The Projects

Description:

Name:

The Projects

Screen Name:

theprojects

Years Together:

1

Level Of Commitment:

Very Committed

www.myspace.com/thebristolsound -

During the nineties there were a whole bunch of bands emerging from Bristol with a fresh new slick sound- a delicious and spaced-out mix of down tempo hip hop and soul. The Projects took this vibe and made it a "now" thing by adding a rock flavour and some distinctly 21st century dance grooves.

So often we hear of new bands describing their music as "different" when in fact it's just the same, but The Projects sound genuinely defies most pigeon-holes. Lush production; solid driving breakbeats; psychedlic synths; rock sax; trippy flute and dreamy vocals all add up to a unique new take on British trip-hop. Fans have said: "There are so many guitar bands right now, it's good to hear something original" Maybe that sums it up pretty well.

To compare the band to others out there is not easy either as the music ranges from the deeply chilled, through funky house to drum and bass! But all the while it's deeply infectious with plenty of memorable vocal hooks and riffs along the way.

The fact that the members of the band also play in a conflicting set of other ventures also adds to the wide spectrum of influences going on- Jen is constantly in demand for recording sessions for dance and soul producers; Jools is working with a couple of DJ's in a part live/ part Ableton dance set venture; Chris plays sax in a blues rock combo, and so the list goes on.

Who do they sound like? well, each new tune has a surprise twist. But if they had to be pinned down, they'd probably say: Goldfrapp, Massive Attack, Portishead, Basement Jaxx, Morcheeba, St Germaine, Ronni Size, The Prodigy and maybe even Pink Floyd! - all rolled up into one, satisfying full-phat calzone of GROOVE. Have a listen and you decide.

Influences:

In no particular order: Phillip Glass Frank Zappa Brian Eno Def Jam Public Enemy Red Hot Chilli Peppers Beth Gibbons Massive Attack Placebo Jeff Lynne Paul McCartney Pink Floyd Trent Reznor Tangerine Dream Bach Primal Scream Jeff Buckley Tom Waites Leon Redbone The Clash Led Zeppelin Ben Harper Basement Jaxx, Future Sound Of London DiAngelo The Smiths Stone Roses Humble Pie David Bowie Chemical Brothers Jimmi Hendrix Kula Shaker Niel Young The Prodigy Groove Armada The Cure The (southern death) Cult Ray Charles Wu Tang Clan Ganja Kru Marshall Mathers Thelonious Monk John Coltrane Charles Mingus Art Pepper Xero Slingsby and the Works Morcheeba John Lennon Spirit Reef ELO Cradle of Filth ELP Sepultra NIN Coalchamber CCS William Orbit Paul Oakenfold Norman Cooke Kraftwerk Motorhead
Daevid Allen and Gong
Hawkwind Rory Gallagher JJ Cale Ry Cooder Captain Beefheart Rick Wakeman Ian Anderson and Jethro Tull Bjork Yes Alicia Keys Oscar Peterson Peter Gabriel Focus The Rolling Stones Bartok Mahler Black Eyed Peas
Robert Crumb and his banjo
Ozrik Tentacles Vivian Stanshall Billie Holliday (may you rest in peace sister, God bless your soul) John Lydon (for daring to be himself) Bob Moog Steve Reich Beethoven (damn, you got there first, man) Mountain The Pink Fairies The New York Dolls The Bothy Band Cole Porter (such a prolific song writer!) Jerome Kern (ditto!) Sarah McLachlan Bez (keep on keeping on dude!) Ian Kilmister Alex Harvey (sleep eazy mate) Radiohead The Who Kate Bush Yusef Lateef (your scales anthology was the root!) Didiere Malherbe Lou Reed David Byrne and the Talking Heads Phil Spector Roy Hargrove Tubby Hayes De La Soul Massive respect to the Godfathers:- James Brown Rakim Bahamadia DJ Premier Guru DJ Shadow Cut Chemist Jurassic 5 Cypress Hill Sugar Hill Gang NWA Run DMC Bootsy Earth Wind and Fire Quincy Jones Miles Davis Charlie Parker (the boss) Satchmo (for starting it all)

Plus anyone who has courage to be themselves (and if that includes you, then consider yourself chosen) Peace and love.

