Spoonface is celebrating 10 years of top dance music activity with a compilation featuring his favourite bangers.
Other Side of the Spoon - 10 years of inernational Dance hits from Spoonface
To celebrate the release, Spoonface will be making weekly blog entries sharing his journey and experiences.
Grab the limited edition promo now!
Make a paypal donation of YOUR CHOICE and get a full credit in the Spoonface mini-book to accompany the release!
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Part 4 of 5 – “Love”
As I reflect, peering out the window of my Tokyo hotel room, I felt another reason to be thankful to add to the many.
Wow, I’m in Japan and meeting people that understand and enjoy my personal musical vision. A new path to the Journey is about to begin.
TEN YEARS EARLIER —
Spoonface on tour with dancers
After the hit years there came a time of uncertainty.
Uncertainty about people, agenda’s, money and my musical direction.
I learned quickly that It wasn’t just being drunk or upset that bought out peoples true colours. Money helped do that too. Either loads of it or not enough.
You hear it loads when you’re growing up. ‘Love of money is the root of all evil’ yarda yarda.. blah blah and all that lol but when you experience it first hand.. its like wooah this sh*t is true!
I expected doubters, haters, blockers, fakers, unreliables, undesirables yet didn’t expect them to be amongst some of the closest people to me. Thought I had been able to filter them through my experiences growing up. Some how they managed to slip under the radar but not for long. The truth really does set you free.
I guess crafting the way forward was what a manager was for. I had management that I trusted and was thankful for, yet there was something missing.
Collecting an award in Italy with Time Spa Boss Giacomo, DJ Albertino and BL Producer Ciro Sasso
I honestly felt at times he wasn’t really into the music I was making and often things popped up that were beyond our control.
Thinking back, Just after the first song I would have simply done a Dizzie Raasclart and hooked up with all the top dance producers to make fresh bangers that would have worked in the clubs and at radio.
Spoonface and Romina back stage at BCM during her success with 'Too Fast'
Hindsight is an amazing thing. I appreciate everything that has happened good and not so good ‘cos I learned so much from the experiences and especially about how to love more. Love the haters for what they help you to learn about them and yourself, and love the love from those that have been there for me and still are.
Being the first in my family to achieve this type of success I often felt lonely and like I had no one I truly trusted to advise me on the best thing to do next. What do I do now?
Should I do Barry White covers, should I write an album or do singles, should I keep doing club pa’s or wait for a stadium tour, should I keep making specialist music or just stay mainstream, should I get into acting or stick to music, should I invest in property, buy a hotel, hire a press agent, buy a car or get a chauffeur? What would you do?
I decided to try everything, said a prayer every day and went for it full pelt (and still do..lol)!
(To be continued..)
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Part 3 of 5: “Bollox-tics, politics same difference!”
I’ve always been quite laid back and smiley yet quietly competitive, head-strong and determined. I’d like to think that I’m mostly a nice guy but know some of my acquaintances may go as far as saying I easily bordered on egotistical at times and in certain ways I’d have to agree.
I was fearlessly direct and said what I felt at times with little diplomacy (still do).
I know who I am, what I want, how I like to do my thing and how I expect to be treated.
That’s me. (As well as being a cheeky so and so with a juvenile sense of humour and love for fine food and finer women).
I had my own issues growing up. I heard more fat jokes than I had hot dinners (and that was just from my mum). My pops delivered a steady supply of head-ache at home and I readily provided a few difficult moments of my own at school (to my peers and teachers alike).
On the whole I was a good kid, so good at times I remember my mates teasing me about how strict my parents were. I didn’t f*k about at school (much) cos I knew I would get licks (which my mates would often remind me).
In hindsight, thats the way it should be.. to a point.
I never tried the ‘bad man, thing’. My pops tried that route far longer than he should have. If there was anything I learned from him it was that prison wasn’t cool in the long run, especially when you’re poor and ‘Black’. It just eats away at time you can’t replace that could have been put to better use. Plus, I actually enjoyed learning.
Tomorrow’s world was my programme growing up. That with a bit of Panorama, the Cook Report and my Fortnightly collector magazines were the deal! (Around Fresh Prince and Desmonds). I remember my Gran would give me a fiver every week and I would gladly spend that on a fresh edition of Quest.
Later on my GCSE’s went smooth until I got my girlfriend pregnant and messed up my A-levels.. just about found a Uni that would have me, only to stay a couple years before running off to join the ‘Music Circus’.
I dared not sneak out with my mates to party, so missed out on Jungle Raves like Telepathy or Jungle Fever when early Drum and Bass was at its heights. The most I had was my radio locked to Kool-with-a-’k’ 94.5 fm, Normski on BBC and a bunch of 80′s reggae sound tapes lifted from my pops collection just long enough to be copied and returned before pops noticed they were missing.
