For several years. many have wondered.what is the Soul of Man?
Crusades from across the world have journeyed to Finger Lickin' HQ to find the answer.
Armies of ravers have joined forces to dance and discover the meaning.
Phones have rung off the hook with prudent inquisition and still.no one
really knows. What we do know about Soul of Man is that it's made up of
mercurial mekon Justin Rushmore and creative catalyst Jem Panufnik. Together
they are the force behind the label.
On a scale of one to James Brown, Soul of Man hovers somewhere around
Brown's tight pants and his frilly shirt. Yes, Soul of Man are the fireworks
of the party, they are the sound of a popping cork on a bottle of Bollinger,
they are the Acid Punch. Ladies love'em, men wanna be them. And everyone
wants to do a dirty waltz with Justin and Jem when they're working their
magic behind the decks.
Starting out with their successful debut mix album "Breakthru Vol. 1" in '98
Soul of Man jumped over the millennium with plenty more where that came
from. They went on to mix and release the compilations "Finger Lickin' Thang
1" and "Finger Lickin' Thang 2" showcasing their minty fresh mixing and
featuring the best of the label's releases as well as remixes of the
original tracks by some of breakbeat's finest. After that they compiled and
mixed React's "21st Century Breaks" under the appropriately named "Funk'd Up
Mix" further cementing their reputation for the funkier side of breaks.
Soul of Man have blown sound systems apart with their outstanding releases
on Finger Lickin'; from the label's first release ' Love & Hate' (Championed
by Adam Freeland), 'Between the Eyes' (loved by Sir Fat Boy et al), 'The
Serendipity EP', the carnivorous 'Killa Brew', filthy house-breaks
cross-over 'Dirty Waltzer'', to their most tribal excursion 'The Drum'
(cited by Seb Fontaine as "possibly the best progressive breaks track
ever!"), they are all killers. Under the Soul of Man guise they have been
charged with fantastic felonies that would make Al Capone green with envy.
On the side Soul of Man have also recorded a track for the Bristol-based
Blowpop label entitled 'Hotdoggin', as well as a cameo under the pseudonym
Solomon Funk for Freddy Fresh's Howlin' banner called 'Rock Me Again'. Radio
One's Mary Ann Hobbs couldn't get enough and made it number one in her
chart!
To stuff the masses with even more soul food and meatball beats Soul of Man
went on roast a special 30 minute goulash in 2000 entitled "Finger Lickin's
Summer Daze" for The Guardian newspaper for their Glastonbury Festival
supplement, with over 300,000 CDs making their way into the nation's lucky
homes. Together Justin and Jem have also synchronized watches to create more
than an incredible 20 remixes for artists including James Taylor Quartet,
Fluke, Jacknife Lee and Dreadzone. They have recently completed remixes for
the Dub Pistols and Doug Lazy's infamous hip-house classic 'Let It Roll'.
Whilst Justin is responsible for overseeing the running of the label, Jem is
responsible for all the label's distinctive artwork - keepin' it truly
inhouse. Weekends for the duo include a soiree of DJing and more DJing,
ventures from Poland to Holland, Spain to USA, Japan to Hungary and on.
Having a passion for the great outdoors they have played festivals from
Essential (Bristol), Sonar (Barcelona), Exit (Serbia), Glastonbury, Ashton
Court (Bristol) to the Big Chill (Eastnor Castle), Shambhala (Canada),
Breakfest and Field Day in Australia. Soul of Man's frequent escapades into
the Southern Hemisphere have also won them massive support from the Aussies,
leading to regular wild jaunts to the land down under. Reaching fever pitch
in July 2003, with a total sell-out solo tour covering seven towns and
cities in an exhausting nine days, their headline "Winter Break" gig at the
1500-capacity Metro in Sydney was Fuzzy's fastest-selling gig since Field
Day.
2004 sees Soul of Man very much out and about gigging as well as in the
studio polishing off new tracks, developing the house-breaking sound the
pair have pioneered for their upcoming, highly anticipated and much-talked
about debut album. In the meantime their fearsome tracks continue to find
themselves on a multitude of major compilations, such as Tayo's Y4K, both DJ
Hyper Bedrock compilations, Steve Lawler's "Turn The Lights Out", James
Lavelle's "Global Underground", Plump DJs' "FabricLive", Krafty Kuts' "Fuzzy
Breaks", Meat Katie's "Destination Australia", Lee Coombs' "Perfecto Breaks"
and Fatboy Slim's "Ministry Anthems" to name but a few. So what ever you
do, keep your eyes open and bodily functions functioning to check for Soul
of Man DJ dates and plates. These here fingers make up the hand that rocks
the electrifying party.
Club Stalker, Haarlem