Equipment List:

The instruments I play have always had an influence on me, and over the years I have tried hundreds (if not thousands) of different makes, models and variations. But for those who may be interested, here are my current favorites among the things I use:
Flute:
Having used quite a few of the top of the range leading brands, I settled on a Hernal - a very fine Japanese mid-range model. To get a richer warm sound, I swapped the head joint for an Artley 9k gold pro custom.
Saxes:
In the tenor range I have always preferred the King and Beuscher vintage models and have owned several. More importantly for me, is the mouthpiece. For tenor, I use a vintage Otto Link 8 star (that used to belong to Spike Robinson) with a metal lig and synthetic medium reeds. For alto, my treasured posession is a 1950's Martin Committee Sax (as famously played by Art Pepper) with a Berg Larsen low baffle mouthpiece, fabric lig and any number 3 cane reed I can find. I have also always loved the sound of the Brillhart mouthpieces and until recently used a Freddy Gregory modified white 7 star Personaline model (as favored by Charlie Parker). However, no matter how hard I tried or how much money I spent on set-ups, I always sounded like me! So I stopped stressing and started playing instead.
Synths:
I love the flexibility and sound of the analogue synths and am currently using:
Roland Juno 6
The legendary status of these classic 1980's keyboards is borne out by the list of greats who used them: Nick Rhodes of Duran Duran, Howard Jones, Enya, Sean Lennon, Sneaker Pimps, Vince Clarke of Erasure, Beatmasters, Bizarre Inc., John Dylan, EMF, The Grid, The Gift, Larry Heard, Steve Joliffe, Die Krupps, Michael Law, Level 42, LFO, Flock of Seagulls, Mark White of ABC. If you know these bands, you'll instantly recognise the sound of the Juno, which has been extensively sampled by most dance record producers over recent years
Jen SX1000 (modified Moog copy)
This 1970's vintage monophonic synth features a single DCO, with a four octave range and three waveforms, white and pink noise, as well as portamento/glide. The filter is 12dB/octave. There are two ADSR envelope generators and one LFO, which, when hooked up to my multi-effects rack (flanger, chorus and reverb), has a sound identical to the early Moogs. These little gems are much prized (by producers of trance and hardcore producers) for their FAT bass sounds and have been used by: Future Sound of London, LFO, Man Machine, Solar-Quest, Aphex Twin, Altern 8, Eskimos & Egypt, Fillmore.
Gizmos:
Akai Professional E2 Headrush
Man, I love this thing! The Headrush creates a delay and tape echo simulation of the classic Roland Space Echo or WEM Copycat. But it's crowning glory is the fantastic "live sample loop" function which allows me to record and overdub layer after layer of sound in real-time. Perfect for live situations. As used by KT Tunstall (hear her live solo recordings of Big Black Horse to experience this beauty in action).

Members Of Band:

Jen Low - The Boss
(Vocals and lyrics)

Jools Slater
(Synthesizers, Flute, Saxes, Samples, Beats)

PhantomDrum
(Sequencing, Composition, Percussion, Production)
JB (aka The Phantomdrum) is the driving force behind the technical and compostitional side of the band.

Chris Backhouse
(Saxophones) The man with the Horn.

Nigel Tufnel
(Guitars and vocals)
STOP PRESS! VACANCY FOR A LEAD GUITARIST. In a shock announcement this week, Chris Raven has announced his decision to leave The ProjX, leaving the guitar slot wide open. This is a huge blow for us and we are sad to see him go. However, if you think you can fill this space and want to be part of the band, please messge us, or send us your links, pages or demos. Huge rewards waiting! but you gotta do it now, don't be shy.

Chris Harland
(Bass)

Dave Hardy
(Drums)
"Possibly the best drummer in the North East!" - Drums & Percussion magazine. Latest member of the band, and by far it's most powerful secret weapon. "We are thrilled to have Davey on board"

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