I couldn’t afford the latest ‘garms’ everyone was wearing during my teens. The eight-ball jackets, Corduroy Click Suits, Champion trainers, Nike Air, Ragga Boots or travel fox with diamond socks. Most I had was a dodgy ripp-off naff naff jacket. What made it worse was I was short as hell with a big mans waistline. Shopping was a mission impossible.
What helped was my mum had a deal with the Indian lady at the post office. She would grab discounted adult stuff I could squeeze into and let my mum pay what she could afford when she went to collect my child benefit.
I couldn’t wait to grow up, buy my own clothes and get the heck out of that house.
And here it was. That moment was here!
I was number one, face all over TV, money in the bank and ready to ride the wave of freedom, finance and females. I felt like Kunta Kinte would If he run away and didn’t get caught, kept his foot and found some acres and a mule early.
I was strolling in and out of clubs, private jetting, ‘celebrities’ all up in my phone book.
Then the bollox-tics decided to come out and play.
Coming from such humble beginnings It didnt take much to keep me happy, I knew what it was like to go without and felt blessed to have any experience or physical thing that I had. I was used to having people close to me let me down so I found it hard to accept people. I was constantly testing and probing through my own sub-conscious self defence mechanisms.
I developed weird rules like:
“You never really know a person until you upset them or get ‘em drunk”
Probably lost many along the way because of this, but I knew who my realers were and still do.
Nonetheless, at the time there was always something that occurred that was beyond my ability to control.
The bollox-tics.
I was just 21 and new to the industry. The hit was had and now it was time to make some more big moves but things kept popping up to block me. I had been performing and writing since I was 14 but this was my first commercial release. I often got treated like a ‘baby’ and my musical ideas often disregarded by some of the people I was working with.
Everyone wanted me to be Barry White on the commercial ideas I got approached with and even my mostly supportive manager kept telling me to do just one thing and stop the ragga / hip hop fusion experimental stuff. In fact he would often say “the only reason people liked the Barry white cover was because of my Afro” .
(very strange).
As time went on Black Legend slipped into the background. I stuck with a Hip hop crew I was with before the hit and my manager helped the band get a record deal. We did some kids Tv and other bits but it was a different time all together.
I learned it wasn’t about Afros but having a scene and a place to build your hype and support. “You See the Trouble with me” was a massive club anthem that the labels couldnt ignore and this helped it sneak into the hands of the tastemakers and crossover dj’s at mainstream radio giving it colosal national coverage. This coupled with major label marketing spend made it’s route to the top spot unstoppable.
This didnt and still doesn’t exist in 2010 for anything perceived to be UK Hip hop.
The Hip hop band I worked with didnt have anything close to that kind of support whatsoever.
This was a different time.
(Firstly, labels were paying bigger advances back then.. lol)
Anything Uk hip hop was frowned upon by most tastmakers as the ugly unhygienic cousin of US Hip Hop.
Even the most rebellious Uk DJ’s didnt want to get caught dead with a UK Hip hop 12″ in their record bag.
Because of its dance music sensibilities, holiday Island presence and real recognisable formation of a scene, UK Garage was doing well. Crossover artists included Artful Dodger, DJ Luck and Mc neat (big up RTZ for the linkage and support), Shola Ama and Glamma Kid plus Craig David who had emerged from that ’2-step’ scene ready to explode internationally.
However, this was still a very different time. A time that may seem very hard to comprehend now even though it was only a decade ago.
This was before the ease of self promotion from social networking and digital aggregators. This was before wireless routers and way before black berry hype (let alone I-phones). Way back before Dizzy Rascal making everyone swoon at the Brits, before Tynchy became a star in the hood and actually before MTV Base or 1-Xtra (self proclaimed home of ‘urban music’ ) even existed. A time when only a brave few would dare ‘spit-bars’ with an English accent and expect to get radio play. (Outside of Tim Westwood, 279 on Choice and later Big Ted and Blitz on Kiss, or a video mention from Fusion and T Max on MTV).
Coming off the back of a number one record, mainstream radio play was all I expected and that simply was not going to happen.
The music thing started to feel increasingly like a ‘cool kids’ game. If you’re with the wrong crowd (or Label) you couldn’t get into certain areas. Plus the industry seemed to be institutionally perpetuating some racially motivated bollox when it came to the artists/music support and playlist situation (and still does believe it or not – nothing new there.. lol) and I’ll explain that statement a bit later.
Some people stopped answering my calls and the calls stopped coming (something my defense mechanisms were fine tuned and had me ready for).
The old record label were being strange with me because in my opinion they didn’t like my manager.
Some producers had issues because In my opinion the label didn’t like my manager.
My manager was just being a manger and In my opinion didn’t like the label.
The band had internal bollox going on that In my opinion lead to a melt down.
The entire industry was going through a transition. Majors were losing money and big Indies were going bust.
My pops started being nice to me (which threw me all together), but lead to my parents relationship (if you could call it that) falling apart completely.
