Psykhomantus: Okay, so first Question. When did you knowledge that you can do this as a producer?
Son Of Dan: I dabbled with music production on and off for a few years in the late 90's and early 00's. Nothing too serious. I would mess around with early Cubase and sampling machines. I was a performance poet and used to hit the stages and experiment with different forms of spoken word. So that was my main creative outlet. It wasn't until I was asked to join a sound engineering scheme in Hoxton Hall that I started to look at music production as an extension of my expression. I was taught the technical aspects of laying down music in a studio environment but the guys I was studying with were incredible musicians and forward thinkers. We would experiment with sound, equipment and ideas. It was a real melting pot. The possibilities were endless. Then myself and my cousin were looking through a Sound On Sound magazine and out dropped a Turnkey catalogue. Turnkey was a very well known London musical equipment store that we would spend hours in.....just gazing. My cousin held onto that catalogue for ages and then one day I walked into his flat and saw an MPC 2000 and a Korg keyboard! That was it! From that moment we formed a production team called Hungry Africans producing hip hop. I still incorporate MPCs into my music. Almost like a homage....
P: From a fan and a outsiders (out side of London) point of view you bring in that homegrown sound meaning UK soul using Broken Beat, Afro Beat, Neo Soul, Electronica which falls into the same hands to me where IG Culture, 4Hero, Soul II Soul, Ty, Omar, Broadcite and Bugz In The Attic live. Did you vibe of each of them, study each sound to get your identity?
SOD: London is a unique city when it comes to music....so many different styles & scenes. Fusion is a big part of London's contemporary culture. So I was influenced by my uncle's afro funk & jazz record collection as much as I was by the music I was listening to in the broken or future soul scene a few years back. With all of these rich sounds around you, it's hard not to incorporate them in some form subliminally. But there wasn't any studying. When I'm in the studio, I get caught up in the moment, and that moment takes me wherever feels right. No markers, boundaries or project briefs.
P: Can you name a few people that you've produce music for?
SOD: Kenny Dust, Dziko, Rich Blk, Lyric L, Enji, ShortMan, Velvet Liberation, Floetic Lara, Ray Estaire, Shanai St Omer, Jocelyn Brown, Gemma Weekes, 3rdStream Orchestra, Beyonder, Phenzwaan
P: How did your group Velvet Liberation come to be and what's going on with the album which I'm dying to hear?
SOD: I met Dziko aka Shepherd Manyika through Floetic Lara. He came by the studio one day and we creatively hit off straight away. As a singer/songwriter and producer he had a sixth sense as to how I worked in the studio and we would bounce ideas of each other and experiment with fusion. We found a way to translate our diaspora - his Malawian roots and my Nigerian heritage. Ray Estaire came into the mix after we recorded a few tracks. Her vocals and energy was amazing. An instant fit. We became a trio and Velvet Liberation was born. Myself and Dziko are working on a new Velvet album at the moment. It's been a few years since the last Velvet EP so the evolution and journey is apparent in the new sound. So hopefully early 2014 should be the release date.
P: As you know I like to expose music that I feel people should get to know and when I met you thought Kenny Dust and find out that you produced Lyric L's "Ooh U & I" and heard your stuff I had to stress you by putting out your Son Of Dan mixtapes. How did you feel listening to your stuff back to back?
SOD: It was interesting listening to that first mixtape as it was mainly a collection of tracks that were gathering dust and needed airing. I had always been caught up producing for other people and never really had the time to start my own project. So that collection represented the different stages that I'd been making music for myself over the last 10 years...many memories.
P: Is Lyric L back together with her boyfriend?
SOD: That's a conversation you'd need to have with L!
P: Your the founder of 3rd Steam. Can you tell me whose who and what roll do they play?
SOD: 3rdStream is a collective/community of musicians, producers, songwriters, visual artists & short film directors. There are many, many members of the collective but the core members are myself, Dziko, Kenny Dust & Enji Malone. As a new collective we are currently completing collaborative albums, EPs & singles. We are hoping to launch our interactive community website and music in May 2013.
P: So tell me which 5 dream artist would you like to produce for?
I have to ask you this... Who was the most difficult person you had to work/produced for?
I have to ask you this... Who was the most difficult person you had to work/produced for?
SOD: Wow, dream artists..I'm assuming you mean alive so Sade, Barbara Tucker, Cassandra Wilson, Georgia Anne Muldrow & Massive Attack. Five's not enough! No difficult artists thus far.
P: Last Question. What will we be expecting in the future from you?
SOD: The future is a 3rdStream one. At the moment I'm involved with the completion of projects by Kenny Dust, Enji, Rich Blk, 3rdStream Orchestra and Dziko. Plus we're near completion of the website which will be a great hub for like minded creatives to meet, network and collaborate. Also, my first EP will be out in April. It'll be a precursor to my album
Check Out SON OF DAN's The Oran Project
Check Out SON OF DAN Vol 1 mixed by Psykhomantus
Check Out SON OF DAN Vol 2: SUMMER OF DAN mixed by Psykhomantus
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