYYKK: The writing process is ever changing. It sometimes starts with a jam that then turns into a loop, which then becomes an arrangement that we write to. Other times it starts with a stem or a sketch that one of the members has that we then build on and arrange. It’s pretty organic. Sometimes it even starts with a joke. For example, Greg’s dad was the one who gave us the concept for ‘Bicycle Seat’. The writing process is sometimes a group effort and other times it gets more personal. ‘Fades’, for example, I think damn near each one of us wrote a line for that song; Where as ‘On Our Way’ was written entirely by Proper-T. It all varies; it’s whatever we want it to be or rather whatever the universe allows it to be.
∆RT: I think that each of us brings our own palate both in terms of voice, musicianship, and technological acumen. The sonics of a particular era are generally a direct translation of the access to instruments, equipment, and techniques. So really finding a way to leverage all of our talents while tapping into a music that has been a healing and sustaining force for hundreds of years.

Have you ever feared that creating such a diverse, genre-blending sound would work against you?
Proper-T: Never. The world is ready for this.
MMYYKK: Nope, we don’t think about it. We just create, and try not to concern ourselves with what people are ready for. I think if you look back on music history, most of the greatest musicians were the forward thinkers, the people who followed their heart and their truth. That’s what we do.
∆RT: That is a really great question, I think unless an artist is striving to do something that really feels like a departure from recognisable music (which certainly has its place) genre-blending the forte of futuristic genres. Often finding something that is new is simply a combination of older techniques, sounds and theory that can then be re-imagined.

Congratulations also on 'The Cover Up' Mixtape: how did you go about selecting the songs to cover? And, are there any others you'd like to tackle?
Proper-T: There is a whole breadth of songs that we want to cover, because there are so many songs that have influenced us. DJ Just Nine has a collection of records that is beyond belief, and he's just a great example of how much the great music that has been created in the past has influenced us. 'The Cover Up' is a collection of songs that have guided us to where we are.
MMYYKK: When we decided to do the mixtape we just sat down and talked about some of our favourite songs and our influences. We definitely reduced the list quite a bit. It was pretty extensive at first, but we had put ourselves on a timeline to complete the project so we couldn’t do 20 songs.  There are definitely a lot more covers we would like to do but we also don’t want to impede the creation of original music. We’ll probably focus on original material for the time but I would think a Cover Up part 2 might reveal itself in the future.

How does your music transfer to the live stage?
Proper-T: We got our start on the stage and performed for years before being ready to release a record. So in that sense, the question would be how would our live energy influence our recorded work. But really, both influence each other, and our music transfers to the stage in the exact way we record: naturally.
MMYYKK: You definitely are going to get the same vibe and energy as the record. We also try to mix it up and reinterpret songs in different ways, just to give people something special.
∆RT: Sonically, the live performance is pretty exhilarating. I would say there are actually aspects of the live performance that have thus far been pretty difficult to capture in the studio. We get a lot of love and positive energy from the people and the idea is to absorb that, distil it and reflect it back through a musical filter. When you are able to do that, things really take on a new dimension. I think that is why albums like ‘Band of Gypsies’, ‘Purple Rain’, the Funkadelic albums, etc. have a certain depth to them that is really absent in much of contemporary music. Also, Minneapolis has this incredible theatre/performance scene and that definitely has an impact on designing and curating a multi-sensory experience.

Who would be a dream musical collaborator for the band to either record or perform with?
MMYYKK: For me personally, I would love to do something with Cory Henry.  I would also love to work with Thundercat, Flying Lotus, Herbie Hancock, Dam Funk, Terrace Martin, KING... it’s really a pretty long list of musicians I would love to work with.
∆RT: It is such an exciting prospect to think about all the possible collaborations. It would be incredible to build with and learn from other amazing songwriters, musicians and producers [like] Amp Fiddler, Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Dam Funk, Esperanza Spalding, IAMNOBODI, J*Davey, The Internet, anyone out of Brainfeeder, Blood Orange, and many more...

‘What’s The Price?’ and ‘The Cover Up Mixtape’ can both be purchased from Bandcamp: https://zuluzuluu.bandcamp.com/

Photos by Sarah White
Huge thanks to Jon Jon Scott

Blue-in-Green:RADIO

Welcome to Blue-in-Green:RADIO, a brand new internet radio station focusing on 21st century soul, jazz and funk music.

Broadcasting non-stop, quality soul music 24/7, we'd love for you to join us on our journey of discovering new music and perhaps uncover new and independent gems together.

Listen to us here or through iTunes, TuneIn, Streema, Dirble and Streamitter.
Also, to keep up-to-date with our specialist shows, themed playlists, exclusive and guest mixes you can find us on Twitter and Facebook.

