Biography: Silicone Soul

[A-Cube]

Self-confessed children of the night, Craig Morrison and Graeme Reedie are Scotland's premier sonic voodoo bandits of house. They are Glasgow's rising stars who form part of a new wave of house producers. Their critically acclaimed debut album '...A Soul Thing ' was released on leading Scots independent label 'Soma Recordings' in 2000 and they haven't looked back since! With beats as deep as Loch Lomond, Silicone Soul will rock your boat! We catch up with Craig and Graeme in Barcelona, the day after a gig in Alicante. "We met in our first year at school," Craig reminisces, "it wasn't until we formed a rock 'n' roll band, that we really hit it off! After that we were round at each other's houses all the time, listening to records, vibing off each other." They list punk and rock n' roll as their early influences, bands such as The Stooges, MC5, The Stones, The Clash and Glasgow's own Primal Scream. "We were always passionate about music," explains Graeme. Their love of music was strengthened even further when Craig and Graeme formed their band 'Dead City Radio'. The success they attained from a sell-out gig at a small city centre venue was beyond their wildest dreams and left them hungry for more. However, at one particularly debauched concert at a Miners Welfare Club, a nasty incident involving a fruit machine, a wigwam and an irate nun sent them spiraling back down to earth! Like most things, the turning point happened by accident. After reluctantly stumbling into the opening night of Slam at the Arches, Craig was surprised to hear his all time hero's Primal Scream bringing down the house. "We didn't really like the raves that were popular in Scotland in the early nineties; we weren't particularly into that sound. At Slam I thought 'wow'; they were playing all sorts of cool Weatherall mixes from 'Screamadelica' and stuff." It wasn't long until he was joined by his buddy Graeme and their lives were transformed. They swapped their guitars for turntables, donned their dancing shoes and scrimped and scraped for a set of soundlabs each. They traveled the length and breadth of the Scottish Highlands seeking parties and battling the elements with only their sunglasses and T-shirts for protection. Determined to mix and entertain, they ventured west to the infamous Scoraig festival armed with decks, a crate of wax and a rowing boat. After some soul searching they secured a residency at Jungle Palace in Inverness. Guest DJs included Sub Club resident Harri, Ralph Lawson and Slam's Stuart McMillan and Orde Meikle, whom they formed lasting friendships with and were influential in shaping their taste in house music. From punk to dance music, is that not a bit unusual? "We felt that house captured the same energy, danger and intensity of punk, also back then, it was simplistic, it was all about the crowd, the vibe, the reaction - we liked that" enthuses Craig. This punk attitude was prevalent when they headed for the studio and set up their own record label, "We just wanted to make records, get our vibe out there" says Graeme. 'Depth Perception Recordings' was born at the end of 1996 with old school friends Peter Tagg and Chris Hodgins. A string of tracky house cuts followed in 97 and 98, including 'Roy is the Teacher' and 'Seed/Yoni'. It was this fresh sound combined with a get up and get at 'em attitude that impressed Soma label boss Dave Clarke and one funk fuelled demo later, Silicone Soul was born. The name recycled from a track title on the first Depth Perception release. The sublime Soma debut 'Climbing Walls' and the deep and dubby follow up 'All Nite Long' were soon hailed by heavyweights Pete Tong, Laurent Garnier and Andrew Weatherall, who featured 'All Nite Long' on his 'Heavenly Social mix'. Their most acclaimed work at this stage was the monster 'Right on 4 the Darkness' and the nocturnally nasty, atmospheric sound of 'Nosferatu'; which both later appeared on their spellbinding debut album, '...A Soul Thing'. House music is clearly their first love and the album is a cauldron of inspirations, crammed full of beguiling voodoo funk and mutant melodies. Let their bionic beats and hypno house charm your soul. "We're influenced by a lot of different styles of music" says Craig, "From that Jamaican Dance Hall vibe of the '70's, people like Lee Perry, Gregory Isaacs, King Tubby and Augustus Pablo to funk, soul and disco, people like Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, The Temptations and Sly & The Family Stone right through to the Wild Pitch sound, DJ Pierre, Felix Da Housecat, the classic Chicago sound, Basic Channel?I could go on forever." ...'A Soul Thing' also reflects the style of music Silicone Soul like to play in their bewitching DJ sets. Their mixing skills continue to lift the roof off venues all over the world, from Miami to Singapore and from Portugal to South Africa. The year 2000 also saw the boys release their own update of their classic 'Right on 4 tha Darkness', renamed 'Right On, Right On!' This turned into one of the biggest tracks of the year. 'Chic-o-Laa' was unleashed at the end of the year. All this did not go unnoticed and the boys received nominations for 'Best House Act', 'Best Single' and 'Best Underground Act' at the 'Muzik' and 'Dancestar' awards in 2001. "Right On, Right On!' was originally a dubplate we made for our 'Soul Thing' tour of France", says Craig, "We wanted to do something fresh with 'Right on 4 tha Darkness', give it a more clubby feel. We finished our set with it every night. It went down so well that we decided to put it on the 'B' side of the 'The Answer'." Apparently, their after-hours set at the legendary Paris boat party, 'Batofar' is now in annuals of French folklore! What made you sample Curtis Mayfield's righteous classic 'Right on for the Darkness'? "We're massive Curtis fans", enthuses Graeme, "We really appreciate the sentiment behind the record." Eventually Soma and Silicone Soul went with Virgin for the UK release of this epic. Partly because of their good relationship with Labels in France, but also because it looked as if they were going to do the best job in taking the record to the masses, whilst respecting the artistic integrity of the band. Subsequently a vocal version was recorded." We discussed vocalists", offers Graeme, "We wanted a classic soul vocal style, with real emotion, someone like Shara Nelson. Eventually we came across Louise Marshall. She was perfect." 'Right On!' became an international hit, reaching the top 20 in the UK and the top 10 in national charts throughout Europe. As well as delighting dance floors all over the world, 2001and 2002 saw Silicone Soul remixing for some of the most respected UK labels. They have recently worked their magic for 20/20 vision, Skint (Lo-Fi Allstars), Wall of Sound (Royksopp) and Roger Sanchez to name but a few. For Soma they completed stunning remixes of Slam's 'Lifetimes' and Hypno House and Darkroom Dubs of Universal Principles' 'Latin Stroll". In 2003 they once again launched their own label and already it has received much praise in the dance community. "Darkroom Dubs is the name of our new label," says Craig. "We wanted to put out some darker, dubby, more abstract and atmospheric sounds, much like the stuff that's been really happening when we DJ". Already scheduled for release are tracks and remixes by Hipp-e (H-Foundation), Chicken Lips, Will Dawson, Wulf n' Flow (Ralph Lawson & Carl Finlow), Swimming Pool Sound and Silver City. Darkroom Dubs #1 features two new tracks by the guys, themselves. They hope to release other exciting offerings and also fresh cuts from new artists too. 2004 will see the guys release their first Soma single for over 3 years with an album to follow, a much anticipated follow up to "...A Soul Thing". Their last Soma release being a superb reworking of the Arches anthem 'Mispent Youth' by Shatrax. Nothing more is revealed, they speak in terms of vibe, mood and feeling rather than anything distinct. 'Right On!' may have broken the surface but Silicone Soul are returning to the depths where house music belongs - the darkness of the club.

[rob]

^Who da man?.. u da man!
Great choice of artists! totally digging these two!

[AnT-1]

They have history it seems!!