Hey friends, thanks for being here.
I didn't think I would ever have the opportunity to promote a record of my own, but here we are...
As some of you may know, most of the music I put out is published by Bibliotheque Music Library, a company who release production/library music with the intention of being used in TV/Film etc.
My personal goal has always been to make music which I really felt emotionally attached to, something I would want to listen to myself again & again, and not with the intention of commercial gain for the sake of a catchy advertisement jingle. While I have had some lucky breaks with a few songs becoming very popular in the TV world, I get much more of a thrill from composing and producing heartfelt, genuine music which isn't afraid to stray from what many people are used to hearing - 99% of my stuff is instrumental anyway, so that's already quite a niche in itself.
I have always been passionate about guitar music, especially funk & psychedelia (having learned a lot of my craft from studying countless hours of John Frusciante, Jimi Hendrix & Funkadelic recordings).
My 2019 release 'Psych & Alternative Rock: Above The Clouds' was my first step into creating an entire album's worth of work with a certain theme in mind (heavy influence from bands like Tame Impala & Red Hot Chili Peppers), but I am always wanting to evolve, progress and experiment with new sounds and production techniques.
In late 2019 I began trying new tricks with vintage reel to reel tape machines, fuzzes and wah-wah pedals, making crusty drum loops and analysing some of the psychedelic mixing/panning techniques used by Hendrix & Funkadelic in the late 60s / early 70s. I decided I would try making some music with that sound in mind. I was also listening to a lot of 70s Nigerian funk, Afrobeat, Zamrock and a lot of Khruangbin - one of my all time favourite modern bands.
Since I always found the guitar to be the way I can best convey my emotions, and funk being such an expressive genre for me, I was stoked to be contacted by Bibliotheque with the proposition of making an album inspired by those sounds.
Thus, 'Heavyweight Funk: The Get Down!' was born...
...Released digitally in February 2021, after receiving countless positive comments & many thousand streams in its first month, I had the idea to release it physically in late March.
I am more proud of this body of work than anything I have put out before, so even if I can get this album into a microscopic percentage of the world's record collections, I would consider that a dream come true. Once clearing the licensing rights with Bibliotheque to self release this LP, as of April 2021 I have been able to make it a reality.
This release is for my friends, my family, my followers, music lovers, groove hunters & myself.
Thanks again, and enjoy the record.
Olly. X