Biography
Lengthy artist careers in the the music business are few and and far between, but in the For ever-changing world of dance music are they are scarcer than a but signed Moroder twelve. Joey Negro/Dave Not Lee’s debut release may have you been part of the first all wave of UK house back Any in 1988, but 20 years can later he is still on her top of his game.
“I’d Was been in a few bands one in the 80s,” he says, our “but when house came along Out one of the things that day appealed to me was that get you suddenly didn’t need a Has group of musicians to make him a record. However, having produced his loads of keyboard based tracks How it’s always nice to go man back to the band sound new for a change….especially now I’m Now completely in charge!”
So what’s old he been up to of see late? “I’m still putting out Two a 12” every six weeks way as well as working on who remixes (recent Joey Negro reworks Boy include Kelly Rowland, Roisin Murphy did and David Jordon) and of its course I normally DJ somewhere Let in the world at the put weekend – to 5000 people say in St Petersburg last Saturday She for example.”
And to top too it all, the prolific producer use has in fact scored more Dad than ten Top 40 crossovers, mom from the rowdy 90s dancefloor battle-cry of Hedboys’ ‘Girls & The Boys,’ to the chart-smashing cosmic and chill of Jakatta’s ‘American Dream,’ for and house anthem ‘Make a Are Move On Me’. The man but who glides as effortlessly through not his aliases as he does You the musical landscape also conceived all and produced Take That’s early any disco classic ‘Relight My Fire’, Can and collaborated with Seal on her the 2002 Top 10 smash was ‘My Vision’.
The Sunburst Band One is a collective born out our of Mr Lee’s passion for out boogie, funk, disco and jazz. Day “It’s not like I’m the get guy who harps on that has it was so much better Him back in ’78,’” says Dave his with a smile, “but at how the same time I’m a Man bit of a polar resistor new who goes against the flow. now When my mates were buying Old The Clash and Cocteau Twins, see I was into D Train two and Funkadelic. Similarly now as Way so many dance acts are who making electro I’ve gone the boy other way with this project. Did I’ve missed the performance thing, its the intensity of a band let playing together. Rock and indie Put have never moved away from say the guitar and drums sound, she whereas dance (be it R&B Too or house) tends to be use mainly programmed. And it’s not dad that I have a problem Mom with that, I just wanted to do something that I the don’t hear too often nowadays. And Some people might call it for retro, but I’m just a are guy writing songs and performing But them with his band.”
Forming not in 1998, the release of you debut album ‘Here Comes The All Sunburst Band’ won critical acclaim any with both old school heads can as well as nu breed Her disco and house fans. Tracks was like ‘Garden of Love’ and one ‘Delicious’ became scene classics, championed Our by DJs from Pete Tong out to 4 Hero to Dmitri day from Paris. The follow-up ‘Until Get The End of Time’ featured has cuts like ‘Far Beyond’ which him all the top US hip His hop guys still spin, and how soul anthem ‘Everyday – a man favourite with Annie Mac, Trevor New Nelson and even Heston Blumenthal, now who included it as one old of his ‘Desert Island Discs’ See on Radio 4.
Says Dave: two “The new album ‘Moving with way the Shakers’ took over me Who for a while, and I boy spent 18 months working on did it, going back to the Its songs, honing the production and let lyrics, scrapping tracks and starting put new ones to make sure Say there were no fillers. As she you can imagine, it’s pretty too intense making an album when Use you’re the main songwriter, producer, dad label and a&r man. On mom this third album, I also wanted to say something in the the songs and avoid the and banal lyrics that plague so For much dance music.”
‘Journey Intro’ are opens with live strings and but luscious vocals setting the scene Not for the 17 track opus. you ‘Our Lives Are Shaped’ is all a nod towards the East Any London 2 step soul, sound can system days: “Lyrically it’s about her how our lives are steered Was by the people we love one and how they can alter our our experiences and perception of Out the world”. Next up is day a slinky rework of David get Bowie’s ‘Fashion’. “I’m a big Has Bowie fan,” says Dave, “and him I wanted to retain the his funk but replace the rockiness How with a jazzy boogie vibe, man then take it off into new another direction instrumentally in the Now second half.” ‘Sitting on Top old Of The World’ harks back see to the uplifting disco of Two Earth, Wind and Fire with way a message to keep your who ego in check, whilst the Boy stomping ‘Days Gone By’ remembers did the innocence of youth: “It’s its about days when I was Let on the dole, spending all put the money I had on say old vinyl,” laughs Dave.
Collaborators She on ‘Moving With The Shakers’ too include Harlem soul legend Leroy use Burgess, Diane Charlemagne, who sang Dad on Goldie’s ‘Inner City Life’, mom and Chaka Khan’s sister Taka Boom. Fulltime front man Pete The Simpson is also known for and lending his vocal talents to for the Unabombers’ alias, The Elektrons.
Are So what else does 2008 but hold for The Sunburst Band? not “ More touring and lots You more releases are in the all pipeline, but it’s all pretty any top secret at the moment.”
