Operating from London’s musical underground since the ’90s, Stephen Slade has built a trusted reputation as a producer of floor filling and forward looking underground house and techno. He is best known for his Infinity Plus One output, where he draws inspiration from his love of Detroit techno and intricate analogue textures carefully fused with spoken words and thought provoking vocals. Stand out releases include “Struggle is a Constant” (MOLAR Berlin), “Edge of Dread” (Drenched and subsequently re-released on Arpanet) and “Context is Broken” (Jimpster’s Cyphon Recordings imprint). His latest “Reflexion EP” has seen strong support from Moxie, Laurent Garnier, Osunlade, Jorge Caiado, Colin Dale, DJ Rocca and Physical Therapy.
As Mood Therapy Stephen reflects a more soulful and jazz- influenced sound and his new release “Wish The World A Miracle’ resonates hugely in these troubled times. We catch up with Stephen as the record is released this Friday.
Hey Stephen it’s great to catch up with you with your new “Moody Therapy EP” released this week on JuJu Muzik. Can you tell us about the music you make and your sound and how you came to make this EP?
My Mood Therapy alias is a name I’ve used over the years to represent my love of funky and melodic house music combined with vocals that tell a story or carry a message. I started writing “Wish the World a Miracle” around 2023, partly in response to reading and watching news reports showing the horrific invasion of Ukraine and it must have taken me the best part of a year to finish the entire song and then produce the music to accompany it. I love writing songs and working with vocalists but its a very slow process!
It’s an ode to the world and what influenced you to go deeper on this release?
I’ve always especially loved the spiritual elements in House music and also its gospel influences. Songs like “Promised Land” by Joe Smooth, “Reachin” by Blaze and “Someday” by CeCe Rogers capture the optimism of House music which I think is a key part of its ethos.
As well as your deep house releases as Mood Therapy which have seen you produce for Genial, R2 and Millennium Jazz, you also produce techno as Infinity One. Can you tell us about your biggest releases and how they impacted your musical journey.
“Struggle is a Constant” was an important release for me as it had been lying dormant for about 15 years until it got picked up a Berlin based label called Molar. I had taken a break from producing but they managed to track me down as they had heard it on a mix I did around 2005 and we agreed to release it on vinyl as part of an EP with another 3 unreleased tracks from my archives. I was blown away by the response that track got – it was crazy and lead to loads of enquiries from other labels. It gave me the motivation I needed to get back in the studio and start producing music again.
Do you have a favourite release in your catalogue and what makes it so special?
I have a love/hate relationship with my music most of the time! I can think something is amazing for a few days and turn 360 on it and detest it 🙂 I try and always learn something or salvage an element from those tracks though and as long I enjoy the process it’s never time wasted. I am especially proud of my last Cyphon release though, ”Stand for Love” (and it still sounds ok:-)
How and when did you start making music and what inspired you to start producing?
Unfortunately I had no formal music training but I used to take tapes of my favourite Piano house tracks to my wonderful music teacher who would spend time teaching me the chord progressions. Tracks like Soft House Company’s “What You Need” and “A Little Piano” or FPI Project’s classic “Rich In Paradise”. I used to “look after” my school’s Juno 60 and D50 machines and other bits and pieces over the holidays (things were much more informal then!) and gradually worked out how to program sounds and lay tracks down on a multi-track. I thenstarted collaborating with other like-minded people in my area and that’s when I hooked up with DnB collective, The Architex.
How did you first get into the house/techno scene and can you tell us about the early days of the scene as you experienced it and your favourite raves/events ?
I wasn’t lucky enough to go raving in 88 or 89 but I was avidly listening to pirate radio stations back then, which to me sounded like another world. I remember the adverts being especially entertaining for all those little regular clubs that ran every weekend throughout London. There were so many pirate stations back then and I especially remember Friends FM and Fantasy being two of my favourites. Fantasy at the time had an incredible roster of DJs that would go on to do massive things, including DJ Hype, Sarah HB and DJ Rap. My friends and I attended quite a few London-based events around 90/91, especially at Brixton Academy and then ventured further afield making amazing memories along the way.
2025 sees you ramp up the releases and what’s coming up for you?
I am currently working on a very exciting Infinity Plus One project for a special label and I’ve also been collaborating again with The Architex. There’s also an Infinity Plus One album I’m working on in between other projects.
Mood Therapy releases “Wish The World A Miracle” on JuJu Muzik on Friday June 27th.
