Southern Soul by emilyvictoriarose

SOUL JAZZ & FUNK IN BRIGHTON 1

ISSUE #1

I’ve always been a fan of feel-good music, polyrhythms & tune’s that make you want to dance. After moving to Brighton from London 2 years ago with a strong love for Soul, Jazz and Funk music, I was pleasantly surprised to discover how much of a scene there was here down by the sea. Southern Soul is all about Soul, Jazz & Funk music in the city of Brighton. Issue one touches on some of Brighton’s upcoming artists in the scene, The Great Escape festival, Brighton venue’s which hold night’s exclusively for Soul, Jazz and Funk and some of the incredible music being made here in the south. Emily Rose 2

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A TOUR AROUND BRIGHTONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SOUL, JAZZ & FUNK VENUES 3

Q&A WITH:

Kai Khan

Hailing all the way from Malaysia, Kai Khan is taking Brighton by storm with her unique, soulful electronic sound. We discuss her upcoming single, struggles of adjusting in a new country and

Tell us about your upcoming singe ‘Ruin’.

During your time at BIMM, has studying vocals changed or influenced the way you make music? Yes, it definitely has. Before I joined BIMM, I was far less confident in my voice and what I could do with it. Being in the Vocals course enabled me to improve my vocals, but it also made me not question my ability to write melodies. Also, I think being exposed to so many different talented musicians here in Brighton, made me more attentive to what is current, which has influenced the way I write music.

Are there any venues you would like to perform at in Brighton that you haven’t yet? I’d definitely love to perform at The Haunt. The sound is pretty crisp in there and when it fills up with people, the vibe is just great. I’d also love to play downstairs at Patterns as they have an amazing sub bass that would really work with our music.

Ruin is going to be my first single that will be featuring all of my band members, which will give it more of a live feel while also maintaining electronic sound. This is different to all the songs i’ve released beforehand which didn’t have any live elements. I’ll also be releasing my first ever music video for this song! What should listeners expect to hear from Kai Khan? Definitely expect to hear bits of Disclosure as well as Katy B in our sets. Our main thing is having catchy and punchy repetitive hooks. This way it’ll get stuck in your head easier!

You moved from Malaysia to Brighton to kick-start your career, how was the experience of finding the right people to suit your sound? I was struggling with it at first for sure, only because BIMM is still such n Indie-rock dominated school and back in first year I felt that electronic music was still sort of stigmatised. But the more people I met, the more I found musicians who were able to help me with my ideas, which I’m very grateful for. All in all, it was easy enough to find a good producer to work with, but finding the right musicians who were able to replicated and add on to the song live was the hardest bit.

Kai Khan and her band performing at Brighton’s Concorde 2

Did you come across any challenges when writing ‘Ruin’? Not really to be honest. This track originally had a different melody for the chorus which dragged a bit, but I managed to sort that bit out with my producer by finding a more suitable melody. I think the only challenge so far I’ve had is making sure the recording of Ruin sounds as energetic and as full as our live’s performances of it.

Do you have any advice for people who want to start a music career? Hone your music skills first. Really figure out what kind of music and direction you’re planning to take. Gig’s can come later. I think quality material is important when starting out a music career. That is advice I wish someone would have given me when I first started out.

What do you think of Brighton’s music scene? It’s diverse for sure. I still think there’s lot’s of space for more live electronic bans to come forward. Although, I’m definitely loving the crease of Neo-soul bands coming up in Brighton, they’re all so groovy! 5

Release Review: Yakul’s ‘Giveaway’ EP Out Now

‘Giveaway’ is the Brighton-based trio’s first released record and they’re describing their fresh, contemporary sound as ‘Future Soul’. The soulful three touch upon modern jazz, glittering guitar melodies, polyrhythmic time signatures and impassioned vocals. The 3-pieces’s eccentric take on soul and funk is unveiling something pretty phenomenal.

The EP starts of with track ‘Giveaway’, entering with muffled voices that clatter in the background over an approaching beat. This extremely groovy, feel-good track consisting of just drums, key’s and guitar and James’ breathtakingly soulful vocals has you tapping your toes uncontrollably.

‘Out of the Water’ comes second in this 3-track EP. Sticking with it’s soulful vibe, a soft keyboard melody welcomes your eardrums to this track. Lot’s of electronic components help it to flourish, and holding everything together is Jamie’s vocals which display a range of emotions for each track on the EP.

Lastly, ‘Jamaican Dutch’ closes the EP with elements of Samba, featuring some thrilling free jazz percussion from the drummer. This exciting, instrumental-only track is a perfect way to close the EP by leaving you craving for more. .

Check out yakul’s Sofar sounds performance of ‘Bad Karma’ here! ################################### ################################### ################################### ################################### ################################### ################################### ###################################

Q&A WITH:

SilverTongue 7-Piece Alternative Soul band SilverTongue are making a name for themselves here in Brighton. We caught up with lead Guitarist Jack Arnold to discuss studying at BIMM, they’re influences and the Soul, Jazz and Funk scene in brighton.

To anyone who has never heard SilverTongue, how would you describe your sound?   We used to say Alternative Soul, but now I feel we’re little mix of everything, we do just play a bit of everything. There is definitely a song for everybody in our set!

Do you feel Brighton has a good scene for upcoming Soul, Jazz and Funk artists? Yeah definitely, especially as Neo-Soul is quite a fresh and exciting movement, everyone is a part of it in some way, which is great to see. QM Records do their upmost to promote all the best soul acts in Brighton and the nights they put on are always quite special and intimate.

From your time at BIMM, would you say that studying music has changed your approach to songwriting?

Being a guitarist, what is your creative process like?

I’d say more rather the musicians around me have inspired me to adapt my songwriting vocabulary, I never used to play soul music, that’s how my original heavier roots always find it’s way into our songs somehow.

