Steve “Fella” Kotey Interview

Extract of an Interview with Steve “Fella” Kotey

Words: Matthew Clarke (Keep On Magazine)

He may have many names and many labels, but there is only one Steve “Fella” Kotey.
Stevie started off in 1997, as part of space-dub-disco pioneers Akwaaba [Ghanian for “Welcome”], releasing the sublime Phlox EP, containing the Francois K-endorsed Just Pilau, which was picked up by the Idjut Boys’ label Discfunction. Pairing the most tripped out meandering keys and afro percussion with fat ass boogie bass lines, it started a career of echoey discoid funk. They were tagged with the whole nu-brit-house-dub-disco thing, which was no bad thing, as their enveloping, skunked-out sound took the whole deep house sound onto the next organic level. Next came the companion LP Do It Tomorrow, with the Body & Soul fav Get Young Un, expanding their sound into mad breaks and fucked up jazz alongside the dancefloor tracks. Since then, there have been numerous singles for labels like the impossible-to-find Noid, and his own Bear Entertainment, The Mysterious Cities Of Delay, which unfortunately isn’t a version of the kids TV cartoon theme. They’ve also recently released their second excellent LP for Discfunction, Too Shiny.

When did Akwaaba start?

“ Well Akwaaba is myself, Paul ‘Mudd’ Murphy and Tom Lee. We’ve been friends for over 10 years now, I’ve known Tom since I was about 13. Akwaaba formed in or around 1994. We used to muck around with shitty equipment, and one day whilst getting high, a mutual friend played me a mix tape that Paul had done. I was blown away and thought ‘this dude is right up my street’. We then all got together and made sweet music!”

How was the response for the new Akwaaba LP? Any plans for a live show?

“ It’s been ok. We made that LP two years ago and things move fast in music. A lot of magazines have said it would be great if it was 1995 again, which is bullshit. Some press people are so led by what the others are doing; like all this electro clash stuff - nuff said! As for the live thing, we don’t know really. We’ve been asked but it’s hard unless you have a focal point on stage, and none of our tracks to date have got vocals yet!”

All Stevie’s tracks have a distinctive sound, whether it’s with his Akwaaba compatriots, or recording as one of his many aliases. He’s managed to take the dub-disco blueprint and add a blend of all forms of dance music, from breaks to house, from jazz to disco, to make some of the freshest, funkiest groove. He seems to have solved the problem of keeping his tracks soulful and interesting, and never blanding out into lounge territory. All the tracks still head for the floor (however stoned!) and, alongside producers like Theo Parrish and Moodyman, they never lose sight of the dirty, gritty nature of the music we love. Stevie’s stuff is definitely in the spirit of Garage Music, and I mean Garage as in Paradise, not Garridge. There’s the freedom to draw soulful dancing music from whatever source works. If its funk, then it fits! I’m thinking of when Larry Levan used to play dubbed-out quirky tunes, like Spasticus Autisticus or Go Bang. Sonically, Stevie has the same fondness for reverb and delay effects, but it goes deeper than that. His productions hark back to when ‘disco’ wasn’t some monotonous, “making love with one stroke” [quote courtesy of Georgie Clinton] monster, but before, when it was a rich, varied form of dancing music.

How did you come about your sound? What sort of stuff did you listen to?

“ Well my sound is from many different influences. I’m into loads of music: soul, techno, disco and house. My dad brought a few Afro Beat High Life records into my life. As for producers I like the work of Walter Gibbons, Francois Kevorkian, Norman Whitfield and all those others.”

Have you got a sonic secret, how do you get that deep-dub sound?

“ I don’t think that there’s a secret, I’m not the first and I won’t be the last to get that sound. But I want people, in time, to know it’s a production by me without looking at the label. I always want to do something different, to surprise people, but I think a good understanding of all types of music help you eventually get your own sound. The deep stuff I do comes from spending many a night on the other side of the decks, getting wasted and wishing I could write a bassline like that!”

All your tunes have a very ‘live’ warm feel to them, how do you mix the live stuff in? Who plays what?

“ It’s a good question, not many people get a chance to talk about the musicians that make all this possible. With Akwaaba we’re blessed in the department by knowing so many great musicians. We’ve worked with Tom Bailey of Fug/ Neon Heights [keys], Ben Smith [everything], Andy Williams from Fuzz Against Junk [madness] and Simon Paterson [bass]. And of course you need someone to make this sound good, our engineer Bob Sadler is that man. Right now I’m working with the legendary Pete Z of Block 16 fame. It’s all quite electronic but computers have got soul too!”

How did you hook up with the Idjuts?

“ Dan and Conrad are top blokes. They’ve helped me and others get music out when nobody else would. We all started going to their now legendary Phreek parties, at The Cross in London. In the early nineties I remember Paul [from Akwaaba] saying, ‘at last, a club that plays stuff we’re into all night.’ There was a dodgy period in London clubs before then, and after the rave thing everything was harsh and hard! Then that club got going and brought the love back, ahhhhh!”

You’ve talked about Harvey being an influence, in terms of the breadth of his style. Could you describe the first time you saw him? What sort of stuff did he play?

“ The first time I heard Harvey was at the Gardening Club, in the early nineties. He is just great at creating an atmosphere in a club. He’ll take you on a journey, driving a disco-funk bus that stops at all areas, techno, house, rock and sometimes pop. Check out the Sarcastic Disco CD if you can. It’s my favourite compilation CD I’ve heard to date.”

[You can download and burn off CDs of this mix from sarcasticclothing.com/cult.html]

Alongside his own productions, Steve runs a raft of labels: Bear Entertainment, Hairy Claw, the new Bear Funk, DJ Economy, and his re-edit label, Big Bear. Bear Entertainment is for the lush, delayed up grooves of Mudd and All Good Funk, just check out the lovely jungle label artwork for each release! Hairy Claw and DJ Economy ride on a more jazzy and raw tip, exploring the more esoteric and electronic places in the Bear Empire. Hairy Claw’s signature mixture of electric boogie and techno is now three releases old, and will appeal to fans of Environ’s wonky analogue sound.

Big Bear is perhaps the highest profile label. It updates disco-classics, the likes of Bunny Sigler or Slick, slices them up, and pushes them through the blender to beef them up for todays demanding discoteers. They are a world away from the pilfering of the sample plunderers. Instead of just bolting on a four/four beat, the computer comes out and technology turns them into entirely new delights for the dancers.

You can read the remainder of this interview in Keep On Magazine Issue 1. www.keeponmagazine.com