Stompaphunk Interview

Over the last few years, the guys at Stompaphunk have been making waves in Brighton and beyond with their rocking parties at the Funky Buddha Lounge, generally acknowledged to be some of the best that Brighton has to offer. With the record label of the same name going from strength to strength with local talents such as Serge Santiago and Radio Slave dropping club-shaking cuts, and the addition of live “digital funk” band Mula to the proceedings, I caught up with Anthony and Dave from the collective ...

DHN: What is the formula to the Stompaphunk weekly parties, and why are they always rammed every Friday night without fail?!

We basically approach it in the way of, “well, what kind of party would we want to go to on a Friday night?”. We still get excited sometimes when we’re sorting out the line up in advance. So there’s no strict music policy as such - we play house music primarily but there’s no specific sound. The main thing is that people are there having a good night out.

DHN: Who are some of the people that have featured at Stompaphunk, and who have been your favourites?

Jori Hulkonnen was amazing, Ralph Lawson from 20/20 Vision is always really good. We had the Rooty soundsystem down there recently - Felix from Basement Jaxx, Tayo and Frank Tope - and they were really good too. Derrick Carter is always good as well.

To be honest though, some of the best nights we’ve had down at the Funky Buddha Lounge have been the residents specials - you know, everybody’s down there having a laugh, and we don’t have to worry about entertaining a guest!

DHN: Then it becomes more like a house party....

Yeah, sometimes those are the really crazy parties - everybody’s there to have a good time.

DHN: How is the record label shaping up? What is the plan behind it - is there a specific style of output or is it more of a ‘go with the flow’ thing?

Initially when we started the Stompaphunk label we didn’t have a masterplan as such.... we just wanted to put out all this music that we were making. What we were trying to get across was the vibe and the sound of the club, which I think came through - if you listen to some of the first releases, I mean they were really bonkers!

So we didn’t have a grand scheme to the style of the label, which may have helped us in terms of marketing or sales, but we just wanted to put out good music that was being made by people around Brighton, and people involved in the club. Even now, we don’t know the release schedule some 10 records in advance like others, we’re about 2 or 3 releases in advance.

We are coming to the end of our first series of releases - there has been one for every letter of STOMPAPHUNK - we started with “s”, then “t” and so on..... What we intend to do is make a clear distinction then that we are moving forward onto something new with the record label.

DHN: Who are your musical influences at Stompaphunk?

Well, lately we have been linking up with a lot of other people involved with music that share a similar attitude or outlook- Classic, Ralph Lawson and some of the French guys such as David Duriez and D’Julz. Also some of the Spanish guys - what is happening now is that these like-minded people are sort of coming together.

In terms of influences, I would have to say that Daft Punk and Les Rhythmes Digitales were a big influence on the sound. Previous to that, we were more into techno than house music. I think we felt that house was this very underground, black thing from Chicago and we would have been tagging along with that, but when the first Daft Punk album came out it was house music, but really raw and tough sounding house - more European, I guess. It was a bit closer to home.

DHN: What’s the story behind the live band, Mula? What kind of sound can we expect from them?

They are kind of like “digital funk”, a live band but with electronic sounds, a lot of Prince-type 1980’s sounds. Again, they are a representation of the club, and of all clubs and the scene down here in Brighton. If you listen to the lyrics in the songs, you can hear what’s going on around here.

DHN: They’re like a snapshot then, of Brighton at the moment?

Yeah, you could look at it like that...

DHN: So what does Brighton have to offer the world in terms of house/electronic music (apart from Fatboy Slim!)? Is it just ‘London by the sea’ and all that rubbish, or does its own history of music and youth culture (the Mods etc...) play a role in all of this?

Well, I think the attitude from that period of time has carried over, although obviously the music is completely different. I know that some of the techno guys from Brighton, such as Christian Vogel, are recognized as having a “Brighton” sound.

In the record stores in Germany, for instance, they will have a section marked “Brighton Techno”, but this is something that is not recognized at home, only abroad in Germany. There aren’t that many die hard techno fans in Brighton - and there should be!

Errr, we don’t really believe in this ‘London by the sea’ nonsense. What you’ll find is that in London, because it is where the industry is based, you get a lot of nights when people are going out to be seen, and to network etc... whereas in Brighton, most people are there to go out and be crazy, you know, to have a wicked night out.

“Cocaine Talking” by Mula is out now on Stompaphunk, backed with a thumping Radio Slave remix.

www.stompaphunk.com

Truong Mellor.