TBR - United Kingdom, Leighton Bradford
(ROOT AND GROOVE ELEMENT COCO MALONE, FIBONACHI SCALES AND NICK PHILPIN)
1 – DO YOU CONSIDER YOUR STYLE TO BE NEO SOUL?
One of the plus points of Root and Groove Element is the embarrassment of riches we have in terms of source material and the creativity of the individuals on board. We all feel comfortable with the material we choose to work with so we’re never trying to fit square pegs into round holes, musically speaking, everything flows organically.
We wouldn’t say it’s so much a specific genre of music we’re working with, it’s more the vibration from many, mostly black, music genres that we all like. We want to add something valid, some music with longevity, the kind of music that people like today and will still like in 10, 20, 30 years time.
2 – WHAT ARE YOUR JAZZ INFLUENCES?
Our influences come from various genres, so here are our individual thoughts:
FIBONACHI SCALES:
As a rare, black music record collector and one time record dealer I’d hardly know where to begin! From old school jazz tunes by Jerome Richardson and Pony Poindexter, through the Blue Note records catalogue and off into the world of Weldon Irvine, Oneness of Juju, Gary Bartz, James Mason, as well as the many thousands of other amazing soul and jazz records released on small, private labels in America, Europe, Africa, the whole world really.
Talented musicians worldwide were influenced by American soul, funk and jazz artists and paid their own vinyl homage – collectors and dealers like myself picked up on these records at international record fairs and literally jumped on planes to the other side of the world to go get these records and bring them back. We’d love to bring that wealth and depth of feeling and musicianship to our recordings. I had a head start as my father, at one time, had a small jazz club in London. He was a big jazz fan and used to break out the Blue Notes when his pals came round. I got to soak it up as a child, lucky me!
NICK PHILPIN:
My influences are wide and varied. I gained most of them in my late teens while working at a rehearsal / recording studio. Also playing guitar, touring, song writing in bands, logically going onto studio production. Bands like The Meters, Jimmy McGriff, Terry Reid, Clash, Studio 1 / Tubby, to name a few. Some newer artists I really like are Richard Hawley, Stephanie McKay and Snarky Puppy – all three have great songs / tunes and brilliant production.
COCO MALONE:
One of my earliest memories is of being about 5 years old and spending my Sunday afternoons singing and dancing around the living room to my dad’s Ray Charles records so I guess that’s where it all began for me! I have appreciation for all sorts of music – old and modern day - but my heart firmly lies with jazz. I spend much of my time listening to the artists who inspire me, these being Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Dinah Washington, Ray Charles, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald. I’m fascinated by the 1920’s through to the 1950’s – the music, the fashion, the people - I’ve definitely been born in the wrong era! I have such a huge respect for all the artists I’ve mentioned, and many, many more not just for the gift they brought to the world through their music but also because of the struggles they went through in order to be heard – black artists went through one hell of a tough time. The one modern day artist who is a big influence on me is the late Amy Winehouse. I’ve never really been one to follow the crowd, but she did a lot in her short life to make jazz accessible to a wider audience.
3 – ARE YOU ON TOUR AT THE MOMENT?
Up till now we’ve been concentrating on getting our EP finished. Now it’s done, we’re going to be filling up our diaries with live performances because even though making a record is a great experience, there’s not much that compares to being on stage, bringing the music to a live audience. Keep an eye on our website (www.rootandgrooveelement.com), Facebook and Twitter for tour announcements.
4 – WHERE CAN THE READERS BUY YOUR MUSIC?
Our EP can currently be bought on vinyl from Sounds of the Universe, Soho, London and Phonica Records, London. A digital release will be available soon on iTunes, etc. We have been re-recording some parts and adding backing vocals for the digital release plus there will be some remixes too.
5 – LINKS TO OUR MUSIC
More videos can be found on our You Tube Channel and on Soundcloud. Also, we’ll be adding demo clips weekly of new tracks that we’re working on. We’re constantly writing, producing and recording and we want to share that with everyone!
6 – IS MUSIC THEORY MISSING FROM TODAY’S MUSIC?
We have a few ideas on this!
Music theory - exactly what that constitutes, I’m not sure. What I do know is that the most musically creative people I’ve ever met all have one thing in common – that’s an amazing knowledge of older music and invariably an amazing collection of that music, usually vinyl records. Being able to read music is a pretty amazing thing but being able to feel music is the real art. People who buy good music know what good music sounds like and, ultimately, if they take that first step, they may well go on to create good music.
NICK PHILPIN:
To make great music you must know great music. Having been involved in playing and producing music for over 20 years I can confidently say that knowing music theory may help you to play an instrument but it is not going to make you any better at writing a song or playing it with the right emotion and feeling. A great thing to learn and almost essential if you’re a working musician.
There’s an awful lot missing from some of today’s music! With regards to theory, although I can read music, I don’t read it well enough to be able to use it when writing / composing a melody. But, to echo what the guys have already said, I don’t believe that it’s absolutely necessary. When I was young, I used to play the clarinet and I successfully managed to fool my teacher into thinking that I could read music when, in fact, I played everything from memory – I hear and feel music. As a singer, I do feel that vocal coaching is extremely important and I’ve had formal training from being a teenager, up to the present day. At the moment I’m not currently under tuition but I’m constantly practising techniques and exercises and listening to the artists who inspire me, taking note of song composition, phrasing, etc and I’ll be back with a vocal tutor soon. The day I want to stop learning and perfecting my art is the day I should give up but I truly believe that day will never come.
7 – HOW IS PRESIDENT OBAMA DOING?
Being from the UK, we’re don’t feel we’re qualified to comment on how President Obama is doing!
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