People Circulate

Moodymanc vs Jamie Finlay – People Circulate /// Development Music (Interview)

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Moodymanc joins with Jamie Finlay for some deep dance floor soul…

Development Music stick close to home on their latest release, with a single deeply rooted in Manchester. The city’s deep house heavyweight Moodymanc (Tsuba / 20:20Vision) teams up with ultra talented vocalist and musician Jamie Finlay (Wah Wah 45s) to deliver a seriously catchy underground anthem, with remixes from Manchester’s highly respected DJ/Producer Mr Scruff.

The record producer, jazz musician and crate digger, Moodymanc, has spawned a long series of hit records on labels such as 2020 vision, Tsuba and Dessous, that have been universally championed by both the biggest hitters and underground alike. His sound is both forward thinking and yet deeply rooted in the traditions of house music which has also led to a successful re-mix career, and his inimitable skills as a DJ, alongside his roles as both producer and drummer with 2020 Soundsystem, have seen him play at some of the biggest parties and festivals on the planet.

Jamie Finlay is vocalist, musician and producer based in Manchester. His releases on labels including ‘Wah Wah 45s’, Brownswood and Mettle Music have gained rave reviews and received heavyweight DJ support across the globe. Jamie’s early releases, including the underground smashers “Little Trumpet” and “Temperature”, saw him working firmly behind the scenes as songwriter and producer, but his aptly titled 2009 release, “Step Forward”, saw Jamie move in front of the mic to showcase his unique and soulful voice. He has since released several singles, been nominated for an Indy Music Award and toured the UK selling out London’s Jazz Cafe, Cargo and Pigalle club and performing support slots for the likes of Roy Ayers. Recently, Jamie has been in demand as a producer and composer, but he is currently back working on a swathe of new material which he hopes to showcase over the next year.

The single features a range of styles and tempos from the wonky down-tempo funk of the original to the hugely relevant, big basslined remix from Mr Scruff, via a pair of heavy house mixes from Moodymanc himself, creating a release, which is “definitely firmly aimed at the dance floor”…he says.
The original mix of “People Circulate” is very much a down-tempo affair with its wonky bassline chugging along to the lazy beat, which is dragged up to pace with the prominent vocals of Jamie Finaly. The “Vocal Mix” seems to focus on picking up the pace somewhat and getting the mood swing into a cool funky rhythm with a more fluid bass and the introduction of quirky soulful sounds strutting through the mix. This is definitely the right vibe to get things warming up.

Moodymanc vs Jamie Finlay – People Circulate (Vocal Mix)

The “Mr Scruff Remix”, is another that touched slightly on the down-tempo feel, although the bass is phat enough to resonate through to next doors living room. It’s not aggressive, just phat and chunky! The beat is very punchy and the jazz style sounds really perk through nicely to help give it that laid back touch with plenty of quirkiness.
“People Circulate (Club Dub)” advances from the vocal mix in tempo and swing, stripping out much of the vocals and fattening up the bass to draw out a real chunky rhythm from it. A sprinkling of strings synths glazing the edges of the sounds to lighten to mood slightly, you can see it being a real deep groover that propels the listener into a sense of graceful security on those late night dance floors. “Deep dance floor soul!”…as Moondymanc puts it. Although the other mixes may stand out more for their diversity, this is definitely the mix that will have crowds moving.

Moodymanc vs Jamie Finlay – People Circulate (Club Dub)

Guerilla Sounds spoke with Moodymanc to get the lowdown on this soulful release…

Firstly, tell us how did your collaboration with Jamie Finlay come about?

“I’ve known Jamie for a few years, I was aware of him firstly through his ‘Wah Wah 45′ release “Little Trumpet”, which I played to death, then met him through mutual friends and collaborators (as is quite often the way in Manchester). When he wrote “People Circulate” he sent me a demo asking me if I’d consider re-mixing it. I was blown away by the track, and in particular his vocals and proposed that I ‘produce’ it as a 12″ record… I’d been chatting to the Tom Lynch (Tomson) at ‘Development’ about doing a 12″ for them anyway. He knew Jamie and loved his stuff too so it was a real no brainer…”

What’s the main idea and influence behind the “People Circulate”?

“The main idea for me was to produce a record that represented the song primarily, and allowed it to be brought to the dance floor whilst keeping its soul intact….”

You always seem to be mixing it up with your ‘sound’ between the laid-back deep house sounds of “Alone EP” to the deeper and sometimes darker vibes of releases such as your “Snore EP” and “Mode EP”. But would you agree that this release is much more ‘laid-back’ than normally and if so, is this a sign of a change in your ‘sound’?

“Well, I come from a very broad background musically speaking and am still involved in a lot of projects that aren’t necessarily house music at all. Having said that, I’ve been around house music in Manchester since the late 80′s and for me it’s very much a roots music. I find that house music is a fantastic forum for telling my story… I’m excited by the fact that it’s a broad spectrum. It’s very important to me that it’s about being all embracing, musically, socially and culturally, and I’m really trying to explore and express that. This release is certainly different from most of my other moodymanc output in that it’s very much about the song and the vocal, and it’s a little more ‘laid back’ tempo wise, but I wouldn’t necessarily cite it as a ‘change in sound’; it’s hopefully still rooted by my influences and my background… and it’s definitely firmly aimed at the dance floor!!”

How has your approach to this release been different, if all at, in comparison to your approach on such previous releases?

“This was different in that it was very much song led primarily and with most of my other Moodymanc releases, even “Alone” which features the amazing vocals of Diane Charlemagne, it’s been all about the beats first. I’ve been fortunate enough to re-mix some great vocal tracks over the last year or two, and really enjoy working with some amazing vocalists in some of my other projects but this is the first record that I’ve made as Moodymanc where a song has been the starting point.”

If you had to summarise this release in a short sentence…?

“Deep dance floor soul!”

What do you have lined-up after the release of “People Circulate”?

“It’s an exciting time for me release wise. I have an EP to come out with ‘Landed Records’, which has been mastered at Abbey Road and features an amazing re-mix by Rick Wade. Then an EP for ‘Centric Music’, which features vocals by reggae superstar Kuntri Ranks and re-mixes by Jamie Anderson and Elef. I’m in the process of completing an EP to launch ‘Abstract Theory’s’ new vinyl series with a re-mix from Terry Lee Brown Junior, which should be out early next year. I’ve also got re-mixes of Dzeta & Basile and Max Conte out on ‘Abstract Theory’ and ‘SWINK’ respectively over the next month or so with more to follow into the new year, and am finishing a new ’2020 soundsystem’ album which we recorded live for ‘We Love’… am looking forward to getting out DJing a lot more over the forthcoming party season too!!!”

Release date: 24th October 2011

Moodymanc Myspace | Moodymanc FB | Jamie Finlay FB | People Circulate |

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