Smoove

Smoove is a UK DJ, producer and remixer from Newcastle upon Tyne who works in breakbeat and electronic music and is signed to Acid Jazz. He is also associated with Smoove & Turrell, the collaboration with singer John Turrell, and is linked with the UK act Smoove & Turrell rather than a separate band line-up.

Background and early work

He has been active for some time and has worked as part of Ultragroove and Ashbrooke Allstars, as well as producing for Rubberneck and remixing a range of artists. In 1995 he creates his first solo tracks for the soundtrack to Sprung, an extreme sports video, and the track “He Won’t Get Far” is issued as a single. A CD of older material reaches the owner of Acid Jazz in 2000, which leads to his first release, Dead Men’s Shirts, in 2004.

Releases, labels and sound

His production style is sample-based, built from layered beats, funk loops, string loops and vocal fragments, later developing into a more minimalist approach that uses less obvious sources and session musicians to create a fuller sound. Dead Men’s Shirts is followed by Gravy, a remixes and rarities album released by Acid Jazz in the summer of 2007. The collection includes the club track “I’m a Man” and his version of Lord Large’s “Left, Right and Centre”, which features Dean Parrish and reworks a Paul Weller original.

DJ work, remixes and touring

As a DJ he mixes funk, Northern soul, hip hop, breakbeats and jazz in his sets. His profile grows through remixes for Malente, Dynamo Productions, The Ju Ju Orchestra, Frequento, Bucky Leo Quintet, Torpedo Boyz, K Bonus, Andy Lewis and The New Mastersounds. He also plays at Berlin’s Fusion Festival and performs alongside DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist at the Sage Gateshead. His releases and DJ work take him across Germany and other European countries, including Budapest, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, France, Russia, Lithuania and Poland.

Wack Records and charting singles

He sets up the mash-up label Wack Records in June 2006. Its first two releases, “Big Love” and “Quality Soul”, reach number 15 in the German club charts. “Coming Back/The Revolution Will Be Televised” reaches number 4 in the UK Beats & Breaks charts and spends five weeks in the German Dance Charts.

Smoove & Turrell

His collaboration with John Turrell becomes Smoove & Turrell, whose debut album Antique Soul is released on Jalapeno Records. Their first single, “I Can’t Give You Up”, is named record of the week on BBC Radio 2, and “You Don’t Know” is playlisted by BBC 6 Music. The project performs as a seven-piece band and appears on BBC 2, BBC 4 and BBC 6, as well as at Glastonbury, The Big Chill and Kendal Calling.