Normally it will start out with just an idea on the guitar, and then Kian will put a melody over it, Neto will come up with a bass-line and thus the music is born, everything is a joint effort. But any music we’ve absorbed and taken inspiration from will naturally find it’s way into our songs..

Does SilverTongue have any musical influences? Yes! We started out religiously listening to Thundercat, however we got dangerously close to literally becoming a Thundercat covers band so we agreed to give him a bit of a rest. We also love Erykah Badu, D’angelo, Radiohead, Foals, Vulpeck and Kendrick Lamar.

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Check out silvertongue’s music over on their Soundcloud here!

Any last words? What’s next for SilverTongue? We’ll be releasing our debut single sometime next month along with music video shortly after, no official dates yet but it’s a’coming!

WHO WE’VE GOT OUR EYE ON FOR APRIL Hey! Click & MAY me! ######### ######### #########

Lebeaux are a Brighton-based trio created by Turrell Lebeaux, who is on lead vocals, Rob Bensusan on bass and Luke Campbell on drums. Lebeaux are groovy mixture of Pop, RnB and Funk. The band have supported the like of The Mouse Outfit and Afrikan Boy and are yet to support Tokio Myer’s on April 23rd - not one to be missed!

Lebeaux One Eyed Jack’s are a 7-piece Modern Funk band based in Brighton and take inspiration from James Brown, Anderson Paak, Stevie Wonder and Jamiroquai. One Eyed Jacks are creating soulful melodies with powerful rhythms which give their music a distinctive, unique sound.

Listen to me!

One Eyed Jacks One Eye Jacks are yet to play there first Brighton headline show for the year at ‘Long Live the Kid’ fundraiser event at the Hope & Ruin on May the 1st, be sure to catch them there! 10

Caged Tigers

Caged tigers are a new, 6-piece group from Brighton. They’re creating funky Neo-Soul with punchy bass-lines and a blend of soulful vocals. Caged Tigers are hosting a single launch event down at Brighton’s Sticky Mike’s Frog Bar on April 25th for their debut single ‘Flow’ - with support from Jazz/Folk Singer Amber Burgoyne & Alternative-Soul group SilverTongue. Catch them there for night full of Soul, Jazz & Funk goodness!

Psst! Check out Tilda’s music video for ‘Further Than You’ over here! ######## ######## ########

Tilda Allie Tilda Allie is creating Dark-electro-pop infused with elements of jazz and soul. Hailing from all the way from Västerås in Sweden, Tilda is now based in Brighton after finishing her studies at BIMM. She is inspired by artists such as Hiatus Kaiyote, Björk, NAO and Amy Winehouse. Catch her at Brighton’s Green Door Store on the 4th of May for it’s FemRock night - celebrating women in music. 11

NEWS

THE SOUL TRAIN COMES TO BRIGHTON After it’s success in London for ‘The South London Soul Train’ this event it due to make a stop here in Brighton on April 28th. Hosted at Brighton’s Concorde 2, Soul Train is a night full of Soul, Funk, Disco and your favourite Motown classics. Filling out both of Concorde 2’s rooms with punchy rhythms and groovy beats, let The Soul Train lead you across the dance floor with all things funky. Tickets are available over on Concorde 2’s website Welcome aboard the Brighton soul train!

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NEWS

INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY On April 30th November 2011 the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation officially declared that day as International Jazz day. It was to highlight jazz music and it’s role of bringing people together from all over the world. Now each year on April 30th venues, schools, aritsts, historians and jazz admirers from all over the globe come together to learn about jazz and its background. This year’s host city will be St.Petersburg in Russia and will hold the 208 All-Star Global concert at the Mariinsky Theatre. Brighton’s The Verdict Jazz cafe is expected to host an event on International Jazz Day so keep your eye’s peeled for that.

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This issue brings you an exclusive on Southern Soulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favourite Soul, Jazz & Funk tunes at the moment. Finding inspiration from the likes of Hiatus Kaiyote, Anderson Paak, Esperanza Spalding, Jordan Rakei and much more. We hope you enjoy listening to our top picks as much as we enjoyed making it. 14

CLICK ME!

As the month of May approaches, Brighton is getting ready for it’s infamous ‘The Great Escape’ festival. Taking over the city from the 17th till the 19th of May, we wanted to shed a little light on who were excited for this year… Taking inspiration from 90’s Neo-Soul, 2-piece Girlhood from London are set to play The Great Escape this May. Christian Pinchbeck and Tessa Cavanna write, record and produce their music on Christian’s narrowboat whilst docked on a London canal - pretty cool!

Dizzy Fae Dizzy Fae is a 19-yearold Electronic-Soul and R&B artist from St.Paul, Minnesota. Her distinctive, electronic sound is really creating a name for herself as her she already has over 13,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and has played alongside Jorja Smith, The Internet and Kehlani. One to watch.

GIRLHOOD

Kamaal Williams Set to play at Shooshh on the Friday of the festival, Kamaal Williams is the latest project by South London-based artist Henry Wu. This collective brings a fresh, new feel to jazz with an urban vibe. Get your eardrums ready for an exciting set full of groove, funk and all things jazz.

Mali Hayes Broadstrokes is mixing things up over in Nottingham with his DJ set’s consisting of Jazz, Hip-hop and Funk. Being a classically trained piano and key’s player, Broadstrokes is fusing jazz into his tracks. After recently releasing his first single ‘Clean’, Broadstrokes will be getting you in the groove on May 19th.

Coming all the way from up north in Manchester, Mali Hayes is due to set the mood at the Komedia Studio Bar with her Erykah Badu-esque vibe. Mali is all about soft, soulful vocals but with beats that pack-apunch, watch out for this one.

Broadstrokes

words by emily rose.