Several years ago when Sydney’s Katalyst – aka Ashley Anderson, an already esteemed funk, soul and hip-hop producer extraordinaire – dropped his second artist album What’s Happening, the lead track How Bout Us featured a rather soulfully-charged collaboration with the UK’s Steve Spacek. He was a vocalist who’d already taken massive musical steps in his home country, hailed by the likes of Gilles Peterson as “the voice of modern soul,” and it was a partnership that just seemed to work. Steve was often on the road with Ashley while he was touring What’s Happening, and from there they continued to write music until it became pretty clear the collaborations were worthy of a project all of their own. Hence, SPACE INVADAS was born.
Steve’s profile has largely come from his groundbreaking work with future-soul collective the Spacek Sound System since 2001 (alongside several other members who also adopted the Spacek surname for the sake of a little musical enigma). However, he’s made a permanent relocation to Oz and is now settled in Bondi with his wife and two kids. Ashley says Soul-Fi was something that gradually came together over the process of a whole year, off the back of some initially informal studio sessions with the pair. “It was super simple really. Just hook up with Steve, head to the studio, play him a bunch of ideas I’d been working on, or even some older beats that I could hear him on. We’d get in the zone, he’d vibe on some of the beats and then get down to writing on it.”
Steve’s work with Spacek Sound System won acclaim particularly because of their forward-thinking approach to the soul genre, fusing elements of trip-hop and downbeat electronica into the mix, and this carried over to Space Invadas. ‘Soul’ might be its defining musical focus, but what’s most captivating is the futuristic rubdown Katalyst has given his already super-honed production. The space age sonics are far more prevalent than in anything he’s done in the past, and the live instrumentation and Steve’s sublime vocal harmonies play beautifully off the assorted bleeps, synths and spacey soundscapes.
Ashley says his choice of collaborators definitely had an impact on this choice of direction. “Steve’s solo music has always been quite futuristic, and he’s been great to work with in terms of being open and experimental. So I guess it was always going to be an influence on the outcome of the album – both sonically and stylistically,” he says. “It was also a conscious decision to give the soul a modern edge because we wanted to make it relevant to what’s happening musically today. It ended up being kind of a natural direction for us, as there are so many influences out there and the boundaries are so blurred that it’s only natural. The possibilities are endless, and that’s always cause for excitement.”
Space Invadas are a part of the insanely awesome Groovin’ The Moo festival, held at the UC on Sunday May 9. Tickets through Moshtix.
