OSLCTS.007 MELLE BROWN
Melle Brown, is a London based DJ, producer and radio presenter whose star is on the rise. ‘Intersection’ their debut EP on Future Bounce was a great success and earned them accolades across contemporary/electronic dance spaces and international radio play.
Melle's sounds and songs, although containing elements of Neo-soul, House and Jazz, push all the same musical elements into new soulful terrain. Her bi-weekly radio show on Brixton based Reprezent contains the same soulful grove as she often spins 2 hours of back to back house music: the mixing and selection is infectious and is likely to lighten anyone’s mood.
For this week’s Origins Selects Melle has picked her top 10 tracks and we are delighted to be able to interview her, in and around her selections and production…
MELLE BROWN SELECTION —-
Surely Shorty - Peven Everett
Soul Fever (remix) - Simbad Ft. Steelo
A to the K - Klevakeys
Talk To Me - Jordan Rakei
I Wonder (Original Mix) - Sean McCabe, Nathan Adams
Bloom - Melle Brown
Til The World Blow Up - Dave + Sam, Mike Dunn
Another World (Andre Lodemann Radio Edit) - Akabu, Andre Lodemann
1000 Memories - Jullian Gomes, Sio
Space Time (Atjazz Galaxy Aart Remix) - Fred Everything, Atjazz
Hi Melle! Before we get into it, I would love to know what are the true Origins of your sound are as both a producer and DJ?
I’d say the origins of my production sound is a unique blur of the lines between Neo-Soul, Jazz and mid-tempo House. My production carries consistent echoes of dance music, from it’s sequencing to my choice of samples, tempo and sounds – it sways from one genre to the next, lifting elements of each to forge a familiar, yet fresh sound that’s me.
I can hear the love of the past and present sound of house music at the soul of your mixes, when did you yourself start to love the sounds that you play out currently?
Starting out DJing, I played future beats and cool SoundCloud remixes of your favourite R&B records…my taste has matured in the last 2 years to the deepest and soulful of house, finding tracks that echo the sultry neo-soul chords in tracks I grew up listening to, from Omar to Natalie Williams to Peven Everett. Tracks that sound like the sunset over juxtaposing beats & basslines. I mostly love those that have that air of 2000’s London house sound but bring in elements of new age Soulful electronic.
Talk us through your selection and the artists you’ve chosen.
The selection is a demonstration of where the feeling and chords of some of my favourite Neo-soul tracks, bleed into house and create the most gorgeous blend. It’s a playlist that almost soundtracks my life in chronological order from the moment I became obsessed with music…as the mini passenger in my mum’s car as she sifted through a sea of CDs, with the likes of Peven Everett, Simbad Ft. Steelo, & Klevakeys - to when I became more accustomed to searching for tunes myself, deep in SoundCloud finding Jordan Rakei. The world of Soundcloud led me to experiment with my own sounds, so I had to add in my own track ‘Bloom’ originally from my Blossom EP. From then onwards it’s a collection of tracks that I fell in love with over the years DJing, some Dave + Sam, Joey Negro, Julian Gomes & Atjazz.
I know you are heavily involved in radio and host and DJ for Reprezent bi-weekly, how important do you think radio is to the music world today?
Radio has always been a love of mine, being able to find tracks and artists people may not have heard before, sometimes giving a producer their first radio play is a priceless feeling, lining up the track and giving instant insight into how it makes you feel and what you like about it never gets old. Radio, in general, is an important way to connect an audience to there fave artists through interviews and premieres, but I think the real gem is with Community radio, stations like Reprezent, Rinse, NTS & Worldwide, creating the next generation of Radio stars & DJs alongside the most incredible radio producers and behind the scenes talent – which is VITAL to music’s ecosystem, it’s what keeps it fresh and exciting.
More generally do you value community within music and do you feel like a part of one as an individual?
Community in my world is what’s gotten me to where I am today! Genuine support for my peers work, all doing amazing things, and being blessed enough to receive the same love and be a part of a few. I think within the different genres of London’s music scene there’s a really special unity, whether that be the new age jazz (Blue Lab Beats, Poppy Adjuda, Moses Boyd to name a few), to the future beats & soulful electronic scene, producers & DJ’s like Blue Canarinho, Digital Mozart, Sean Gran, Complexion, Emmavie, Intalekt. There is community everywhere I look and it’s beautiful to see!
On your release on Future Bounce ‘Intersection EP’ you described feeling like you were at a crossroads that you communicated through the music. Has lockdown had an effect on the current music you are making and listening to?
‘Intersection’ taught me a lot and through me into a career peak with plans to keep that going in 2020 but obviously the world had other plans, which in hindsight I’m glad I got some time to pause, think about what I actually wanted to do, who I actually wanted to be and what my purpose is. The first Lockdown kind of threw me… like many, into a state of confusion, I felt uninspired and focussed on getting my life in order and finding music as opposed to making it. This time feels different, there is a spark that’s coming back, maybe because it’s easier to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The music is not necessarily linked to/inspired by lockdown – it’s more gravitating towards me developing my sound more for a house world, inspired by the sounds I love and have grown up listening to, just with a twist that is uniquely me, and I’m really enjoying the process!
Post lockdown what are your first plans?
Get on a plane to somewhere HOTTER! hahaha
Dream collaborations and B2Bs?
Dream collabs, there are a few! Would love to work with Jazztronik, Submotion Orchestra, Chaos In The CBD, Cleo Sol and would be a dream to get a Louie Vega or Joey Negro remix of one of my tracks! On a B2B, I’d be lying if I didn’t say Kaytranada!
Do you have anything you’ve learnt about yourself as a DJ and producer in the last year that you didn’t know before?
I’ve learnt that you have to take risks, no progression comes from standing still in life. Sometimes you have to jump not knowing where you’ll land but trust that it’ll work itself out – it’s even sweeter when you try to enjoy the ride and take lessons from the mistakes. This also relates to life in general, but as a DJ & Producer, I’ve tried to let my sound evolve naturally, and ironically I feel excited and comfortable where I’ve landed in the space of deep & soulful house. I want to introduce the sound in a new way to younger generations and take risks with my track choices, keeping them on their toes.
Do you have anything coming up this year that people should look out for?
M.U.S.I.C – I’m working on a lot of it alongside some of my favourite house producers, look out for some summertime releases!
Follow Melle Brown —
Interview by @lcy__________