MON., FEBRUARY 25, 2008
About the Label: Melting Pot Music
by Hua Hsu
In a sense, the Cologne-based Melting Pot Music label is a testament to founder Oliver von Felbert’s tenacious, up-at-all-hours websurfing. Von Felbert started the label in late 2002, while still working at the German hip-hop distributor and record label Groove Attack. “I am not the best team player,” he explains. “After I had set up the label, I got fired, which was the best thing that could have happened to me at that point of my life.” He left Groove Attack with a faint sense of how to run a label — now he just needed music. “A lot of people start a label because some friends have recorded music but don’t have an outlet, so they press up some records and try to sell them. When I started Melting Pot I didn’t had any artists. Running a label was something I had dreamed about for a long time…but I had no music to put out.” eMusic talked to von Felbert about his vision for Melting Pot, the label’s many stylistic turns, and how MySpace helped him net one of his most promising recent signings.
On Lefties Soul Connection
In 2002 I was pretty bored with new music and I was mostly listening to old records. SoulStrut.com and the first Wax Poetics magazine were a big inspiration for me at that time, because it put the whole diggin’ on the next level. I was into the whole Funk 45 thing and when I met the Lefties Soul Connection at a DJ gig in Amsterdam, I knew I had found my first group. For a start I was mostly putting out seven-inch singles, which was maybe not a very clever business model, but that’s where my heart was at around that time.
The Lefties’ raw energy is still unmatched but you really need to catch them live to fully understand what they are about. They are the Fugazi of the new funk bands. They are playing a lot of festivals and rock shows in Europe and have made a name for themselves outside the funk circuit.
On DJ Day
When we first started, many people labeled Melting Pot a funk label, which is a great compliment to me, even though our fourth release was an Afro-beat record and we did a jazz 45 soon after. But the foundation of MPM is hip-hop and this is one thing that will never change, because hip-hop is the culture that has shaped my personal taste and also me as a person, more than anything else.
Back in 2002 or 2003, the last thing the world needed was another indie rap label. Indie rap stood for straight-up boring Tribe clones. In 2008 things are quite different. With J-Dilla’s passing, a new movement was born. There is a whole new generation of producers and beatmakers today who are doing hip-hop in a totally different way than it was done before.
(For Day) it’s his beats and his melodies. Day has got a great instinct for melodies and lush arrangements. He is not doing a lot of cut-and-paste stuff these days really. He is more like a bedroom Mizell working on mad projects. Day is one of those producers who is never fully satisfied with his music. I always have to tell him “Damn, stop here. The song IS perfect now, we're gonna put it out now!”
On Miles Bonny
DJ Day hooked me up with Miles after he had worked on a few songs with him. Miles produces his own beats and plays trumpet too. As a singer he is like the missing link between D’Angelo and Willie Nelson. He is about to become the voice of MPM, which I am really proud of because it was always my goal to have some great vocalists on our roster. And Miles fits in very well, we share a pretty similar vision about music and life.
Miles has just recorded a cover version of Can’s “Vitamin C” with Kutiman, which comes just in time for Holger Czukay’s 70th birthday. Even though Can were from Cologne (Melting Pot’s hometown), it was Miles who called me from his home in Kansas City to tell me about this idea.
On Kutiman
Kuti represents a new wave from Tel Aviv that will make a lot of noise. Kutiman actually found me. He had this crazy picture of himself behind a drum set in a tropical setting on his MySpace…which made me check his profile before I okayed his friend request. And I don’t have to tell you how glad I am that I did so. I believe Kuti is one of the most talented guys I have had the pleasure of working with so far. He not only writes and produces all of his songs, he also plays most of the instruments. His debut album is a wild safari of psych rock, Afro-beat and funk, but he is also doing reggae, Baile funk and rap. He has just remixed his whole album to perform it with a sound system set-up. At the same time he’s got a nine-piece orchestra going on, that features the top players from the Tel Aviv groove scene.
We have only seen the tip of the iceberg. Two weeks ago he opened for Erykah Badu at her first ever show in Israel, which was a great success.
On Lefties Soul Connection
In 2002 I was pretty bored with new music and I was mostly listening to old records. SoulStrut.com and the first Wax Poetics magazine were a big inspiration for me at that time, because it put the whole diggin’ on the next level. I was into the whole Funk 45 thing and when I met the Lefties Soul Connection at a DJ gig in Amsterdam, I knew I had found my first group. For a start I was mostly putting out seven-inch singles, which was maybe not a very clever business model, but that’s where my heart was at around that time.
The Lefties’ raw energy is still unmatched but you really need to catch them live to fully understand what they are about. They are the Fugazi of the new funk bands. They are playing a lot of festivals and rock shows in Europe and have made a name for themselves outside the funk circuit.
On DJ Day
When we first started, many people labeled Melting Pot a funk label, which is a great compliment to me, even though our fourth release was an Afro-beat record and we did a jazz 45 soon after. But the foundation of MPM is hip-hop and this is one thing that will never change, because hip-hop is the culture that has shaped my personal taste and also me as a person, more than anything else.
Back in 2002 or 2003, the last thing the world needed was another indie rap label. Indie rap stood for straight-up boring Tribe clones. In 2008 things are quite different. With J-Dilla’s passing, a new movement was born. There is a whole new generation of producers and beatmakers today who are doing hip-hop in a totally different way than it was done before.
(For Day) it’s his beats and his melodies. Day has got a great instinct for melodies and lush arrangements. He is not doing a lot of cut-and-paste stuff these days really. He is more like a bedroom Mizell working on mad projects. Day is one of those producers who is never fully satisfied with his music. I always have to tell him “Damn, stop here. The song IS perfect now, we're gonna put it out now!”
On Miles Bonny
DJ Day hooked me up with Miles after he had worked on a few songs with him. Miles produces his own beats and plays trumpet too. As a singer he is like the missing link between D’Angelo and Willie Nelson. He is about to become the voice of MPM, which I am really proud of because it was always my goal to have some great vocalists on our roster. And Miles fits in very well, we share a pretty similar vision about music and life.
Miles has just recorded a cover version of Can’s “Vitamin C” with Kutiman, which comes just in time for Holger Czukay’s 70th birthday. Even though Can were from Cologne (Melting Pot’s hometown), it was Miles who called me from his home in Kansas City to tell me about this idea.
On Kutiman
Kuti represents a new wave from Tel Aviv that will make a lot of noise. Kutiman actually found me. He had this crazy picture of himself behind a drum set in a tropical setting on his MySpace…which made me check his profile before I okayed his friend request. And I don’t have to tell you how glad I am that I did so. I believe Kuti is one of the most talented guys I have had the pleasure of working with so far. He not only writes and produces all of his songs, he also plays most of the instruments. His debut album is a wild safari of psych rock, Afro-beat and funk, but he is also doing reggae, Baile funk and rap. He has just remixed his whole album to perform it with a sound system set-up. At the same time he’s got a nine-piece orchestra going on, that features the top players from the Tel Aviv groove scene.
We have only seen the tip of the iceberg. Two weeks ago he opened for Erykah Badu at her first ever show in Israel, which was a great success.
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