One of House Music’s personalities that has always remained true to his style, form and passion is Robsoul boss Phil Weeks. Robsoul has been going strong for 11 years, and Phil has never compromised his vision for what House music should be. The label has released a jaw-dropping collection of hits from an equally impressive artist list, and despite the industry's transition to digital, Phil still presses up wax for each record.
He dropped his first solo album "Love Affair" earlier this year, which received critical acclaim across the map, and the album was almost entirely recorded on his trusty MPC sampler. The first set of remixes of his chart topping single "All Day Every Day" dropped exclusively at Stompy this week, and includes interpretations from Sonny Fodera, Joss Moog and Chris Simmonds.
Stompy - The album you dropped this year, "Love Affair' was touted as being done solely on the MPC. What is it about the MPC that you love so much?
Phil - The more I work on it the more I love it. It's gonna be hard for me to ever change on something else, as it's just what I need to do the music and sound I have in mind. So fun to work with, exciting! And no need to tell about the quality of this Beast.
Stompy - So was there any digital production elements used for the album at all, or was it analogue the entire process?
Phil - Everything in my album is samples, except maybe the bass line on “Pimpnosis” that I played using a VST (no idea which one, not important) and maybe some SH09 efx. My main material is the sample.
Stompy - You've embraced Web 2.0 technology with videos in your studio, polls on your social networks and many various types of multimedia promotions which allows your fans a behind the scenes peek into your world. Do you feel that being in the spotlight adds pressure to open up to strangers?
Phil - It’s true, I do a lot more promotion (I used to do nothing) and open myself with videos and all.
I don’t feel any pressure to do it, just something I love to do now. I was really late to start on Facebook, one of the last…and now I love it…It all came from that I think.
(www.facebook.com/philweeksmusic )
Soon will start “Underground Chronicles” on my YouTube channel, where I will talk about what I’ve been up to in the studio and more.
(www.youtube.com/UPROCK3000 )
Stompy - Your partner-in-crime Hector Moralez recently moved to France so you guys can hit it hard in the studio together.
Is there a different energy in the studio now that Hector is there and you know that he can always come back the next day?
Phil - Honestly, we still work the same way, we usually are pretty productive with a time pressure.
We love to do music together, it’s always happy times. For now, we just remixed “Take A Trip”. A classic Fries & Bridges Ghetto Mix.
Stompy - The two of you have been pushing your 'We the Brand' agency this year--can you give people some insight into the concept?
Phil - “We The Brand” came from Hector and I--we just wanted to make a nice t-shirt.
We now turned it more into a concept, to match our lifestyle & music.
The agency side of “We The Brand” is to have 100% focus on everything we do.
The website should be fully ready by next week, definitely before our “We The Brand” party in London on June 3rd with Fries & Bridges & Chris Simmonds, the first of more “We The Brand” hosted events to come.
Stompy - Robsoul has been going strong for over 10 years now. How has the label changed since 2000 when it was launched?
Phil - I started Robsoul as me as the only artist, and now some main House players’ names are associated with Robsoul.
Straight up House Music in a large way since the beginning. The label grew up but nothing has really changed.
The market totally changed, vinyl used to be the main thing now at its lowest.
But we’re still pressing records for every single release.
Stompy - You recently licensed Gemini's works from Cyclo with the "Tribute EP'. What was the motivation behind re-releasing the originals instead of licensing them for a remix?
Phil - For me it’s all about music.
I was playing a lot of Gemini’s tracks recently and people where always freaking out in the club (Where Do I Go, Swimming With The Sharks, In My Head, How Can I, to name a few). And most of them didn’t know any of those cuts, so I called Philippe @ Cyclo (a good friend) and we made it happen.
He doesn’t have any parts for it and even if I had, I prefer to keep it as a tribute for Gemini and his OG sound.
Stompy - Are there any other old releases that you want to introduce using Robsoul?
Phil - Yes we’re working on another project with Cyclo. Nothing decided fully yet so
I can’t tell you more;))
Stompy - What was the first song that got you interested in House music?
Phil - I can’t remember, I think I was listening to House Music before I knew it was called “House Music”
Stompy - What's your favorite pair of shoes?
Phil - Nike Air Force 1
Stompy - What did you do after your last gig?
Phil - I was playing in Paris, a little high and came back home to do some beats.
Stompy - What's your most prized possession?
Phil -
Material things: My dope apartment, my classic car, and my MPC Limited Edition
Overall: My Family & Friends
Stompy - Joint, Bong, Spliff or Pipe?
Phil -
Joint for Weed
Pipe for Hash
No Spliff
Whatever you want, I smoke like a chimney.
Just no tobacco.
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