Studio Funk

A man who probably needs no introduction as he’s been consistently delivering great music for the past 10 years plus. Musician, producer, songwriter are a few labels attached to his calibre and status. He is also one of the leading voices and sounds within the Modern Funk scene whilst also at the helm of the beloved Mofunk records, Pasadena’s finest — XL Middleton 

Together we discuss the early days of his G-Funk era through to modern day of his highly anticipated sequel album, Tap Water II. We also get into the detail about his collaborations with Zackey Force Funk and their most recent album, Blue Blade Piranha. Plus we go behind the scenes on some of the great remixes he’s done over the years, including the latest with Japanese City Pop artist, Hannah Warm …plus a whole lot more!

A special collaboration between Studio Funk and Prime Time Records & Tapes, an episode featuring multi talented musician, songwriter and performer from Rochester New York, who is also one of the founding members of the Jazz Funk collective, Cabo Frio — Curtis Kendrick! 

Curtis and Aswad discuss the beginnings of Cabo Frio during the late 70s and the groups progression throughout the 80s. The numerous albums, collaborations and opportunities along the way. Together they also discuss about the elusive 1982 side project album — 3rd Degree. An album which is referred to as a holy grail amongst many collectors. The rare album which was only released on cassette is now currently being worked on for a full remaster from the original session tapes by Prime Time Records — who also recently released the single ‘Heartbeat’ from the forthcoming album.

Carl Moore, is what we call a true definition of a working musician. A person who’s continuing to have an expansive career spanning over 4 decades. From the late 70s being part of funk group ‘Split Decision Band’ through to the early 80s and working in Japan. Aswad and Carl discuss the makings of his elusive limited EP ‘Chance’ released in 1984, and celebrating the music 40 years later as see the reissue of ‘Carter Lake’ and It ‘Must Be The Beat’ via Sam Don's new record label adventure — Sweet Free Association.

Another piece of footage released from the vault! Some more insight into the wonderful career of Isy Martin. The Budweiser Showdown competition, additional songs he wrote, reflecting on life and sharing wisdom - all to share!

Released from the vault! Mr Big Happy shares the time he connected and linked up with some of the members of 'Sparkle City Band' to work on a collaborative project to reissue their ultra rare 45 'Day By Day'. Alongside that we discuss the origins of his DJ crew - 'Parish Council' and how they form together like Voltron!

With a warm welcome, and a swift return we have the multi-talented Teddy Bryant in the house. Showcasing and highlighting his sophomore album…’Dinner For Two’ — Aswad and Teddy get into deep discussion about how the album came to fruition: the influences, collaborations and worldwide reception. An album which tells a ‘romantic adventure’. They also discuss the process and emotions of closely being nominated for R&B album of the year via the Grammys and reflect on what it truly means to be an independent artist in these challenging modern times.

To celebrate the recent release of their self-titled debut album - 'Milk Talk', we have some unreleased footage unlocked from the Studio Funk vault. In this episode, Milk Talk share some insight of the makings of the 'Ah Be Rue' music video, discuss the process of mixing Japanese and English lyrics...plus more!

Welcoming back to the podcast, we have Sam Don to share and discuss his latest release, Just A Touch (Athens of the North, 2023) — the new compilation focusing on underground U.K Soul. Together, Aswad and Sam discuss the term ‘Street Soul’ and what it means to them, the culture, the impact it created in a short space of time. Sam shares the inspiration behind the project, working closely with artists to resurface these rare, and sometimes lost and forgotten music.

As promised, the second half of the special two part episode with Mr Static King - J Scienide. We continue our conversations regarding the Hip Hop honours - 50 year’s milestone, but we also go into J Scienide’s discography to discuss the releases and collaborations of the past few years. The buck doesn’t stop there…with records to burn, Aswad shares plenty of favourites from the collection to round things off in good fashion.

The hiatus is over! Aswad comes out of podcast retirement (for a very good reason) as we welcome talented MC, Producer, owner & founder of Static King records from Washington D.C — J Scienide 

Together they celebrate and reflect on the key milestone — 50 years of Hip Hop and discuss J Scienide’s discography, recent releases and people he’s worked with including D-Styles (Producer/DJ, Beat Junkies) and Body Bag Ben (Producer).

As you can expect there is a lot to digest here, so much we decided for this special occasion that this will be released as a two-part mini series.

In this first episode — they discuss the humble beginnings of rap and take a nostalgia trip through their childhood memories and reflect what it means to them in modern day. The important connections tied to Hip Hop - the funk, soul, jazz music which became before it.

No Studio Funk show is complete with a great track list — you can expect to hear many genres on this episode, as we expand from notable Hip Hop favourites and low-key gems through to artists which impacted their lives forever…