| DJ Sets ::Silicone Soul (Craig Morrison
& Graeme Reedie)
Self-confessed children of the night,
Craig Morrison and Graeme Reedie are Scotland's premier sonic
voodoo bandits of house. They are Glasgow's rising stars who
form part of a new wave of house producers. Their critically
acclaimed debut album '...A Soul Thing ' was released on leading
Scots independent label 'Soma Recordings' in 2000 and they
haven't looked back since! With beats as deep as Loch Lomond,
Silicone Soul will rock your boat! We catch up with Craig
and Graeme in Barcelona, the day after a gig in Alicante.
"We met in our first year at school," Craig reminisces,
"it wasn't until we formed a rock 'n' roll band, that
we really hit it off! After that we were round at each other's
houses all the time, listening to records, vibing off each
other." They list punk and rock n' roll as their early
influences, bands such as The Stooges, MC5, The Stones, The
Clash and Glasgow's own Primal Scream. "We were always
passionate about music," explains Graeme. Their love
of music was strengthened even further when Craig and Graeme
formed their band 'Dead City Radio'.
The success they attained from a sell-out
gig at a small city centre venue was beyond their wildest
dreams and left them hungry for more. However, at one particularly
debauched concert at a Miners Welfare Club, a nasty incident
involving a fruit machine, a wigwam and an irate nun sent
them spiraling back down to earth! Like most things, the turning
point happened by accident. After reluctantly stumbling into
the opening night of Slam at the Arches, Craig was surprised
to hear his all time hero's Primal Scream bringing down the
house. "We didn't really like the raves that were popular
in Scotland in the early nineties; we weren't particularly
into that sound. At Slam I thought 'wow'; they were playing
all sorts of cool Weatherall mixes from 'Screamadelica' and
stuff." It wasn't long until he was joined by his buddy
Graeme and their lives were transformed.
They swapped their guitars for turntables,
donned their dancing shoes and scrimped and scraped for a
set of soundlabs each. They traveled the length and breadth
of the Scottish Highlands seeking parties and battling the
elements with only their sunglasses and T-shirts for protection.
Determined to mix and entertain, they ventured west to the
infamous Scoraig festival armed with decks, a crate of wax
and a rowing boat. After some soul searching they secured
a residency at Jungle Palace in Inverness. Guest DJs included
Sub Club resident Harri, Ralph Lawson and Slam's Stuart McMillan
and Orde Meikle, whom they formed lasting friendships with
and were influential in shaping their taste in house music.
From punk to dance music, is that not a bit unusual "We
felt that house captured the same energy, danger and intensity
of punk, also back then, it was simplistic, it was all about
the crowd, the vibe, the reaction - we liked that" enthuses
Craig.
This punk attitude was prevalent when
they headed for the studio and set up their own record label,
"We just wanted to make records, get our vibe out there"
says Graeme. 'Depth Perception Recordings' was born at the
end of 1996 with old school friends Peter Tagg and Chris Hodgins.
A string of tracky house cuts followed in 97 and 98, including
'Roy is the Teacher' and 'Seed/Yoni'. It was this fresh sound
combined with a get up and get at 'em attitude that impressed
Soma label boss Dave Clarke and one funk fuelled demo later,
Silicone Soul was born. The name recycled from a track title
on the first Depth Perception release. The sublime Soma debut
'Climbing Walls' and the deep and dubby follow up 'All Nite
Long' were soon hailed by heavyweights Pete Tong, Laurent
Garnier and Andrew Weatherall, who featured 'All Nite Long'
on his 'Heavenly Social mix'. Their most acclaimed work at
this stage was the monster 'Right on 4 the Darkness' and the
nocturnally nasty, atmospheric sound of 'Nosferatu'; which
both later appeared on their spellbinding debut album, '...A
Soul Thing'. House music is clearly their first love and the
album is a cauldron of inspirations, crammed full of beguiling
voodoo funk and mutant melodies.
Let their bionic beats and hypno house
charm your soul. "We're influenced by a lot of different
styles of music" says Craig, "From that Jamaican
Dance Hall vibe of the '70's, people like Lee Perry, Gregory
Isaacs, King Tubby and Augustus Pablo to funk, soul and disco,
people like Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, The Temptations
and Sly & The Family Stone right through to the Wild Pitch
sound, DJ Pierre, Felix Da Housecat, the classic Chicago sound,
Basic ChannelI could go on forever." ...'A Soul Thing'
also reflects the style of music Silicone Soul like to play
in their bewitching DJ sets. Their mixing skills continue
to lift the roof off venues all over the world, from Miami
to Singapore and from Portugal to South Africa. The year 2000
also saw the boys release their own update of their classic
'Right on 4 tha Darkness', renamed 'Right On, Right On!' This
turned into one of the biggest tracks of the year. 'Chic-o-Laa'
was unleashed at the end of the year.
All this did not go unnoticed and the
boys received nominations for 'Best House Act', 'Best Single'
and 'Best Underground Act' at the 'Muzik' and 'Dancestar'
awards in 2001. "Right On, Right On!' was originally
a dubplate we made for our 'Soul Thing' tour of France",
says Craig, "We wanted to do something fresh with 'Right
on 4 tha Darkness', give it a more clubby feel. We finished
our set with it every night. It went down so well that we
decided to put it on the 'B' side of the 'The Answer'."
Apparently, their after-hours set at the legendary Paris boat
party, 'Batofar' is now in annuals of French folklore! What
made you sample Curtis Mayfield's righteous classic 'Right
on for the Darkness' "We're massive Curtis fans",
enthuses Graeme, "We really appreciate the sentiment
behind the record."
Eventually Soma and Silicone Soul went
with Virgin for the UK release of this epic. Partly because
of their good relationship with Labels in France, but also
because it looked as if they were going to do the best job
in taking the record to the masses, whilst respecting the
artistic integrity of the band. Subsequently a vocal version
was recorded." We discussed vocalists", offers Graeme,
"We wanted a classic soul vocal style, with real emotion,
someone like Shara Nelson. Eventually we came across Louise
Marshall. She was perfect." 'Right On!' became an international
hit, reaching the top 20 in the UK and the top 10 in national
charts throughout Europe. As well as delighting dance floors
all over the world, 2001and 2002 saw Silicone Soul remixing
for some of the most respected UK labels. They have recently
worked their magic for 20/20 vision, Skint (Lo-Fi Allstars),
Wall of Sound (Royksopp) and Roger Sanchez to name but a few.
For Soma they completed stunning remixes
of Slam's 'Lifetimes' and Hypno House and Darkroom Dubs of
Universal Principles' 'Latin Stroll". In 2003 they once
again launched their own label and already it has received
much praise in the dance community. "Darkroom Dubs is
the name of our new label," says Craig. "We wanted
to put out some darker, dubby, more abstract and atmospheric
sounds, much like the stuff that's been really happening when
we DJ". Already scheduled for release are tracks and
remixes by Hipp-e (H-Foundation), Chicken Lips, Will Dawson,
Wulf n' Flow (Ralph Lawson & Carl Finlow), Swimming Pool
Sound and Silver City. Darkroom Dubs #1 features two new tracks
by the guys, themselves. They hope to release other exciting
offerings and also fresh cuts from new artists too. 2004 will
see the guys release their first Soma single for over 3 years
with an album to follow, a much anticipated follow up to "...A
Soul Thing". Their last Soma release being a superb reworking
of the Arches anthem 'Mispent Youth' by Shatrax. Nothing more
is revealed, they speak in terms of vibe, mood and feeling
rather than anything distinct. 'Right On!' may have broken
the surface but Silicone Soul are returning to the depths
where house music belongs.
