About this Playlist
Where To Start With Flevans on Spotify
Flevans announces his comeback with a bang and two killer tracks from his forthcoming 5th studio album, Part Time Millionaire.
Yes, the hugely talented producer with a scholarly knowledge of all things soul, funk, beats and breaks is back. Having cut his teeth on Brightons Tru Thoughts Records before teaming up with Lack of Afro (LOA Records) for his last album, he has finally arrived at his spiritual home of Jalapeno Records
Long considered part of the extended family he’s previously contributed mixes for label compilations and remixes for other Jalapeno artists over the years. It was absolutely the perfect time to come correct with some brand spanking new originals for this partnership made in funk heaven.
Leading the way is ‘Who’s Got Me’ – an up tempo disco/boogie cut with more slap bass than a clone army of Larry Grahams… It’s a tasty dancefloor number with a BIG top line from none other than Laura Vane (MJ Cole, Gnarls Barkley, Laura Vane and the Vipertones) who absolutely owns the vocal duties as anyone who is familiar with her work would expect, Art of Tones featured the later remix from Art of Tones
Over on the other side we have more classic-sounding Flevans material with the party starting funk breaks of Take Your Money His signature jazzy keyboard and guitar licks converse with cheeky vocal samples all flying in and out of this slick production in a delightful fashion. It’s all about the beats on this one – it’s a guaranteed foot mover!
The Hoof caught up with Flevans for a short interview back in 2019
With the release of the new LP this month will you promote it with a tour and if so will this be as just as a DJ or with a live act like many soul and funk artist’s that were once only studio based, we’ve recently featured both The Allergies and Daytoner here and both are now supporting their music with a live band.
I plan on supporting the release both with a live band and as a DJ
What we do at Musicto is very much based on promoting the playlists we create using a variety of streaming sites, what are your thoughts on the changes to the music industry because of the upward trend in streaming, is it a necessary evil or can you see positives for artists and users.
That’s a tricky question. Streaming gives access to everybody but typically does not reward artists well and I think devalues the concept of an ‘album’ (ie the importance of the whole album, artwork etc) – but you have to keep up with where music is going so we have to embrace it.
I have to admit I’m guilty of not appreciating albums anymore, I’ve probably listened to handful in the last year, I tend to break the songs down into playlists but then again I used to do this with records, then CD’s and downloads that I bought years ago, always making them into mixtapes, I suppose the choice that people now have due to easy access to millions of songs has changed their listening behavior and possibly even how they interact with that music.
I’ve always loved the idea of an LP and always work towards a coherent idea that works from start to finish. I guess it’s becoming an old fashioned approach but still remains the main focus of my music writing. When I first released vinyl on Tru Thoughts, it would sell out because people loved the label and wanted to really explore music. No social media or promotion companies!!
Working with artist’s recently I’m surprised how much they have to get involved with the social side, doing their own promotion, updating artist pages on sites from Bandcamp to the streaming services, a lot of work that once would have been done by a record label is now expected from the artist. Your new label Jalapeño seem to do more than others with artist promotion, I’m guessing that’s a big help so you can focus your time elsewhere.
Yeah, all good points mate. I’m lucky that Jalapeno are very proactive but it’s still a huge amount of work (I do most of the socials / Spotify stuff myself as well inc content and videos etc) – and I think unfortunately this is why Spotify makes it harder for a lot of artists – people want everything immediately and for little or no money, and the only way to really keep forward is to provide almost endless content, mainly for free! I don’t mind it of course, but my love is writing music and I’d be getting so much more of that done if I could!!
But, I’m lucky to still be involved after all these years and just happy that at least a few people are getting to hear my music, so it’s all good really!!