'Northern'

about this project

This project has been coming since I was a teenager.

Almost my first-ever social experience was at the local 'Youth Club' (most of which simply don't exist nowadays.)

We would play indoor sports, listen to music and talk to girls.

The music in question at the time was called 'Northern Soul.'

In order to truly understand a song, I believe you have to 'live it' - for it to have some emotional connection to your life which gives it a personal value to you.

This is a style of music which is not universally popular - most people know of The Motown, Stax or Philadelphia International labels, but very few have heard of the multiple small independent labels which brought the music to Britain.

It all began at the now-famous Casino club in the unlikely setting of Wigan, Lancashire. The club became legendary to the legions of dance music fans who travelled there from all over the country on a Saturday night from the 70's onwards. An entire culture, encompassing fashion, music and dance moves was born, and the slogan 'Keep The Faith' became a badge of honor for the 'chosen few' as the fans liked to call themselves.

THE MUSIC

The music is best summed up by one of the classic songs of the era, 'Tainted Love' by Gloria Jones. This is music of love and loss, tension, emotion and heartbreak, but it also has a claim to be the UK's first real 'dance music' of the post-war era.

Originated at the 'all-nighters' back in the 70s, Northern Soul dancing has a unique style - predominantly It features gliding and shuffling across the dancefloor, letting the music take control and losing yourself in the moment. The pictures above capture something of this.

The music itself is tight, short and funky. Most tracks are only just over 2 minutes long. It's an adrenalin Rush of speed (metaphorical and literal - songs often clock in at 120-140 Bpm - much faster than modern dance music).

The bands who played it were anonymous - American studio musicians who played in the Motown 'Wrecking Crew' band and others - hard-bitten sessioneers who took home a few dollars for working on something they would never be properly remunerated for.

Like its Caribbean sister, Ska, it's true 'poor people's' music - made by and for people for whom music was often the only joy in their lives.

It was created in a new way for me - all the instrumentation was recorded and then converted to 'Midi' files. This gives each note an individually-customisable identity, meaning that you can revisit individual piano notes, sax lines or drum hits to refashion and create exactly the 'live' and 'Human' feel necessary for the tracks - as if the original wrecking crew are playing the music, mistakes and all. The humanity of this music gives it its life. (Just don't ask me how long it takes to minutely examine each individual note of each instrument!!)

One other interesting thing about this music is that it is not afraid to use emotional-sounding instruments - harp, strings, vibraphone - to add atmosphere to the emotion created by the vocalist, whose identity always stands above any other musician on the track. Most songs are credited to the vocalist, though written by 'jobbing' songwriters such as Carole King.

IN TERMS OF PRODUCTION AND MIXING, I'VE LEANED HEAVILY ON 'AUTHENTIC' DIGITAL PLUGINS WHICH REPLICATE THE MIXING DESK AND REVERB PLATES AT ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS, WHERE I RECORDED A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO. THE IDEA IS TO CREATE AS 'ANALOGUE' A SOUND AS POSSIBLE TO BE FAITHFUL TO THE STYLE. I EVEN ADDED IN SOME 'CRACKLE' FROM A VINYL RECORD!

We are at the stage now where most of the recording is done AND WE HOPE TO BE ABLE TO RELEASE THE ALBUM IN MID-LATE MARCH 2024.