2016: Top 5 soul albums

#5
‘Family Dinner – Volume 2’ by Snarky Puppy [Ground UP Records]

Texan jazz ensemble band, Snarky Puppy, not only celebrated the release of their tenth album, ‘Family Dinner – Volume 2’, this year, but also their eleventh in ‘Culcha Vulcha’.  For the purposes of this list however, it’s a case of lucky number 10 as the second in their hopefully ongoing series of live collaboration albums, ‘Family Dinner’, saw its release this year and stormed high amongst our album charts.
‘Volume 1’ was perhaps most notable for the Grammy-winning collaboration with Lalah Hathaway – covering Brenda Russell’s ‘Something’ – so although it’s a shame not to see her always show-stealing name amongst the lineup of contributors here, you really can’t turn your nose up to a list consisting of Laura Mvula, Chris Turner, Becca Stevens and Charlie Hunter.  As previously, the album features the songs as recorded live including nice banter between certain songs; as if David Crosby doesn’t already have the song of the album with ‘Somebody Home’, his warm-hearted anecdote just before the song really brings the performance from great to unforgettable.
The bonus DVD is included again and digital versions of the album will also include MP3s for the five songs that couldn’t fit on to the CD.  (These are also imperative to get your hands on, including Nigel Hall & NOLA International guesting on ‘Brother, I’m Hungry’.)
Bring on Volume 3!

#4
‘Love & Hate’ by Michael Kiwanuka [Polydor Records]

There didn’t seem to be much room for improvement on Michael Kiwanuka’s debut, ‘Home Again’, in 2012.  His blend of Otis Redding and Terry Callier inspired folk and soul hit all the right notes scoring high in charts worldwide and spawning four singles.  However, with all due respect to the lush brilliance of ‘Home Again’, its achievements are almost eclipsed by his sophomore effort, ‘Love & Hate’, in both scope and scale.
The music draws from deeper influences this time, boasts heavy orchestral backdrops with songs allowed more time to breathe: the glorious opener, ‘Cold Little Heart’, exceeds ten minutes and two other songs clock in at over seven minutes long.
Producer Paul Butler rekindles the magic of his pairing with Kiwanuka from ‘Home Again’ on this album but the unlikely pairing with Danger Mouse who handles a hefty bulk of the album’s production creates awe-inspiring results.

#3
‘Radio One’ by Airelle Besson [Naïve Records]

French trumpeter Airelle Besson delivers a truly inspired piece of work with ‘Radio One’ that had worked its way into our Top 5 since our first listen six months ago.  ‘Radio One’ showcases the prowess of her Quartet which features Benjamin Moussay on keys, Fabrice Moreau on drums, naturally Besson on trumpet, and Isabel Sorling on vocals.
Airelle Besson, recipient of the Best French Musician of the Year by the French Django Reinhardt Award Academy, and as Jazz Revelation of the Year at the French Award ceremony, Les Victoires du Jazz, can also boast to having trained with Wynton Marsalis.  She previously scored big with her collaboration with Brazilian guitarist, Nelson Veras, but it’s now her Quartet that takes centre stage.
On ‘Radio One’, the use of vocals is one of the standout elements – the songs don’t appear to be structured around Sorling but in most cases its Sorling who is implemented into the songs as any of the instruments in the group would be; she enhances the music and makes herself one with it without.  It’s difficult for me to put into words but the effects of this entire project are just magnificent from start-to-finish.
The project is dreamy, it’s haunting and truly something to be cherished.

#2
‘Velvet Portraits’ by Terrace Martin [Ropeadope Records]

Fresh off the success of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’, of which Terrace Martin had a big hand in the production of, rapper, saxophonist, producer and multi-instrumentalist, Terrace Martin, delivers a full-ranging jazz project that already has the distinct honour of being nominated for a 2017 Grammy for Best R&B Album.  Already having developed a discography that showcases himself as a rapper and producer, many would say this is the album we’ve long waited for.
Released through Ropeadope Records, ‘Velvet Portraits’ has been described as an extension of ‘TPAB’, even as far as having brought many of its musicians along for the ride: bassist Thundercat and Robert Glasper appear on ‘Curly Martin’, saxophonist Kamasi Washington appears on the album highlight ‘Think of You’ (which also features a superb vocal from Rose Gold) and the album culminates in 12-minute rendition of Kendrick’s ‘Mortal Man’.  In many ways, like ‘TPAB’, ‘Velvet Portraits’ is very much a love letter to the West Coast, and his affection really permeates through the music: ‘Turkey Taco’ is an obvious song to cite with its G-Funk-inspired groove, the vocoder work on ‘With You’ and Lalah Hathaway’s ode to ‘Oakland’.
An excellent release and we have our fingers crossed for a Grammy win in a few months.

#1
‘The Suffers’ by The Suffers

The self-proclaimed Gulf Coast Soul Band – a term used to describe the far-ranging mix of cultures and backgrounds that comprise the band’s ten members – have swooped in to claim the spot of our #1 album of 2016.
Initially, formed in 2011 by Adam Castaneda and Pat Kelly in Houston, and envisaged as a reggae jam band, the inclusion of additional members along with the inclusion of Kam Franklin as lead vocalist shaped the overall sound into a more encompassing soul band.  And the result has worked wonders!
The release of The Suffers’ self-titled debut album has spawned a fantastic year for them: performances on Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, as well as a performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series, which for an independent soul act is a staggering achievement.
As well as the winner of ‘album of the year’, they also have strong contenders for ‘song of the year’ as well: the rousing sing-along chorus of ‘Midtown’, the brilliant groove of ‘Dutch’ and the 7-minute soul-drenched opus of ‘Giver’.
It’s a masterpiece of a pure soul record and something that would enrich anyone’s musical collection.