Guille Katorzi is a Brazilian musician, DJ, and producer based in Bogotá, Colombia. He started his musical career playing bass in an MTV award-winning indie rock band in São Paulo in the early 2000’s, before moving to the Philippines for three years, playing the guitar in a local hip-hop group and DJing as ‘Funky Jesus’. Establishing himself in Bogotá in 2018 with a desire to connect deeper with Latin and electronic music scenes, Katorzi brought his trademark groovy swagger to parties across the city playing classic 70’s funk and dancefloor-driven Brazilian and Afro disco. In late 2020, Katorzi signed a long-term record deal with Norway’s PuzzleProjectsMusic, with popular tracks ‘Skidum’ and ‘Take The Heat’, inspired by lesser-known Brazilian music, creating disco cuts infused with African and Latin percussion. As his hot new release, ‘The Funk Is Real’ drops on the label this week, DMCWorld go back to Mine with Katorzi.
Black Gold – C’mon Stop – Prelude Records
I just absolutely love this song, such a hypnotic funky groove. It was definitely an inspiration when I was piecing together the sound design for my ‘The Funk Is Real EP’.
Katorzi – Funk Machine – PuzzleProjectsMusic
I’m not really into playing my own music in the afters, but sometimes you gotta do it, otherwise when will people listen to it?
So… the spoiler here, or the insight, is that the little rap I made in this song was, by all means, inspired by the little rap of the above song!
Cassiano – Onda (Poolside & Fatnotronic Edit) – Chit Chat Records
A timeless piece of Brazilian soul music, Onda means ‘wave’ in Portuguese, and that’s what you’ve got here. Close your eyes and picture yourself on a Brazilian beach, chilling blissfully with a caipirinha cocktail, a warm breeze hitting your face and the waves as the soundtrack…
Seu Jorge – Everybody Loves The Sunshine – NPR Tiny Desk
Following the beach vibes from the previous track, here we have another staple of Brazilian music doing a live version of a Roy Ayers classic.
Gladys Knight & The Pips – It’s A Better Than Good Time (Walter Gibbons Mix) – BBE (reissue)
This for me is a true masterpiece, and a bonding song with my mate Johnny, it used to be the last song we would play after some very long and drunken nights during the 2020 lockdown, and now part of the after hours for those still standing.
Hotline – Can You Do It? – Soundway Records (Reissue)
Oh, how I love this record! It’s a super cool 80s boogie treasure from Nigeria. It’s quite hard to fit this in a party dj set though, I always feel people won’t get it; which is fine, because it will always have a place when I’m showing off my vinyl collection at home.
Bootsy Collins – What’s a Telephone Bill – Warner
As a bass player and devoted funkateer, how can I not love the genius of Bootsy!? Hard to choose one, but ‘Telephone Bill’ is one of my top favourites. Besides the sick super slow groove, the lyrics are rather unusual for modern times… like who worries about a telephone bill in the age of whatsapp?
Emmanuel – La Chica De Humo – CBS
‘My Smoke Girl’ by the Mexican pop legend. Slightly cheesy? Maybe. But what a groove! Top-shelf 1989 production, full of synths, strings, and all the extravaganza of the time. Sure-shot tune to go wild and wish you had a mullet and an oversized blazer jacket.
Sumy – Funkin’ In Your Mind – Universal Music
Infectious funky grooves, that’s what I like, if it wasn’t clear by now. This one ‘wowed’ me completely at a first listen. It could last 30 minutes longer and I’d be hooked on it all the way through.
Bettye Lavette – Let Me Down Easy – Calla Records
I’m a big lover of soul music, and honestly that’s the genre I most want to listen to after a long night of clubbing. Here we have what’s probably an underrated act, the original is from 1965, but this is my favourite rendition, from 1990.
‘The Funk Is Real’ EP will be released on Traxsource promo November 11th / Full release November 25th 2022 on PuzzleProjectsMusic.
