01Profile
A The Brand New Heavies Photo
The Brand New Heavies
Musician — London
03Interview
Name, where are you from?
Sy Bartholomew - London
Describe your style in three words?
Funky, Feeling, Gritteeh.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
I use to go to this place on Great Portland Street called the Mary Magdalene Church, and in the crypt of that church, they had this jazz night, and this is like the late '80s. There would be people like John Stevens playing this avant-grade jazz kinda thing that was getting big in London at the time, it was a precursor to rare groove and the funky thing. I went down there one night and Courtney Pine was playing with Mark Mondesir on drums and Juilan Joseph on piano. He did circular breathing where you can just play and play, breathing in through your nose, like playing the didgeridoo. My jaw was open for an hour. Like seeing John Coltrane for the first time or something - it blew my socks off. I went home and did a drawing of it because I was at art college at the time. Very memorable indeed.
If you could be on the line up with any two bands in history?
That's a double-edged sword coz your gonna blown away by your favourite bands, but, Jimi Hendrix, just so I could see him from the wings and to keep it funky, maybe George Clinton coming out of the Mothership or Earth, Wind & Fire. Maybe George, Wind And Fire Clinton?
Which Subcultures have influenced you?
When I was eleven or twelve, the reason I started playing guitar in the '70s - was I was really into rock'n'roll. There was one show on Capital FM called Cruisin' that I would record on my cassette deck. In middle school, I was brylcreeming my hair every day, luminous socks and creepers. Then, later on, I got into ska and stuff and the Two-Tone thing. I got my ticket stolen outside a Madness gig. The Rudeboy look was a bit of thing as well. Fred Perrys, Sta Pressed and loafers. Then I went through my hippy thing, exploring the mind, and grew my hair a bit. Then there was the funky thing and Acid Jazz - which I was part of - finally.
Wop babaloo bop a wop bam boo - John Lennon said that when he heard 'Tutti Frutti' the world changed from Black and White to colour.
If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
I'd love to play with Hendrix, to play some funky beats behind him. Check out the Last Poets 'It's a Trip'.
Of all the venues you’ve been to, which is your favourite?
La Cigale, Paris. We played there in the early days when we first got known around the world and people were pogoing to the music, people just going crazy. It was near where Toulouse Lautrec lived and worked.
Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
My friend Aurora Dawn. I was in a band with her. My friend had the idea that of a DJ playing beats, a guitarist over there, a keyboard player over there - In Ministry Of Sound on podiums. Aurora joined the band as vocalist. She does a lot of stuff with Alabama 3 now. Check her out - she's a killer songwriter.
Simon Bartholomew is the guitarist with The Brand New Heavies who came to fame in the late '80s and early '90s as one of the prominent bands of the Acid Jazz movement, signed to Eddie Piller's influential Acid Jazz label, scoring hit records including 'Midnight At The Oasis' and 'Dream On Dreamer'. The band's latest album 'TBNH' is out now featuring contributions from original vocalist N'Dea Davenport and producer (and fan of the band) Mark Ronson.
Find out more at acidjazz.com
02Playlist
04Playlist Notes
The first track you played on repeat?
At school, there were a few heads that listened to Zappa and Sabbath and Zeppelin and – Genesis. They had a live album called Seconds Out after Peter Gabriel had left. There's this song 'Supper's Ready, a proper prog-rock workout. I've listened to this live version so many times - emotionally it gets me. Along with Stairway To Heaven, it used to be the song that DJs would play going into the new year - before people were dancing. I guess when you're younger you have like four vinyl albums, so you listen to them more. Now you just got to Youtube and hit autoplay.
A song that defines the teenage you?
That's seven years - a lot happens from 13 to 19. 'All Along The Watchtower'. It's sweet, it's sensitive - a little bit funky a little bit rocking. Beautiful.
One record you would keep forever?
'Electric Ladyland' - Jimmy Hendrix - double album.
A song lyric that has inspired you?
