Page 41 - Zone Magazine Issue 014

Can you give us a bit of insight into what the ethos is behind fade to funk? Where did the idea stem from?
Yeah of course, the whole Fade To Funk idea came out when I was pitching an idea about an event I wanted to put on in my hometown of Deal and we were juggling with ideas about possible names. Basically the whole ethos of Fade To Funk is all about the music that has always inspired me as a teen when I was trying to find myself musically. This involves a lot of Funk, Soul, Disco, Hip Hop and House music, much of the opposite that my friends and peers were listening to at the time.
During this period it was more like a dirty little secret that I kept under wraps for so long until I discovered DJing around '07/'08 and then all the music I had secretly been listening to all made sense.
Did the idea for parties come first or was it the idea of creating a label that was the inspiration? Well for years I had wanted to create my own label
but having the know how and focussing a direction for it was proving to be some what difficult.
It wasn't until I had created my new alias 'Jeff Fader' that I was beginning to forge a proper direction in my DJing and music production. I realised that Deep House was what I loved about it all and that was what I wanted to push from then on.
Looking back now, it was definitely the parties that was the catalyst in making the label a reality instead of just a fantasy.
Many people wouldn't think of the sleepy seaside town of Deal as being the ideal spot for putting on a house music event, to an outsider it seems like a bold move. What makes it work for you?
Well for one, The Lane have been really supportive, so a thank you to the whole team is definitely needed. I think what works for me is that my easy going nature and flexibility is what makes me stand out from everyone who prefer to scream and shout like peacocks on display. Also the music for such an intimate space works perfectly. For our parties we warm up people properly with some Balearic and Funk rarities then progressing from there to until we end up partying to
some groovy underground Deep House.
With the resurgence of vinyl, the fact that we only
use turntables to DJ with seems to be a 'wow' factor at our parties. There has been many occasions where people have come up to me, shook my hand and complimented me on the choice of medium. Traktor Scratch Pro also gets used with the turntables and that also brings up positive compliments too as most people are fascinated with how it works.
Lastly, because Deal has a lot of ties with London (2nd home owners, quirky independent businesses and the commuter connection) I believe that our party goers want something more than that the average commercial clubs in the local area offer.
In terms of the label, what's the music policy, is it quite strict or broad?
Our music policy at Fade To Funk I would say is pretty focussed. Our goal is to put out quality Deep House music, but as we all know well genres can be fitted quite loosely. So what we look for is music that is deep, groovy and sounds like it'd be great on vinyl. Artists to reference would be people like Jimpster, Kerri Chandler, Mood II Swing, etc.
The first release come's from yourself, but have you got any other artists in the pipeline?
It certainly does and one that I'm extremely proud to be releasing as the first EP of the label. That one drops on 30th January. But yes we have some great artists ready to release with us including a new artist called Spok Da Rok who will be releasing his first EP, The Disciple who recently put together an EP with Jesus Pablo on Ben Gomori's Monologues label. A German duo called Quadrakey who own the label Tooman Records that I have been supporting for some time now. There's also an Icelandic producer called Introbeatz who is very keen to jump aboard amongst many others.
Any tips for aspiring producers?
Number one tip... Be humble and don't be fake! If you're lucky enough to get somewhere in this industry then be nice to everyone you meet, there are already
enough undesirables in this industry.
Number two... Learn to take criticism as it'll be dished out a lot, especially from record labels and nay sayers, but on the flipside, don't fill your space with yes men. If nobody is pointing out any suggestions to you then you won't grow.
Last tip... Enjoy what you do and keep focussed!
Favourite bit of kit?
I have two bits that I love really, one of them being the Arturia SparkLE drum machine controller. It gives you the ability to program drum patterns like a typical 909 but you get decide what sounds you use from your sample packs which is the perfect combination for me.
The other piece is my Tascam 424 portastudio. These bits of kit were invaluable for bands and hiphop artists in the 90s and early millennia because the recordings were near CD quality and was packed with features. It acts as the central audio hub of my studio and it also has a 4 track tape recorder built into it with DBX noise reduction. So every Fade To Funk release gets lovingly soaked in a little tape saturation before being mastered and distributed.
Tips for artists to look out for in 2017?
Introbeatz is a definite face to watch out for in 2017, his productions are the perfect merger of House and Samplism. Quadrakey are consistently making waves in the Deep House area too, DJing all around Berlin and Germany on a weekly basis. But at the end of the day let's make 2017 about collaboration instead of competition and we'll all succeed. Peace!
Connect: https://soundcloud.com/fadetofunk Pic by Rod Trussardi
Words By John Ricketts
label spotlight [uk]
fade to funk
" We don't bring weapons, bombs, bangers or 'destroy' dancefloors. We're all about the groove, the love and always ready to get down and boogie. We bring something different to clubbing...We are Fade To Funk. "