By Vasco Dega
UK soul/jazz singer-songwriter André Espeut, on his collaboration with legendary Japanese-New Zealand electronic producer / DJ / musician Mark de Clive-Lowe. Sparkling, modern jazz-meets-electronica summer jam, called Sunrays, and lifted from the forthcoming jazz-house compilation Global Sounds due 13th August via Boomerang Records.
What was the first album you bought?
Promised Land, Volume Two (various artists)
Who are some of your biggest musical inspirations and why?
Donny Hathaway amazing singer soul songwriter and also mentor to Stevie Wonder, Gils Scott heron for his thought-provoking lyrics, Marshall Jefferson and Frankie Knuckles for immersing me into iconic house music, Fela Kuti for the inspirational somewhat political journey through afro beats, LTJ Bukem for the uplifting drum n bass and Fred Locks for his positive/motivational lyrics from the “Black Star Liners” album
What are some non-musical inspirations that motivate your music?
Real-life experiences can be a great source for stories. I was working on a track during the 1st lockdown when my building got hit by lightning, this affected the content of my lyrics, and was very lucky to come out of it unscathed!
Tell us about your new single ‘Sunrays’ with Mark de Clive-Lowe?
This was the 1st time that we have worked together, this was set up by Hugh from boomerang records with Mark in LA and me in the UK, you would think the distance would be a problem, on the contrary, it was like we had been working for a while together as it he was so easy to work with him we seemed to understand each other creatively. Mark bounces really well of the top-line melodies with the music and arrangement
What have you got lined up the rest of the year (2021)?
For the rest of the year I have quite a few tracks being released including ‘Looking back’ with footshooter on boomerang records 30/7/2021 so to be fair to all the collaborators and not to miss anyone, just follow andre espeut on Spotify and you’ll find some releases from many genres from house/disco/funk and afrobeat and beyond- Thank you so much for reaching out to me for this interview I hope you enjoy the Sunray track.
©FM
