Interviews

Name: Adam Gibbons Age: 25 Job: I’ll let you know when I’ve figured it out...!

Who are you?

Lack of Afro.

What do you stand for?

Funk for the common man.

What gets you excited?

Jazz drum kits, my alto saxophone, funk 45’s, playing live (doesn’t matter what), sampling, England winning at cricket or rugby.

What music are you feeling right now?

Man, always so much! Cheeky Top 5’s (in no particular order):

JAZZ
The Jazz Invaders: Up & Out (Social Beats LP)
Herbie Hancock: Maiden Voyage (Blue Note LP)
Joe Henderson: In n Out (Blue Note LP)
The Nostalgia 77 Octet: Sevens & Eights (Tru Thoughts cd)
Nicola Conte: Other Directions (Volumes 1 & 2) (Schema LP)

FUNK
The Bamboos: Step It Up (Try Thoughts LP)
The New Mastersounds: Baby Bouncer (One Note 7”)
Magnum: Evolution (Phoenix 7”)
Eddie Bo: Hook n’ Sling (Scram 7”)
Lee Dorsey: A Lover Was Born (Amy 7”)

BEATS
Ino Hidefumi: Just The Two Of Us (Innocent 7”)
Quantic: We Got Soul (Breakin’ Bread 7”)
Lack of Afro: Roderigo (Unreleased cd-r)
Smoove: Dead Men’s Shirts (Acid Jazz LP)
Yesterday’s New Quintet: Sunrays (Stones Throw 7”)

SOUL
Solomon Burke: Stupidity (Valley 7”)
Clarence Carter: Looking For A Fox (Atlantic 7”)
Jackie Wilson: Sweetest Feeling (Brunswick 7”)
Sam Cooke: I’ll Come Running Back To You (Speciality 7”)
Corienne Bailey Rae feat. The New Mastersounds: Your Love Is Mine (One Note 7”)

You got ten minutes to live - what do you want to say, and to who?

I’d tell all my family and friends thank you and that I love them loads, then I’d say the same to this girl who I’ve never told. I’d then die happy…

 

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Why did you choose to do what you do?

It was a natural progression from studying Music Technology at uni – we had to write our own material so that’s why I bought my first lot of recording equipment.

How and when did you start?

If I remember correctly the first composition module for my uni course started in January 2001, so right about then.

Who are your influences, then (when you started) and now?
THEN
DJ Shadow
Moby
Groove Armada
Bonobo

NOW
60’s & 70’s funk music in general
Quantic
Herbie Hancock
DJ Shadow
Madlib

Which place has been your favourite, and why?

Right here, Exeter, Devon. On the whole, a nice place to live, relaxing and polite.

What’s next for you?

My debut 12” on Freestyle records, “Wait A Minute” (with a Kraak & Smaak remix on the flip) is out now. I’m enjoying having a record out – the reviews have been good and the first pressing has sold out! Working on an album for them too, hopefully to be released next May if I get my act together. I’ll be putting a live bad together then to tour around the UK and possible Europe. I’m also busy doing remixes for various peeps to try and get my name as far and wide as possible. Shout if you’d like one!

Anything else you would like to add?

Check www.lackofafro.com for the latest…

In a crisis, what's the first thing you do?

Worry.

Does it work?

Generally no.

Most useful habit?

Cleaning and making lists (get that from me Mum).

Describe your creative process (how do you come up with something new)?

It varies – most of the time it revolves around a sample. I’ll find a sample I like, could be horns or keys, vocals or guitar, whatever really, then build around it, usually a bass line first, then build a beat, then whatever comes to mind after that. Sometimes I start with the beat and work up.
Other times I might be strumming on the guitar or playing the bass when I come across a riff that I like the sound of. I’ll lay it down and start building around that.

How you come up with an idea - give us the scenario. Do you have a certain place you go? Thing you do? Situation you try and create that always works? Ritual? Habit? Foodstuff?!

A cuppa tea, always! Have to have tea. And sometimes a biscuit. No particular place, it’s almost always usually the studio (which funnily enough also doubles as a bedroom). Start going through the samples, swear because I can’t find any. Find one eventually, when I can’t find something that goes with it I swear some more. Pick up the bass, swear because it’s way out of tune then start playing something. Computer then crashes. Swear again. Eventually music gets made..!

Describe your creative space

It’s my bedroom, with some guitars, a couple of keyboards, a record deck, lots of vinyl, some monitors and my laptop full of samples. I like to keep it nice and clean – I can’t start work until everything is neat and tidy. I’m a bit anal like that I’m afraid…

How would someone who watched you at work describe you?

That I swear a lot, work quite quickly, and drink a lot of tea.

What do you think is unique about the way you work?

Probably the fact that I can play a few instruments myself, instead of having to rely 100% on samples like a lot of other producers. It’s probably more rare than unique.

What's your favourite stage of your own personal creative process and why?

