FULL FLAVA

Rob Derbyshire & Solomon Mullings

Interviews Menu - Interviews

Interview for  Full Flava / Colour of My Soul – This interview was not carried out by me but has been reproduced by permission of Dome. It was carried out for the Japanese release of the album

Firstly, congratulation to this new release!

We like to start with asking you about yourselves. How did you two come to team up (ex. What year etc.)

We teamed up about 4 years ago we were both working individually as producers and also as session musicians. We met when we were both working on
a gig with Edwin Starr. We connected straight away with similar tastes in music and ambitions in the music industry. After we worked together on a
couple of projects we realized we had a good working chemistry. Our first big project was the first full flava lp 'Chinese Whispers'

The parts each of you take when making an album

With both of us being writers and producers we share a lot of the work equally. Solomon's first instrument is guitar but he sometimes plays
keyboards also . Rob's first instrument is keyboards but he has also played guitar on both lps. Drum programming and bass tends to be divided between
us.

You both are involved with works of Edwin Starr, Chaka Khan and Sting. What have you been doing until you make an agreement with Dome and release
"Chinese Whispers"?

Solomon and Rob started off in music as session musicians. Rob has also done a lot of work with other producers as an engineer and/or a music programmer. Solomon has also done work with other producers mainly as a session guitarist or co-producer/ programmer. More
recently we have become established, together and individually, as writers and producers. We work with a lot of up and coming new artists such as Donna
Odain, Ika, Bing Abrahams and Deeajay. Dome have given us the opportunity to be totally creative being the artist ourselves allows us the freedom to make
the music that we want to make with singers we want to work with.

Instruments you two play is Mr. Derbyshire on Keyboard and Mr. Mullings on Guitar. Please tell us l what kind of music each of you like

As musicians we appreciate all good music regardless of style. This can be a draw back as often the music industry likes to strictly categorize music
into specific styles to correspond with the different markets. Music seems very fashion based and often sales can be effected by music not being
current. We both like hearing new fresh urban rnb music and enjoy the blend of different types of instruments.

what kind of music making you aim for?

We try to make the best music we can. We listen to everything from Indian, arabic music to dance, urban, r'n'b and soul. We follow our instincts. We
also keep a close eye on the latest releases to try to keep our music current and fresh.

Does working (active in) in Birmingham has any influences on sound making (music making) or the sound itself?

Birmingham is a very multicultural city and everyone seems to interact on a very friendly level. There is a great
vibe between the Birmingham musicians and we learn a great deal from each other.

Now questions about the new release "Colour of My Soul". This is the next album which features female singers following the release of "Chinese
Whispers" in 2000.

Originally, what was the trigger of starting to release this kind of release (featuring female singers)? We wanted to create an lp that felt good
to listen to and had an uplifting positive vibe. We focused on strong melodies and tried to incorporate all the elements we like in music. The
initial spark came when we wrote the song 'Stories' we felt we had captured a unique sound. From then our enthusiasm of that song spurred us on to the
next song 'Round and Round' and so to the next song etc. It felt like a natural progression until we realized the LP was written. Then we set about
mastering all the songs and finding good singers to sing them.

What was the reason for you to insist on appointing female singers?

We wanted to create a soulful mellow vibe and in our heads we were hearing female voices on all the songs. We demoed some of the songs with a male
voice but somehow it didn't quite fit with the mood of the overall LP. Maybe we will do an all male LP next.

What are the standards of choosing female singers for the album? For example, you selected Carleen Anderson, Alison Limerick and Ce Ce Peniston
who made waves across the world in 90's and are veteran singers.

We tried to choose the best singer for each song. What was important to us was that wefound singers who liked the songs so the could perform them well. We were delighted when Carleen, Alison and Ce Ce agreed to be part of our LP, they each have amazing and unique voices.

This is a personal opinion but "Chinese Whispers" had more US R&B sound productions at the time but "Colour of My Soul" has more UK Soul kind of
sounds and made me feel going back to the time..Did you intend to make this album this way (the changes between "Chinese Whispers" and "Colour of My Soul")?

We didn't deliberately set out to make this LP different to 'Chinese Whispers' in feel. We followed our instincts and that's what came out.

Does this change has anything to do with the singers you chose?

All the singers on 'Chinese Whispers' were from the UK however Ce Ce and Carleen are
from the US so it is probably more to do with the music. However I suppose Alison Limerick, Carleen Anderson and Donna Gardier are known for being part of the London soul scene so maybe people will associate their vocal sound with being a more UK sound

I personally felt that recently UK Soul grabbed back the sense of UK Soul than past few years where UK Soul became way over US-nized. What are your
opinions on this point?

Identity is very important to us we have tried very hard to put our stamp own on all the songs. Although the US produces some
fantastic RnB music we our proud of our UK identity.

Add to the singers I mentioned in my previous questions, you also chose Romina Johnson, Hazel Fernandes, Donna Odain. What are the reasons for
selecting them for this album? Please tell us about Donna Odain (ex. Biography, discography etc. as we do
not have any information on her).

Romina's voice really felt right on 'Round and Round'. After her big hit with 'Moving to Fast' she was the obvious
choice for the up tempo track on the LP. Donna Odain is a young up and coming singer songwriter we have been working with for a while on her own
LP. She has a really beautiful and unique voice so we asked her to co-write and sing 'Make It Right'

Please tell us about your thoughts on Beverlei Brown or Donna Gardier who participated in "Chinese Whispers" and they are both at Dome.

We are all one big happy family at Dome we have produced one track for Donna Gardiers LP and one for Beverlei Brown's. It seems only right they should each do a song on ours. Those songs were written with those singers in mind.

By the way, Tee who took lead in "Chinese Whisper" is taking back chorus in "Colour of My Soul". Why is this?

Tee has a wonderful voice and it was a tough choice to not include her this time. We do have plans to release an LP
with Tee in the near future.

What was the reason for choosing a track Nat King Cole's Nature Boy and cover is by Hazel Fernandes? Did you want this track to come out like the version of George Benson? Were you conscious about his version when making this track

Nature Boy is one of our favorite all time songs both Nat King Coles version and George Bensons. We wanted to sample George Bensons version but it is too complicated to get sample clearance. Instead we copied the intro strings as closely as we could using real violins and viola. Then we sampled it.

Will you be continuing this project (album featuring female singers)?

We hope to do another LP maybe with male voices next time.

Are there any other female singers you like to work with on this project?

Yes there are some fantastic singers about, both sides of the atlantic.

Are there anything you two are interested or paying close attention to in the music scene in UK or US nowadays?

We like the new organic soul coming out of London, Donna Gardiers LP is really cool. Also Indian music is very popular at the moment.

Do you have any ideas or hopes which you like to work with or produce a track to (not limiting to female artists)?

There are so many great artist around it is difficult to choose.

Please tell us your future plans such as who you will be working with etc.

We are working on an LP with Donna Odain and hope to start one soon with Tee.

This is the end of this interview. Thank you very much in advance for taking your time to answer the questions.

Visitors: