First Listen: Gilmore is crafting otherworldy funk in ‘Here’
First Listen: Gilmore is crafting otherworldy funk in ‘Here’
Words: Dylan Murphy
The Bangor producer and multi-instrumentalist comes through with a Yussef Dayes-inspired cut as part of the MINDS Compilation raising funds for PIPS Hope & Support.
Even in the toughest of circumstances, music has a knack for uniting people from different walks of life. Whether that’s bringing communities from different sides of the peace wall to the same dance floor or people of different ages under one roof to celebrate their shared connection, it often highlights there’s more that unites us than pushes us apart.
With the years of conflict in mind, the issue of mental health in Northern Ireland is a complicated one and has only been exacerbated with the ongoing pandemic. While music can’t solve all the issues at once, it can offer a ray of hope on the darkest days and inspire that shared connection that we’ve all yearned for so much in the past 18 months.
Understanding its unique power, MINDS are bringing together Ireland’s creative community for a genre-bending 22 track compilation raising money for PIPS Hope & Support.
Having been an advocate for mental health over the past three years, MINDS has pivoted to share the collaborative release in the absence of clubs and simultaneously combined their passion for mutual aid and community spirit.
Today, we’re buzzed to premiere a space-funk odyssey from Bangor producer Gilmore that features on the compilation.
‘Here’ shares DNA with the genre-agnostic work of Robert Glasper and highlights the young producer’s penchant for taking the road less travelled by combining his love for sounds from across the spectrum.
Speaking on the track Gilmore said, “At the time I recorded this track I was really enjoying lots of cinematic funk artists, like Thievery Corporation and Surprise Chef. I wanted to make something with a similar vibe, but slightly more electronic and breaks focused to relate with the usual tracks I would make. Yussef Dayes was also a huge inspiration for me and was the reason I got back into drumming after a few years break. I guess a combination of that and my love for electronic was the real inspiration for the track”.
“Pete Close the magician did an absolute treat on the bass and fully captured the vibe I was going for. Thanks to the amazing ‘Scratch My Progress’ scheme ran by Oh Yeah Music Center, I was then able to record the drums properly, and spend a couple of days in the studio with Pete Brien and Rocky O’Reilly, where we got the mix finished and Pete came up with the beautiful melody on the Moog. Looking back at every stage it’s crazy to see how much the track transformed in such a small space of time”.
MINDS V/A releases on 29 July 2021. Click here to pre-order.
Watch the visuals for ‘Here’ below:
Previous first listen: 1000 Beasts links with Célia Tiab for ‘NYCBB’.
