The new White Keys demo is online. Check it ouuuuuut!

1. Disco Medley:

Spinning Around - Kylie Minogue

He’s the Greatest Dancer - Sister Sledge

Upside Down - Diana Ross

2. Neptunes Medley:

Like I Love You - Justin Timberlake

Hot in Herre - Nelly

Signs - Snoop Dogg

Rock Your Body - Justin Timberlake

3. Forget You - Cee Lo

Daft Punk - Get Lucky

Yes, it’s been hyped to death already. It’s still good though. I mean, it’s got NILE RODGERS on it!

Breakbot - Fantasy (feat. Ruckazoid)

Oh man, it’s been ages since I’ve heard Breakbot! So glad he’s finally got around to releasing an album.

(via jesuismashew-san)

On Saturday 23rd February, I’ll be playing at Under The Bridge with Soul Education (a.k.a. The White Keys). It’ll be a special gig for two main reasons:

1. We’re welcoming Holoman back to the UK. He’s our incredible, Georgia-born singer, and the gig is our way of celebrating his return to this little island.
2. The whole gig is being recorded and filmed, and the footage will form our new promo video! For one night only we’ll be performing as a 12-piece - an experience that should not be missed!

We’re all really, really excited about it. But we need your help to make it extra special. We need a crowd of people to watch/listen/boogie. We promise to make it worth your while.

It’s over a month away, but we have discounted (£5) early bird tickets available for a limited time only. To buy tickets, please go to SeeTickets and click on ‘concessions’. This offer is only available till Wednesday 9th January, so get them sharpish!

See you there!

H x

Earth, Wind & Fire - I Am

My friend Rob Yeo is an excellent source for discovering groove-based music, old and new. He told me he’d been getting into Earth, Wind & Fire’s back catalogue lately. The other day he played me some of the less well-known tracks from I Am. Now I’ve got it on near-constant rotation!

‘Can’t Let Go’ and ‘Let Your Feelings’ show are my highlights so far. Great examples of the relentless, four-to-the-floor groove that EWF do so well. I’d like to transcribe them soon, but for now I just want to enjoy the listening experience.

Negative points - the artwork. Whut? My eyes hurt.

Visuals aside, I’m not really a fan of EWF’s ballads, where they seem to turn up the cheese dial to 11*. That’s just personal preference though. I also tend to skip past the hits, mostly as I’ve heard them too many times!

*Sorry for this laboured attempt at a turn-of-phrase. I won’t try it again.

I’ve spent far too long messing about with the Novation Bass Station VST recently. I’ve got a long weekend of gigs with The White Keys coming up, so as an experiment I’ll be taking my laptop and MIDI keyboard with me to see how it comes across in a live situation. YEAH!

(I also need to find a way to make the above statement convey as much excitement as I feel, but it probably sounds just a bit dull… Oh well. IT’S EXCITING TO ME OK?) 

Normally I’d run my bass through a Boss OC-2 and an Electro-Harmonix Micro Synth to recreate that synth bass sound (it usually sounds like this), but the EHX pedal is in dire need of repair. These past couple of days have been a good opportunity to brush up on my keyboard skills - hopefully I won’t murder the tunes!

New video!

The White Keys at Dover Street Jazz Club tonight! Free entry before 10pm, on stage at 10:30.

A few photos of So Fresh - a new jam night at the Hideaway in Archway. I’m honoured to be part of the amazing 9-piece house band. 

For more info please check the Facebook page!

Photos by Ron Hector.