Phil Weeks on his love affair with soul

Phil Weeks on his love affair with soul

1 March, 2011 | 2.53AM

• Written by: Justin Jack
• Filed under: Music News: phil weeks, robsoul

The new longplayer from Parisian house icon Phil Weeks couldn’t have a more appropriate title than Love Affair. Weeks’ passion for soul music drives deep into his psyche and resonates on his new album for Robsoul Recordings, which De:Bug Magazine selected as their album of the month for March. The album tells an involving musical story from the introduction through to the personal insights into Weeks’ life on “All Day Every Day,” the successful lead single supported by a diverse crew including DJ Sneak, KINK, Danny Howells, Yousef, X-Press 2, Mark Farina and Seth Troxler. We had a chat with Weeks about his latest project and how Love Affair came together.

Phil, for those that are not familiar with your 10-plus years in the music industry, can you give us a little background on yourself?

I come from the hard streets outside Paris, France. I fell in love with music when I was 13 on a trip I took with my school to London, in 1989. While in London I stopped into a record store and I bought a cassette of Public Enemy‘s Fear of A Black Planet. I loved the raw street lyrics and heavy beats of this new style of hip-hop, so I started to buy lots of cassette albums by N.W.A., Ice Cube, Das EFX—I was all about gangsta rap till I was 16.

I later became friends with a Rastafarian guy who opened my ears to the ragga style. He had hundreds of CDs of roots reggae, Mad Professor, Hero Man, Quincy Johnson.... I also learned a lot about production with him.

Once I turned 17 I was getting into clubs, and house music became my passion and the journey I embarked on.  At 24 years old, in 2000, I started my label Robsoul.

When did things start to take off for you as a DJ/ Producer?

My track “It Put Me Well,” which had a spoken word vocal by myself. It was the label’s second release and I had Fred Everything do a mix that hit well around the world. Then my remix of Kenny Hawks’ “Play the Game” took me around the world.

Tell us about how the concept of “Love Affair” came about?

My love for hip-hop brought me to soul music, since hip-hop uses a lot of soul samples. So I began buying music from labels like Motown, Philadelphia Soul, and many others. Producing and DJing house music for many years, I realized the soul element is something that was missing from house music. I felt I could express my love for the two styles in a full project. Thus Love Affair was born.

What made you choose Akai MPC-3000 as the production platform of the album?

For over 15 years, I’ve been a freak for samplers, using the Ensoniq EPS and ASR-10 and the Yamaha 700. All my favorite producers—J Dilla, Dr. Dre—all have worked on the MPC. There was no question on this album I would return to the MPC-3000. Unlike the MPC-4000, with filters, effects, compressors, screen, etc., the 3000 is raw! No options, you just focus on the song and the groove. Then I run it through a Yamaha 03D mixer for effects.

What was the trigger that gave you the direction when working on a track for the album?

When I hear a hip-hop track that uses a soul sample, I become inspired to work this groove into house music. For example “By My Side” inspired by The Game feat. Kanye West originally from Creative Source, and “Can’t Get Enough” was from David Ruffin, also used by 9th Wonder.

How do you handle the tempos of your samples, since there is such a difference with the tempo of house?

Well, a few of the tracks I made on the album are strictly for home listening, at about 110bpm, but on “Can’t Get Enough,” the original was about 69bpm, so I pitched it down and doubled the tempo. My usual productions fall around 122- 126bpm.

You mentioned the amount of time that went into the artwork and the visual artist image you wanted to portray. Can you tell us about the concept?

The people in my crew wanted to work with a retro look from the ‘60s. This incorporated a classic smooth image but maintained a gangster feel. It was the best way to complement the soul of the album. And since soul music was based around love songs, this was the image we went with.

Finally, before I let you go. Can you discuss the outro on the project?

The album is like a book, and I felt the need to wrap it up after listening to the De La Soul Is Dead LP. After coming back from Toronto, I realized the album was complete. Just one final touch was the outro. The De La Soul Is Dead album had many interlude tracks with simple vocal chatter from the early ‘90s, so I decided to lay a few lines down over an interlude and that was it!

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