It was like a weird mostly ‘black’ episode of Benny Hill with the theme tune playing over a hip hop/ dancehall riddim. Annoyingly bizarre but you just had to laugh at how ridiculous it was.
The Bollox-tics came out not only to throw a spanner in but issue a few lessons in life and music business.
Why couldn’t we all just get along..? lol
Ironically, It felt like I had gone from Black Legend to blacklisted.
(To Be Continued)
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Part 2: “We Are Top Of The Pops”
My dad was getting on my nerves.
Constantly baiting me into senseless arguments about bollox I didnt care much about!
With some Jamaican parents its more than just words, shall we say. Additionally, the Machete would often make an appearance and I had to make a decision many a time about whether or not I should take my own dad out or walk away.
Where I’m from, dont pull nothing unless you’re gonna use it cos being family will be the only thing that may just save you.
“You cant do noh blud claaart music, I tried an it didnt work so neither can you, go fine wok”
Looking back I see it came from the best part of him but wasn’t delivered in the best way.
Tired of the totalitarian tirade I decided to move to my Grans house.
In a shop buying milk and I get a call from the label in Italy. Luckily as I was still receiving incoming calls on my breeze-block-of-a-mobile-phone.
it was my brick and I loved it!
Apparently someone was going to call me and interview me over the phone.
I had to internalize my initial reaction of half shiting myself and excitement about having an interview. The call ends and I take the callers advice by reading the NME on the shelf. There was a picture of Barry White and some blurb about what I had just done in Italy.. Me and Barry, us and him all in NME in the SAME article. Legend, Italians plus young dude from Tottenham in NME. Watta-ting!
NME Black Legend Feature
This is weird! It was just a quick (ish) session, whats going on?
There’s some thing going on!
The phone rings again.. and again and I get interviewed again and again.
There’s something going on.
After the phone calls came the Itineraries and dance rehearsals (my first introduction to Pineapple Studio’s)
“More ‘ess’ girls.. thats firerce” the choreographer would shout.. constantly!
what an amazingly talented dude! and the dancers we’re so beautiful and grounded. The dancers in London, The dancers in France too.. (If only I knew more French.)
I had people around me that felt they we’re a part of the journey but no one could ever really know or understand the pressure of that moment. (Unless they had the same inflicted upon them.. I guess.)
Private Jet time to Montpelier and a performance to a 10,000 strong audience in a bull ring then back in time for GMTV with Lorraine Kelly. She was lovely and smiley and full of warmness! (Yes I did see her without make up on.. No comment!)
The circus had just begun as we hit children’s programme after children’s programme, CD UK, radio shows, kiss, galaxy, Pepsi Chart (cor blimey remember that??!!)
There was no time to think about what was going on I just had to react.
Still with no manager Dej Mahoney suggested I speak with a dude called Keith Harris about management (as he had some sort of track record in the business).
My head was spinning but I knew I had to play it cool. My Moo Duk Kwan family mantra kept circling my head. Courtesy, integrity, Perseverance, self control, indomitable spirit..
So much was occurring yet It still hadn’t hit me. I was in the eye of the stormy-madness I thought I loved it but didn’t really know what it was I was feeling or what was to come next.
Bang, straight to Top of the pops, over 200,000 pre-sales in the first week that went on to reach a couple million.
We were top of the pops!
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Part 1: “Pack your stuff we’re going to Italy”
I was just about to turn 21, full of beans and ready for anything!
Times were a bit rough and Uni studies had become a chore. I needed money and a place to live. Just as it seemed it couldn’t get any worse my mum had to go into hospital for an operation. She was fine but things were looking dire. Out of the blue a dear friend called me with an opportunity to pay off a few bills.
Lisa Millett, veteran dance music queen, had been my vocal coach since secondary school. Apparently I could make some dough if I went to Italy with her to sing a few lines sounding like Barry white. All notions of what was cool or not were irrelevant, didn’t matter to me If I had to be Barry White or Barry Manilow, ‘Ribs were touchin’, I needed to make ends meet, I was going!
After years of mc’ing to Jungle (as it used to be called) It took a while to settle into the vocal session, it was a gruelling arduous task (even if I had a naturally deep tone to my voice). We got there in the end thanks to the patience of Ciro Sasso, Enrico Ferrari and the whip cracking of Lisa Millett. She has always been so supportive to me and I love her to bits for her unconditional presence in my journey (and dry Middle England sense of humour).
48hours had past and my first commercial release was in the mix. Before all this I had worked with my mate Darren Meade and other hip hop crews, performed at Hackney Empire and won school talent competitions but this felt different. I felt flat, tired and worn out from the experience. The only thing I remember looking forward to was the couple hundred quid for the session. I did not realise the magnitude of the impact the track was having at all.
All I wanted was that pay check for my bills. Luckily Lisa Millett sorted me out negotiations for a proper contract seen through by another friend Dej Mahoney (Vice president of Business affairs at Sony, at the time).
The heat was on, we were riding a beast of a monster international hit!
