Gadigal Land/Sydney & Boorloo/Perth-based Grits N Gravy has, for over half a decade, been responsible for a series of funky, fun and intentional releases from Australia and abroad.

Their latest sees a mix of Australian, Aotearoa/New Zealand, UK & Ibiza, in the form of ‘You’. The original track, premiered today via Mixmag ANZ, features Mr Doris & label-head D-Funk pairing up with vocalist Cantaloop, with remixes by Dazzla and DiCE_NZ.

Of the track, the artists shared:

Mr Doris - “We got the funk! D-Funk and I went down a 4x4 groove with this while keeping as close to a live sound as we could. Keeping things solidly in the southern hemisphere, we got Australia’s own DaZZla and NZ’s finest Dice on remix duties.”

D-Funk: “Whilst Mr Doris was down here in Sydney, we took the rare opportunity to get in the studio together physically. We usually work remotely with him being based in Ibiza & now London. The funk was flowing strong on this project, as it generally does when we produce together. Dannie from Cantaloop's sultry vocals give the track such a soulful vibe, with the live instruments making up the backbone of the track. We wanted it to sound as organic as possible & I think we nailed it!”

‘You’ releases officially on Friday, June 13.

PREMIERE: Mr Doris & D-Funk feat. Cantaloop - 'You' (Original Version)

Down under(ground).

Operating primarily from unceded Gadigal land.

Me... grew up in the UK. Born in Bath, studied in Leeds, worked in London and partied hard pretty much everywhere! 

Now live in Perth, Western Australia with my wife and two beautiful kids. Play a few gigs here and there, but mostly just in it for the love of damn good funky music.

Sydney-based, British born DJ, D-Funk has amassed a fair few achievements in his 25-years on the decks. Making his club debut at The Depot in Bristol in 1995, he’s gone on to DJ all over the world, playing notable sets at Space Ibiza and Ministry Of Sound and released on labels including Sunday Best and Bombstrikes. 

Getting his first set of decks at 14, Doug initially fell for the sounds of jungle and techno before a night dancing to house icon Tony De Vit in 1997 turned him towards the slinkier sounds of house music. 

His DJ career began to take off during his time at university in Wolverhampton where he started to pick up gigs at the Canal Club and Mezzanine, playing alongside DJs including Joey Negro, Mr Fingers, Scott Bond and Lisa Lashes, before a move to the South-Coast town of Bournemouth led him to eventually start his own night ‘Break Da House’ in 2004. 

The night took off, attracting big names including The Stanton Warriors and Plump DJs and eventually led to D-Funk’s first release, the ‘Electrotek’ EP after Dub Pistols headlined one night and Barry Ashworth from the band decided to release Doug’s music on his Westway label. The track found its way onto a TV ad in Portugal, as well as becoming a mainstay on Kiss FM’s breakbeat chart and gave Doug the confidence to pursue a career as a producer as well as a DJ, eventually leading to releases on Adapted Records and Ghetto Funk among countless other labels over the next 15 years. 

Moving to Sydney Australia in 2009, Doug started his label Upstart Music, releasing his own productions alongside tracks from the likes of Crackerz & Jam, Niko & Lyall and Rogue Robot and later started the funk label Grits N Gravy alongside friend and funk producer Philly Blunt, with the label winning the ‘Best Label’ award at Perth Dance Music Awards in 2010. 

Since living in Sydney, Doug has held down residencies at The World Bar and The Standard/Middlebar for the best part of a decade, as well as regular slots at Sash, Ivy, Goros, Hugos and many others. He’s played events for high profile companies such as Blackberry, Telstra, Jagermeister,  Sydney Cricket Ground & Saatchi & Saatchi. But there was still demand for him back on the side of the world and he regularly returned to Europe to play at Space Ibiza (including a set at the penultimate night of Carl Cox’s Revolution party) as well as touring in the UK, Europe, Asia and Canada. 

Now 25 years into his career, Doug is about to mark the 10th anniversary of his label Grits ‘N’ Gravy, with a compilation due this year mixed by himself and Philly Blunt, and has been busy producing house, hip hop and nu-disco with his current production partner Mr Doris.

Website: http://www.dfunk.com.au
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dfunkbreaks
Insta: https://www.instagram/dfunkbreaks
Bandcamp: https://d-funk.bandcamp.com/music
Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/6ZUH9yUJI74EASFVjviNVg

PREMIERE: Mr Doris & D-Funk feat. Cantaloop - 'You' (Original Version)

Mixmag Australia / NZ