The moment that you know that the track’s gonna be a good one. You can be working on a tune all day and be convinced that it’s sounding good, but then you wake up the next day, have another listen and think otherwise. If you listen after 24hrs and you’re still happy with it, you know it’s worth carrying on with. Can be frustrating, but it’s a good test and it’s served me well so far.

Best advice you've ever been given? By who?  

My Gran always used to say “Press on!” I think that can be applied to all walks of life really, to just roll with the punches and just do your own thing, no matter what you come up against. Easier said than done sometimes, but it has to be done. There’s no other way.

And the worst? By who?

“You can’t make quality tracks without using Pro Tools.” One of my university lecturers tried to feed me that bullsh*t a while back. I don’t know any producers that use Pro-Tools in the scene of music I write in. It’s an impressive piece of kit no doubt, but it’s just not for me. And it costs a bomb because you have to buy all the Digidesign hardware that goes with it. There’s a lot of snobbery when it comes to recording equipment. I say just use whatever works for you.

What's the weirdest/most surprising thing that's ever motivated you?

Before I got signed to Freestyle, Flevans played “Wait A Minute” at The Big Chill and apparently it went off. To think over 500 people were getting down to a track that I produced in my bedroom really did it for me. It was all the encouragement I needed to keep writing.

What's your foolproof prescription for escaping a life-rut?

Press on!

Who was your biggest inspiration/hero during your formative years?

My parents who have supported me in whatever I’ve chosen to do, my Dad who has shared his record collection and enthusiasm for soul music with me. My Gran who taught me how to play the piano. My uncle Carl who showed me my fist beat on the drums. Ross Hillard (aka Magic Number) who taught me about funk music whilst at university.  Nowadays I always check Quantic’s releases without fail – he is the benchmark as far as I’m concerned.

How would you like to be remembered!

Just as someone who did his own thing, made people shake a leg and didn’t take his eyes off the prize!

What's something you're really really bad at?

DIY. Don’t ask me to put up a shelf – it could and probably would end in tears.

What is the best thing about living in your city?

I like the relaxed way of life down here – to me there’s nothing worse than rushing around 24/7, life’s too short for all that. On the flip side though, Exeter needs a decent club dedicated to funk and soul music. If I had the money…

Over the course of the past decade what pursuits have you been involved in?

I’m actively involved in Exeter’s top funk, hip-hop and soul night, “The Root Down”. It’s been 10 months now and it’s going strong.

Tell us something about your approach to life / work and what drives you?

I have a fiercely ambitious streak in me, and I like to think this is somehow reflected in my music and my whole approach to it. The music industry seems to be chock full of bullsh*tters, timewasters and jokers who fail to deliver on their promises and just tell you what you want to hear. I’ve got no time for those people and so I try and be as efficient and as honest as I possibly can be.

What has got you this far?

Perseverance and the ability to listen.

What keeps you going in tough times?

My friends and family.

What do you collect?

Original Herbie Hancock Blue Note LPs

Three favourite things to do?

Making music, spending time with family and friends and doin the bad thing!

Personal motto or mascot?

“By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail.” Good old Abe Lincoln, he knew the deal.

What gets you out of bed in the morning?

I’d like to say something inspirational like “The need to write great music”, but really it’s the fact that I need to go to work to pay the rent…

Which person do you think the world needs to know more about?

A-Ko, on Melting Pot records.

 

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Complete the following statements…

Boredom is...

a curse no-one should suffer from.

Inspiration is like...

a good thing, innit.

Success should never, ever...

make you lose focus.

Amazing ideas come from...

amazing minds.

Everyone can have what they want - they just have to...

realise that not everything comes easy.

The future exists to...

keep us guessing.

When all else fails...

have a cuppa tea (and maybe a biscuit).

We can learn a surprising amount from...

just listening.

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Websites to visit?

www.lackofafro.com
www.freestylerecords.co.uk
www.therootdown.co.uk
www.soulstrut.com

Top 5’s?

Drum breaks…

1. Rusty Bryant: “Fireater” (Prestige)
2. Eddie Bo: “Hook n Sling” (Scram)
3. Tony Avalon & The Bellairs: “Sexy Coffee Pot” (Atlantic)
4. The New Mastersounds: “Nervous” (Cooker)
5. Ray Bryant: “Up Above The Rock” (Cadet)
   

Shout outs?

My family, Heavy Stylus & Cass, James & Leena R-B, Justin North, Pinks, Frootful, Dan Lott, Lucy, Kat, Matt Taylor, Hold It Down, Onionheart, Flevans, Magic Number, Eddie Roberts, The New Mastersounds, Phil Martin, Short-e, Pieman, All @ Freestyle and last but certainly not least, Emma Griffiths!

What do you think of Deliberate?

I think it’s tops and I applaud y’all! And where can I get a pair of those Stan Smiths..? (note from editor - You wouldn't believe the number of people that have asked us that! Dassler Rebellion are on the case making customs for us! mmmm tasty!)