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All the dirt >>
Soul Fire DJ and label owner Phillip Lehman
Mirror:
So how long have you been doing this? I know Soul Fire is a relatively
new label in the whole scheme of things. Phillip Lehman:
I did my first compilations with the label Pure back in ’87,
’88, when I was actually producing some stuff. But it got serious
when me and Gabe Roth started Desco about five years ago. M: The Desco
shit was hot! But why did Desco go by the wayside? PL: Well—put
it like this, me and Gabe are just into different sounds. I’m really
into the shitty, garage-sounding stuff, and Gabe’s more into that
soul sound with the polished horns and all that. M: So you
like the dirty stuff? PL: Yeah.
I like super-rough, low quality production that really brings out that
heavy funk feeling. M: Is the
key a shitty recording? PL: Not
at all. You have to be playing exactly the right style of music no matter
how the recording sounds or it’s not gonna sound right. It’s
more about recording those improvised moments rather than hitting the
take really loud. M: I know
you probably keep an eye on all this new funk that’s coming out,
but considering how long you’ve been doing this, how convinced
are you that there is a funk resurgence going on? PL: I don’t
think there is. What happened is, Keb Darge did his Funk Spectrum releases
on BBE and
picked up sort of a mainstream crowd. M: And a
lot of press. PL: Yeah,
but as far as bands, it’s basically been the same guys doing stuff
for the last five years. Poets of Rhythm, out of Germany, have been
doing this forever, and there’s the odd 45 here and there, but
it’s basically the same people, more or less. It’s not like
a bunch of funk labels have popped up or anything. M: Is there
anything out there you really like? And how do you gauge what’s
good? PL: The
only thing I really like is the Poets of Rhythm record, which is really
good, and the first Soul Destroyers 45 from England, but apart from
that, nothing too good, y’know. There’s a lot of cookie-cutter
funk. M: So most
people aren’t hitting the nail on the head? PL: I think the problem is they’re not really into funk. You pretty much got to listen to nothing but to get it right. I think a lot of those guys in England were playing acid jazz before they were playing funk, and that’s definitely a handicap. : Soul Fire’s
Jeff and Phillip are at Jingxi’s Moodfood, with Troubleman and
Dubline, on Sunday, Feb. 3, 10pm, $5
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What’s
it like being part of the new funk movement that captures the rough-edged
rawness of days gone by? Well, if you’re Phillip Lehman, from New
York’s finest funk label Soul Fire Records, then you know times
is tough. But if you really love the funk, then you know that tough
times make for much better songs in the end, and you can hear the proof
on the label’s new compilation of 45 sides, aptly called Grazing
in the Trash Vol. 2. The Mirror spoke to Lehman smack dab in the middle
of recording percussion overdubs earlier this week.