Accomplished singer Andre Espeut is one of the most in demand voices in soul, latin fusion and house music as well as being the lead vocalist in bands such as Los Charly’s Orchestra, Afriquoi and Masterman. He’s sung Live for A listers including Princess Diana, Stella McCartney and Karl Lagerfeld as well as singing with Duran Duran and Terry Callier.
Andre’s songs have graced leading labels such as Defected, Tokyo Dawn, Bar de Lune, Raw Fusion, Ghetto Freaks and Imagenes and he has built an impressive catalogue working with a slew of top producers such as Faze Action, Spiritual South, Groove Assassin, Yam Who, Jon Kennedy, Sinbad and Positive Flow.
We catch up with his as his latest release “The Journey” is out now in its Extended Rework from Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel on Imagenes Recordings…
Hi Andre…sounds like you’ve got a busy summer going on having just played with Afriquoi at the Rainforest World Music Festival in Borneo, Malaysia, and you also jammed with the The Gipsy Kings there.Your latest release “The Journey” has just been released on Imagenes Recordings and how’s your year been so far and what have been the highlights?
This year’s highlights so far have been the releases including “Music For The Soul with Imagenes’ Juan Laya and Jorge Montiel, where I put a vocal onto an instrumental they had released previously. Also “Brand New Love”, a collab with good friend, Husky from Australia, and Martina Budde, and a slice of disco house on the Groove Culture label. “Find The World” on Large Music hit both the Traxsource and Beatport Deep House Top 10 chart and I think Ross Couch is lined up to remix. Lastly “Looking Glass” with Wipe The Needle on Makin Moves, which also made the Traxsource Top 10 and is currently being remixed by the amazing Beloved.
You’ve worked with Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel of Los Charly’s Orchestra and which you’re a key part of the group, and how did you guys come to work together
I met Jorge Montiel unexpectedly when I was about to have one of my first big breaks going on a South East Asian tour with Faze Action promoting the album ‘Broadsouls”, which was a Rotary Connection/psychedelic soul-styled project. They were looking for a guitarist and I was on the tube and had just lost my phone and heard this amazing guitarist busking, Yogan Naike. He’d played a few gigs with Urban Species and took my mind off losing my phone – lol 🙂 I took his number and even though he couldn’t do the gig we kept in touch. We met weeks later with his friend Jaal and ended up in a jam session in Wardour Street and that’s where I met Jorge and we hit it off straightaway.
Jorge introduced me to Juan and the 1st track we worked in together on was “It’s Got To Be Music” which got to #1 on Traxsource and was very well respected. From there we continued to create music but knowing we were always busy with our own projects when we got together, we always sensed a bit of magic. We were into similar music and understood what we wanted and each person contributed in a very exciting way.
And is there a special connection when you make music? What are your favourite songs that you and the guys have produced and what makes them stand out?
My favourite songs with Juan and Jorge…that’s a tough one as they’re quite different. I love the Quintet stuff, “Shake Your Body”, “Innermotion”, Sunshine” and “The Journey”. We’re blessed when we work.
You’re also about to play at Russell Brand’s Community Festival and are you aware of Russell and are you looking forward to playing here?
Friday 14th July I’ll be at the Community Festival with Russell Brand and my Afriquoi brothers and we’ve played there before. He’s a very nice chap and I echo his belief in communities as without them we can’t thrive.
You seem to be one of the busiest singers around right now with releases such as “You Gotta Move” YSE Remix by Situation; “Elevate Your Soul” Peter Brown Remix for Ear Funk; “Looking Glass” Sean McCabe Remix on Makin’ Moves and the remix of “Trust Me” by DJ Wheelup has been added to an apple music playlist (https://youtu.be/vcTCADURW0o), and how does it make you feel when there’s a great response to your work?
I love it when there’s a good reaction to my songs and people like different things which always surprises me. It’s never predictable and if it makes someone smile and move, then I’m happy.
I’m sure you’re working on new musical projects and can you tell us about what’s coming up and what you’re excited about?
There’s quite a few really nice things coming up, and here’s a snippet of what’s to come.
A 10 year special of ‘My Journey’ with Imagenes Recordings.
‘Good To Be Back’ single with King Bee on Ramrock Records coming out on July 31st and a re-imagined version of the house classic ‘Tears’ with Elbert Phillips.
https://www.traxsource.com/track/11243360/the-journey-juan-laya-and-jorge-montiel-extended-rework
Follow my Spotify as you’ll hear things there first…
Working in the music industry do you think things have changed and improved since you started and how has this impacted you?
My Caribbean, Ghanaian, French and Spanish origins give me my diverse taste in music and also in food too!
Originally from London did you have a first big break and how did that shape your musical journey?
The tour with Faze Action showed me the impact certain songs have on large audiences and made me very aware about writing songs that would move a crowd and understand more about what is needed and what is superfluous. That tour started at the Jazz Cafe in London then went to Singapore, Malaysia (MTV), Vietnam and ended at The Big Chill Festival Main Stage where my good friends from TI2tB (boat party) who play all the genres I love came & watched me. I’ve sung on their boat parties and at Glastonbury Festival and their events ever since.
Can you tell us about your earliest influences and inspirations whether it be family members, listening to music, friends, bands and singers, going to clubs…anything that helped propel you into the music scene?
I’ve always loved rare groove funk and disco as well as classical, afrobeat, jazz, house, dnb, Lovers Rock, quite a few genres. I appreciate the many styles people choose to express their stories.
My dad had a great record collection and I loved listening to his vinyl.
My first actual break you might consider is when my friend Sarah from college introduced me to Phil Fearon from Galaxy. Obviously I loved his music and was asked to do a demo of “Make That Move” and he said “Nice voice but come back when you develop your own style”. Some people would be turned off by that but for me it gave me the push and realisation I needed. I put in the work and years later I developed my own style. I spoke to him on the phone a while ago and he couldn’t remember when I said that he’d given me the push that I needed and he said ‘I’ll take that”.
Before that chat he didn’t realise that he was involved in a project with me, and loved what I recorded.
Do I have favourite producers to work with
Well that’s a tough one as there is so much talent out there. I believe there are different people for different songs. The ones that stretch, push me to bring out the best, if you listen through my tracks you will know exactly who they are. I can say Juan and Jorge are my brothers and that also makes all the difference.
There’s so much more to say, that’s all for now thanks for having me.
“The Journey” by Andre Espeut in its Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel Extended Rework is out now on Imagenes. Cat Nr IMAGENES139. Imagenes Recordings:
https://soundcloud.com/imagenes-co-uk
www.instagram.com/imagenes_recordings/
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