Soul Clap, along with their record label-come-artist collective, Wolf + Lamb are touring together and bringing their feel good beats to The Bakery this New Year’s Eve – Tuesday, December 31. NAOMI FAYE checks in with Soul Clap to see what’s in store.
Soul Clap’s ‘house wears many hats’ mantra is a piece of wisdom they learnt over a decade ago from the owner of Vinyl Connection records, Caril Mitro. The now closed-down record store was once their “vinyl temple” in Boston, and the beginning of their journey through house music.
“This was her way of telling us to be diverse in our selection and taste”, says Cnyce aka Chaz Shabaz, one half of the Soul Clap duo. This sentiment encapsulates what Soul Clap is all about; house music shouldn’t be held captive to one particular vibe, it should be inspired by different sounds.
Although Mitro’s advice seems simple enough, it has motivated Soul Clap into mastering the many elements of being skilled DJ’s – knowledge, mixing, programming, performance and experience.” This has formed their creative vision, allowing them to DJ at the hottest dance events around the world.
Both from Boston, Cynce and Elyte aka E-Heavy The Bamboozla grew as DJs through the notorious parties held by Wolf + Lamb at Brooklyn’s Marcy Hotel. With their hip hop and R&B-infused house, they’re often described as bringing emotion back to the dance floor. “When remixing we look for emotion in elements that you can sink your teeth into… different tempos, feelings, songs with vocals and live instruments, or sometimes just drum machine hypnosis. What we don’t do is play that boring shit!”
In 2011 Soul Clap teamed up with Wolf + Lamb to release their 27-track mix for DJ-Kicks, securing their penchant for soulful house tunes. In 2012 the duo released their 90’s inspired debut album, EFUNK – a mix filled with R&B classics and disco remixes. This year they dug up the archives of Nice ‘N’ Ripe, developing a nostalgic compilation of the record label’s admired garage house.
Through their record label, Soul Clap Records and their artist collective, Crew Love (together with Wolf + Lamb and Double Standard Records) the duo is now spreading their house ethos further, developing an inspired music community.
“Soul Clap Records came about after years of touring when we started encountering artists that we loved. We wanted to be the ones that introduced them to the rest of the world.”
Perth is luckily enough to have the four guys from Soul Clap and Wolf + Lamb bringing in the new year at The Bakery for NYFeels. Their ongoing collaboration producing the type of energy needed for the ultimate New Years Eve party. “When we’re all together we really bring the party vibe, which often overflows into the DJ booth. Musically it’s sort of like adding special ingredients into a slow cooker.”
But don’t be tempted to have any preconceptions about their performance, as they like to keep things completely improvised. Now incorporating post-punk, African and Arab beats into their hip hop repertoire, a crazy night’s guaranteed. “It’s NYE, so I’m sure we’ll all be fighting to tweak that mixer! WE COMING DOWN UNDAAAAAH! Australia git READY!”