A lot of James Brown lyrics. He took on a lot of responsibility having the voice he had for people. When Martin Luther King was assassinated they got James Brown to do a live broadcast so that people would stay at home and watch to avoid riots. Lyrics like "Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud!".
There's a great lyric by George Clinton and Funkadelic: "You can walk a mile in my shoes, But you can't dance a step in my feet" from The Electric Spanking of War Babies.
A song you wished you had written?
I live near Greenwich and saw on the market there they had a bootleg CD recording of Voodoo Child, all the takes leading up to the final take of the song. I was very surprised at how the song was formed and written. There's like ten takes and he only puts the wah-wah on in the last couple of takes. They're just jamming it out until it hangs together and it's so organic. I was kinda shocked. Now you go to a studio and you have a computer and it's all laid out. I don't know if I wish I'd written it because he did a pretty darn good job.
Best song to turn up loud?
'Symptom of the Universe' - Black Sabbath, it's got to be a rock tune. Or, 'In The Stone' by Earth, Wind & Fire, so that I could do something different with that.
A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
'Ghosts' - Japan.
In the '80s I remember it being on the radio, and looking back now I think, how did the New Romantic scene happen?' It's a really awesome song, the lyrics are brilliant. It's just out there - but it was on the radio in the '80s - it was a hit.
The song to get you straight on the dance floor?
It used to be 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough', especially when I've not heard it for a while, but 'Pun De Floor' by Major Lazer. That whole album's great.
Best song to end an all-nighter?
I've got this new disco album, it's the kind of thing that Mr. Scruff might envy.
Julia and Company, 'Breaking Down (Sugar Samba)'
Any new bands you are into at the moment?
There's this band called Vulfpeck. They're a kind of white trailer trash band with some funky cuts. They've got this song called 'Dean Town' which sounds a bit like 'Teen Town' by The Weather Report (which is another song you should play). It kind of went viral on Youtube It's these young guys playing in their room. It's got a weird jazzy kind of a riff.
03Interview
Name, where are you from?
Sy Bartholomew - London
Describe your style in three words?
Funky, Feeling, Gritteeh.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
I use to go to this place on Great Portland Street called the Mary Magdalene Church, and in the crypt of that church, they had this jazz night, and this is like the late '80s. There would be people like John Stevens playing this avant-grade jazz kinda thing that was getting big in London at the time, it was a precursor to rare groove and the funky thing. I went down there one night and Courtney Pine was playing with Mark Mondesir on drums and Juilan Joseph on piano. He did circular breathing where you can just play and play, breathing in through your nose, like playing the didgeridoo. My jaw was open for an hour. Like seeing John Coltrane for the first time or something - it blew my socks off. I went home and did a drawing of it because I was at art college at the time. Very memorable indeed.
If you could be on the line up with any two bands in history?
That's a double-edged sword coz your gonna blown away by your favourite bands, but, Jimi Hendrix, just so I could see him from the wings and to keep it funky, maybe George Clinton coming out of the Mothership or Earth, Wind & Fire. Maybe George, Wind And Fire Clinton?
Which Subcultures have influenced you?
When I was eleven or twelve, the reason I started playing guitar in the '70s - was I was really into rock'n'roll. There was one show on Capital FM called Cruisin' that I would record on my cassette deck. In middle school, I was brylcreeming my hair every day, luminous socks and creepers. Then, later on, I got into ska and stuff and the Two-Tone thing. I got my ticket stolen outside a Madness gig. The Rudeboy look was a bit of thing as well. Fred Perrys, Sta Pressed and loafers. Then I went through my hippy thing, exploring the mind, and grew my hair a bit. Then there was the funky thing and Acid Jazz - which I was part of - finally.
Wop babaloo bop a wop bam boo - John Lennon said that when he heard 'Tutti Frutti' the world changed from Black and White to colour.
If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
I'd love to play with Hendrix, to play some funky beats behind him. Check out the Last Poets 'It's a Trip'.
Of all the venues you’ve been to, which is your favourite?
La Cigale, Paris. We played there in the early days when we first got known around the world and people were pogoing to the music, people just going crazy. It was near where Toulouse Lautrec lived and worked.
Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
My friend Aurora Dawn. I was in a band with her. My friend had the idea that of a DJ playing beats, a guitarist over there, a keyboard player over there - In Ministry Of Sound on podiums. Aurora joined the band as vocalist. She does a lot of stuff with Alabama 3 now. Check her out - she's a killer songwriter.
Simon Bartholomew is the guitarist with The Brand New Heavies who came to fame in the late '80s and early '90s as one of the prominent bands of the Acid Jazz movement, signed to Eddie Piller's influential Acid Jazz label, scoring hit records including 'Midnight At The Oasis' and 'Dream On Dreamer'. The band's latest album 'TBNH' is out now featuring contributions from original vocalist N'Dea Davenport and producer (and fan of the band) Mark Ronson.
Find out more at acidjazz.com
04Playlist Notes
The first track you played on repeat?
At school, there were a few heads that listened to Zappa and Sabbath and Zeppelin and – Genesis. They had a live album called Seconds Out after Peter Gabriel had left. There's this song 'Supper's Ready, a proper prog-rock workout. I've listened to this live version so many times - emotionally it gets me. Along with Stairway To Heaven, it used to be the song that DJs would play going into the new year - before people were dancing. I guess when you're younger you have like four vinyl albums, so you listen to them more. Now you just got to Youtube and hit autoplay.
A song that defines the teenage you?
That's seven years - a lot happens from 13 to 19. 'All Along The Watchtower'. It's sweet, it's sensitive - a little bit funky a little bit rocking. Beautiful.
One record you would keep forever?
'Electric Ladyland' - Jimmy Hendrix - double album.
A song lyric that has inspired you?
A lot of James Brown lyrics. He took on a lot of responsibility having the voice he had for people. When Martin Luther King was assassinated they got James Brown to do a live broadcast so that people would stay at home and watch to avoid riots. Lyrics like "Say it loud: I'm black and I'm proud!".
There's a great lyric by George Clinton and Funkadelic: "You can walk a mile in my shoes, But you can't dance a step in my feet" from The Electric Spanking of War Babies.
A song you wished you had written?
I live near Greenwich and saw on the market there they had a bootleg CD recording of Voodoo Child, all the takes leading up to the final take of the song. I was very surprised at how the song was formed and written. There's like ten takes and he only puts the wah-wah on in the last couple of takes. They're just jamming it out until it hangs together and it's so organic. I was kinda shocked. Now you go to a studio and you have a computer and it's all laid out. I don't know if I wish I'd written it because he did a pretty darn good job.
Best song to turn up loud?
'Symptom of the Universe' - Black Sabbath, it's got to be a rock tune. Or, 'In The Stone' by Earth, Wind & Fire, so that I could do something different with that.
A song people wouldn’t expect you to like?
'Ghosts' - Japan.
In the '80s I remember it being on the radio, and looking back now I think, how did the New Romantic scene happen?' It's a really awesome song, the lyrics are brilliant. It's just out there - but it was on the radio in the '80s - it was a hit.
The song to get you straight on the dance floor?
It used to be 'Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough', especially when I've not heard it for a while, but 'Pun De Floor' by Major Lazer. That whole album's great.
Best song to end an all-nighter?
I've got this new disco album, it's the kind of thing that Mr. Scruff might envy.
Julia and Company, 'Breaking Down (Sugar Samba)'
Any new bands you are into at the moment?
There's this band called Vulfpeck. They're a kind of white trailer trash band with some funky cuts. They've got this song called 'Dean Town' which sounds a bit like 'Teen Town' by The Weather Report (which is another song you should play). It kind of went viral on Youtube It's these young guys playing in their room. It's got a weird jazzy kind of a riff.
The Brand New Heavies - 'Getaway' (Official Live Performance Video) with Angela Ricci.
The Brand New Heavies - 'Dream On Dreamer'
The Brand New Heavies - 'Midnight At The Oasis'
The Brand New Heavies - 'Dream Come True'