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I'm Funk D'Void, DJ and producer for the almighty Scottish independent label Soma Records. I started jocking around the tender age of 15, running two under-18 clubs with my best friend from school, playing commercial chart tunes to wee kids (hey everybody's got to start somewhere). After that I finished school and knew that my future lay in music - University just seemed like an obstacle to my career so I blanked it and never looked back! House music changed my life (I've... Read more
I'm Funk D'Void, DJ and producer for the almighty Scottish independent label Soma Records. I started jocking around the tender age of 15, running two under-18 clubs with my best friend from school, playing commercial chart tunes to wee kids (hey everybody's got to start somewhere). After that I finished school and knew that my future lay in music - University just seemed like an obstacle to my career so I blanked it and never looked back! House music changed my life (I've heard that somewhere before), the early Chicago sound specifically, and hearing the sounds of old drum machines really stirred something inside me; I remember even hearing the 808 drumbeats on Marvin Gaye's “Sexual Healing” and losing my mind to Derrick Mays 909 beats with his Yahama wood piano preset (Nude Photo)…that was the moment for me.
In the late 80's I was helped by Club Mogul Colin Barr and given residencies in clubs like the “Choice,” feeling very young playing to a very up for it older crowd, playing a mixture of club classics and early acid house. It was great because you could play a range of great music and it worked great; it's the good old days. In 1990 I then started spinning at a club called “UFO” at Tin Pan Alley, which for me was an incredible experience, we played everything, hip-hop, miami bass, acid, Detroit Techno and indie-dance. But as the club moved from Glasgow and I didn't follow with it.
Around 1992 I did a stint at the Tunnel on Sundays working with Colin Barr's brother Mel. While all this was happening I was working during the week in Fopp Records as dance buyer, which was for me a great learning experience about the music industry. I settled into this job like a duck to water, going through the shop discovering musical gems from all genres, listening to them while on the shop floor. God do I miss the shop promos; funny now because Richard Brown, Soma MD, used to work in a rival record store across the road, and now we're like family!
I was approached in 1994 but a Mr. Ken Sharmen, a lecturer at Glasgow University, to join him in a studio project because he'd heard me DJ on pirate radio and liked my style. It was Ken who showed me the ropes about working in a studio, to which I'm forever thankful! We formed a short-lived band called “United States Of Sound” and released “Kiss The Baby” on Scottish label Bomba Records. This received some attention in clubs across the country and Slam took notice as they had been playing the track in the Sub Club night they had back then. Alas, the band didn't last long and we split up, but I managed to buy some gear from Ken and started my own small studio, in a bed-sit in Hyndland, Glasgow (ahh, memories).
It was an important time for me as I had managed to get out of a destructive personal relationship as well and finally start to come out on my own. It was from this that spawned “Jack Me Off” (1995). I was at an party after a night out and had bumped into Stuart McMillan from Slam, I just handed the demo to him and I got a call the next week saying that they liked the track, and could I come up with three others for an EP, which I did. So that's how Soma came about. Now I could give up the day job! My best friend Nigel teamed up with me and we started the Chaser project with the 12-inch; Sides of Iron; which did well, getting support from the likes of Giles Peterson. The Chaser sound leans more to the jazzy/funkier sounds of dance music, with some breaks thrown in for good measure, also with loads of strings, though we can't get enough of them! We did "Life in Loisada" and the LP "Game On" in 1998, which was recorded in the blazing hot summer of 98 in NYC.
I had my own stuff going on as well around this time: "Soul man" came after "Bad Coffee" (great Slam mix) which was a huge success in 97, and started dabbling in live sets, sometimes only armed with an Akai MPC and a DJ mixer! It really changed my grooves using that beatbox, Check out the live mix on the site from a few years ago, it's all done with an MPC3000, I use a 2000xl these days though. Then my LP "Technoir" came out and it was then that the traveling started to go crazy, live tours, soma nights across the globe and a million flights. Then came my "Herbie On Rhodes" track with a remix from Ian Pooley. I remixed my own Lucky strike track and found myself enjoying working with remixes, which I carry on doing to this day: faves include my remix of E-dancer "Banjo" and of course "Diabla," which took a few weeks to get my head round, but the hard work paid off and this has been my most successful work to date.
I moved to Barcelona around 98 for a change of scenery and I'm still here, I did my second album "Dos" with singles "Barnabeats" and & "Desperado" taken from it as singles. I've also remixed Underworld and New Order recently and still get a great buzz from writing, producing and remixing tracks. 2003 saw my third LP “Volume freak” get released and had singles “Emotional Content”, “Way Up High” and “Can't Get Enough Of A Bad Thing” come off it, with remixes by Alexander Kowalski, Steve Bug and Vince Watson doing some stellar work for me!
Recently I've been dabbling with a few collaborations (Phil Kieran, Ken Ishii, Alexander Kowalski) and have been enjoying the new avenues these relationships have opening. I still love DJing and using new technology – I've become a digital DJ and use Traktor 3 in my shows and Ableton Live for the live performances. Basically I live and breathe music 24/7 and would die without it. For me it's all about spreading the love. Show less
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COMMENTS [5]
summer time near black sea///////
it will be great time/////and this mix will b near
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