'Freak the Funk' is an extended re-recording of the interval mix I played at 2022's Hatherleigh Carnival between the two sets played by local indie rockers 'The Wreckords'. DJing after a band is always a challenge, especially if you're a hip hop DJ facing a crowd that have been whipped up into a frenzy by a band playing uptempo classic indie covers for the past hour. Unprepared and desperately flicking through my box looking for an accessible launch record, I pulled out Jimi Hendrix's 'Crosstown Traffic' and its sample borrowing UK cousin 'I'm Ready', before cutting into the Nas classic 'Hip Hop is Dead' and War's 'Me and Baby Brother'. From that point I was on a roll - working through a stack of raw 60s r&b and funk before breaking back into hip hop with 45 Live's release of the previously lost Outlaw Posse cut 'Living in Hackney', purely selected because after a few pints 'Hackney' sounds not too dissimilar to 'Hath'leigh', twisting the track into an unintentional rural anthem!

I've no doubt that the majority of the dancers would have preferred a straight-up indie rock set, but by the time I dropped Daytoner's Wiseguys-apeing 'Ooh Lalo' they were well and truly won over. And then the band came on again and smashed it out of the park.

Anyway, I'd been working on the bar all evening prior to my set and was a few pints in myself, so I couldn't recall exactly what else I played during the intermission, but this mix pretty much covers what I do remember. Although I'm pretty sure I dropped Back by Dope Demand, White Lines and Super Fly at some point, which didn't make it into this version. Recorded straight from the mixer in a single take for that authentic live vibe, raw and uncut, this is rock 'n' roll soul!

01 - Jimi Hendrix - Crosstown Traffic (Polydor)
02 - Caveman - I'm Ready (Profile)
03 - Nas - Hip Hop is Dead (Def Jam)
04 - War - Me and Baby Brother (Island)
05 - Billy Garner - Brand New Girl (BGP)
06 - Clarence Carter - Looking for a Fox (Atlantic)
07 - The Chosen Few - Funky Buttercup (Miami)
08 - James Brown - Mother Popcorn (King)
09 - Outlaw Posse - Living in Hackney (45 Live)
10 - 3rd Bass - Brooklyn Queens (Def Jam)
11 - Redhead Kingpin & The FBI - Do That Dance (HS Edit) (10 Records)
12 - Boca 45 - La Bombonera (High Noon)
13 - Freqnik & WDRE – Stamp Tramp (Friday's Funky 45)
14 - Melvin Sparks - Get Down With The Get Down (Rocafort)
15 - Boca 45 Vs Mohawkestra - The Bear Pit (Bomb Strikes)
16 - Ultimate Force - Tuf (So Damn Djar One Remix) (Beats House)
17 - Daytoner - Ooh Lalo (Friday's Funky 45)
18 - The Ballistic Brothers - Peckings (Junior Boy's Own)
19 - The Pioneers - I Need Your Sweet Inspiration (Justin Robertson Mix) (Trojan)

Freak The Funk

Heavy Stylus - Freak The Funk (2022)

Heavy Stylus: An explosive amalgamation of Jamaican roots, hip hop beats, heavy soul breaks and blaxploitation ghetto-funk.

I’ve been rocking funk/soul/beats/hiphop/roots for around 20 years in various bars and clubs across the South West, and have supported a wide range of acts and artists such including Jelly Jazz, Boca 45, Andy Smith, Quantic, Craig Charles, DJ Food, Bonobo, Gilles Peterson, Ugly Duckling and DJ Format.

Although I started as a vinyl-only DJ in Bristol, these days I use a pair of battle-scarred Pioneer CDJs as my weapons of choice. I’m currently a resident (of 11 years) at the Angel Bar on Queen Street, and in the past have held Exeter-based residencies at The Monkey Suit, Timepiece, Dr. Inks and Verve (now Urban Underground), as well as DJing regularly for Hold it Down.

For bookings / remix/edits and hook-ups contact James via DM here.

https://soundcloud.com/heavy-stylus
https://www.mixcloud.com/jamesmonkman/

(Oh, and in addition to rocking the ones-and-twos, James Monkman is also one half of Exeter-based independent videogame development studio RGCD.DEV, hence the goofy twitter tag).

Heavy Stylus - Freak The Funk (2022)

Heavy Stylus (Devon, UK)