Brian Power

Hi Brian, welcome to DMCWORLD! Where are you in the world right now?

I’m in good old London Town.

What’s the best new record you’ve heard this week?

Lorenz Rhode ‘And I Said’ (Original Mix).

Can you tell us about your background in music and what turned you on to Djing?

I was a promoter in the early Nineties and loved House music from around 86/87, I was there at the beginning. I started to play vinyl at the age of 50 as a hobby to de-stress from my various business activities. Then a friend then suggested I played out with him at a small intimate venue in Brick Lane and things just took off from there.

How would you describe your sound?

Soulful sentiments with an uplifting feeling.

You’ve been DJing for a while now, but you’re a very late starter when it comes to production, what fuelled your decision to finally jump into the studio and create music?

I always wanted to do a House version of Jeffery Osborne’s “I Really Don’t Need No Light”, so I did and the track surprisingly blew up and I ended up meeting some great people because of it including Steve Ripley, Mike Patto and Toni Economides. It was then suggested I should make a remix of a Roachford track which also received a lot of attention. Things have just progressed from there, building a great team around me and writing songs from scratch. It’s been a really fun journey so far.

Who or what inspires your music?

TALENTED PEOPLE! Being around gifted people lifts my soul and inspired me to create.

You also run your own record label, ‘Soulhouse Records’, how’s that going and which artists should we be on the look out for?

It is very exciting for us at Soulhouse HQ at the moment. We are currently working with Kathy Kosins, Soulful Emma Louise, Marc Evans, Mike Delgado, Ronnie Herel, Hanlei, Shiv, Shaun Wright Phillips and we have our sights on some more, still yet to be signed.

Your wonderful debut album ‘Soulhouse Vol. 1’ is coming soon, what can we expect to hear?

Lot’s of Soulful goodness across the spectrum, brilliant, heartfelt vocal performances and high quality musicianship – I’m lucky to have worked with a great bunch of talented people on the album and over all I’m so pleased with how it came out and we’ve had some really positive feedback.

Which is your favourite track from the album and why?

‘Amber’ which features Lifford on vocals, as this was written from personal experience. Lifford did a great job with the song and when I play the track out and see the crowd dancing and singing out loud it really humbles me.

The album features a lot of collaborations with various singers including Marc Evans, Lifford and Michelle John from The Voice, among many. How did you go about selecting the artists you wanted to work with and are you happy with the results?

I work instinctively and very organically. Lifford was a good example, I knew I could get a great vocal track with him and the results of our collaborations are 2 stunning tracks, ‘Amber’ and ‘Time After Time’. When making a track sometimes something inside me clicks and feels appropriate for a particular artist, I then approach them.

So who else would you love to collaborate with in the future?

I’d love to work with Ann Nesby, Kenny Dope, Omar, Jaheim, Pink and Rihanna.

Will there be any single releases from the album with remixes you can tell us about?

We’ve loved working with Spen, Richard Earnshaw, Eric Kupper, Klevakeys, Mike Delgado, Booker T, Switcher and N’Dinga Gaba on some of our releases already, including those that appear on the album. At the moment myself and the team are very busy in the studio and we have not really thought about specific remixes for the new songs on the album yet, though I’m sure we will in the near future.

Any plans to take the album out on tour as a live show?

Yes indeed! We have a full live band in the making called SoulHouse Connexion with Mike Patto on Keys, Ernie McKone on Bass, Luca Farone on Guitar, Nick Van Gelder on drums, Toni Economides on beats, myself on Triangle (haha!) and we plan to get out there for a series of live shows this year featuring all the SoulHouse Family Artists (if we ever get out the studio).

What are your favourite bits of studio kit?

The Rhodes and Whurly, I’m a piano man at heart.

How important are songs for our dance floors?

My wife Surjit suggested when I first started to “get the ladies singing and dancing and the men will follow”,  I took Surjit’s advice and it seems to have worked pretty well so far!

You also host a radio show on http://www.Mi-Soul.com tell us about your show, the events and various things you’re involved with there?

I have a regular monthly show the first Saturday of the month on mi-soul 9-11 pm “The SoulHouse Radio Show”   –  I play mainly uplifting Soulful House with a little bit of Deep, Tech and occasional Nu Disco etc. I recently played the main Room in Ministry Of Sound at Mi-Soul’s Xmas party and that was a real buzz. This year we have the Mi-Soul takeover at the Liverpool Disco Festival on 31 March, the Mi-Soul tent at the Southport Weekender Festival 9th June at Finsbury Park, then Margate Soul Festival 3rd-5th of August in the House Room. Then our big one MI-BIZA on the 27th September for 5 days at the Ibiza Rocks Hotel with all the Mi-Soul DJ’s. We’ve plenty more we’re currently confirming, but you can keep up to date with our gigs at http://soulhousemusic.com/

We come to your house and raid your record collection, which embarrassing record do you need to chuck out the window as we arrive?

I’m struggling with this question a bit as I only have music that I love, whatever the genre. I may surprise some people as I love Classical, Country & Western and I’m partial to a bit of Opera.

Which record makes you say “Damn, I wish I’d made that”?

MAW feat India ‘To Be In Love’.

What are you most looking forward to in 2018?

I currently spend 2 days a week in the studio producing tracks. The way things are going I may get to spend 5 days a week in the studio doing what I love, which is meeting creatives and producing quality music with like minded people. My mantra before we walk into the studio is “Leave your ego at the door otherwise you are not welcome”. Lots of exciting new music projects are in the pipeline from us, keep your eyes and ears peeled!

Brian Power presents ‘Soulhouse Vol.1’ will be released on February 2nd 2018 on Soulhouse Music

http://www.soulhousemusic.com/