| SA-RA
CREATIVE PARTNERS
Following
on from their production work for Heavy D, Pharoahe Monche,
Bilal, Dr. DRE, Jill Scott, Jurassic 5, Erykah Badu and
many others, the SA-RA Creative Partners will release a full-length
album on Ubiquity Records.
You may already own some SA-RA Creative Partners productions,
or maybe you have heard tracks from one of their highly sought-after
CD-rs, either way a deal is now done and the first ever SA-RA
Creative Partners album in the works for release in early 2005.
Creating a huge buzz worldwide before any of their own solo work
has officially been released SA-RA Creative Partners have already
appeared on LA’s Power 106 with Sway and Tech, recorded
a live session for Gilles Petersons “Worldwide”
show on BBC Radio 1, been interviewed on Radio 1Xtra in the UK
and asked to play alongside Ninja Tune act Ty on his US tour in
addition to live and DJ shows in LA and New York.
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Pronounced "Sah-Rah", Om'Mas Keith, Taz Arnold,
and Shafiq Husayn comprise the partnership and
their name translates to "the off-spring of the most powerful
energy in the universe". These are children of the cosmos,
ready to blast you with their magical mystical soul.
“There is something powerful about the Number 3.
A triangle is architectures most structurally sound shape,”
explains Taz. “And there is a sense of brotherhood
among us, the strong sense of purpose we all share in our desire
to cleanse the proverbial palette of music!” he adds. It’s
an overused phrase that a band has a unique sound. But in SA-RA
Creative Partners the three minds combine to make something that
is definitely new, something twisted, a sound you have not heard
before. It’s soulful but not limited by the neo soul tag,
it’s hip hop but of the bugged-out other-worldly kind, it’s
instantly catchy but not commercial, and it’s edgy but according
to the list of high profile artists requesting their production
services it’s got wide-spread appeal.
A joke has been circulating (started by label mate Waajeed of
PPP who introduced the act to Ubiquity) that
the bands signature loose, natural sounding, swinging beats are
a bi-product of music making whilst watching TV or using Playstation.
“Right! Yeah the TV might be on, or there might be an ill
drum kit, or a bass chop, or a freak in the studio shaking her
ass. Nuff Said!” explains Shafiq. The band are all avid
music collectors and beat diggers but Shafiq boasts the largest
stash, “Without digging the SRCP sound would be
totally different,” he says. “Digging
is a scholarly activity, in my opinion. It requires great attention
to detail, and through continued activity creates within one a
great knowledge of music and sound. It also involves a lot of
reading. Liner notes and credits provide a wealth on knowledge
for both the novice and advanced crate digger.”
Formed in 2000 SA-RA Creative Partners were brought together by
music. With a love of hip hop, jazz, soul, funk and a heavy dose
of Steely Dan (honestly!) the trio had common influences and were
united in their vision to do something new, to make the kind of
music they wanted to listen to. Their collective creativity is
not limited to studio production, these cats can sing, play, rhyme,
DJ, and their live show is a burlesque-flavored attack on all
the senses.
Before the trio met they were already busy music business individuals.
Taz Arnold was managing and producing artists like Hit Man and
Major (which saw him involved in the six times platinum DR.DRE
2001 album) and scoring distribution through Aftermath/Interscope.
Om’Mas was Studio manager and designer for a NYC based British
Ad Firm. He also mixed records for platinum and multi-platinum
artists like 8 Ball, Mobb Deep, and Foxy Brown and was involved
in production with Suave House and as a Universal staff producer
For JMJ Records. Shafiq has a heavyweight production resume that
includes work for Ice -T, Lord Finesse, Jesse West, Grand Mixer
DXT, plus remixes for Prince and Duran Duran, and work on numerous
soundtracks including New Jack City and Thicker than Water.
Bouncing from coast to coast (Taz and Shafiq are based in LA,
Om’mas in Queens, NY) the three have a busy schedule balancing
recording an album with remix and production work. Most recent
clients include Common and Jill Scott,
and deals are in place/in the works for Roberta Flack
and Jennifer Lopez. Om’mas explains the
bands philosophy when it comes to approaching projects with greatly
differing scope, “We are going to bridge a gap between
both worlds, and keep both sides happy. No discrimination is our
policy, we want Coldplay fans and Daedelus fans, 50 cent fans
and Madvillain Fans. It's easy to comprehend, just listen,”
he says.
Asked whether any of their superstar clients will appear on the
record Taz replies “Maybe we'll have ‘em all?
We can’t really guarantee anyone’s services right
now. But we've worked closely with all of them.”
He adds, “We definitely won't be at a loss for creativity
and the album will definitely feature songs with our artist Irisna
Gayle, and formidable offerings from our group SA-RA.”
After a forthcoming 12" single release of the fantastic "Glorious"
and "Rosebuds" tracks on ABB, Ubiquity will release
SA-RA Creative Partners tracks on a Japanese-only comp, on Volume
4 of the Rewind series, a SA-RA Creative Partners 12” or
two, and a completely new album due to drop in early Spring 2005.
Check out www.sa-ra.net to read more about the band. And keep
it locked to www.ubiquityrecords.com for more info. |
