ANDREW ASHONG by ANDREW ASHONG

First solo release after an amazing collaboration with Theo Parrish. Check out Special. TIP!!!Released on Theo Parrishʼs Sound Signature the 9-minute cut was a summer anthem, played by DJs as diverse as Tim Sweeny, Floating Points and Benji B. Gilles Peterson listeners voted it the ʻTrack of The Yearʼ at the Worldwide Awards. All of which came as a surprise to studio perfectionist Andrew. Growing up in Forest Hill with Ghanian/English parents, he listened to disco, funk and soul, amassing a huge vinyl collection initially from charity shops, supplemented by his older brothers Roy Ayers, Herbie Hancock and choice Talking Loud Records collection. At 16 he was playing out the vinyl collection, everywhere from the Blue Note on Hoxton Sq in ʻ96, to house parties right through to Rhythm Section in Peckham in 2013. But creating those big budget studio sounds at home didnʼt seem realistic. Let alone going onstage to sing. While heʼd record at home, fascinated by the chords to Al Greenʼs ʻLetʼs Stay Togetherʼ, he did all sorts of jobs as well as DJing. Building work,fixing computers, driving and working in a café. Still, he had no intention of releasing his musical sketches. Until, Theo Parrish drifted into his orbit as a friend. He played him some unfinished bars of a song and Theo demanded that they sit down that minute and arrange a version he could play out at Plastic People that night. ʻFlowersʼ became a stable of his DJ sets worldwide. And went on to be one of the definitive club records of summer 2013. ʻThat blew away my assumptions. That a record we made in my basement was being played in Japanʼ. Unwittingly they had made a modern day version of Theoʼs much loved ʻUglyʼ soul edits, innovating as they did. It needed to be mastered onto vinyl before Andrew was happy, but Theo knew the record had the essential elements of their favourites; ʻthe funk, simplicity, drive, honesty gained from heartfelt experienceʼ. But ʻFlowersʼ was just the start for this reluctant star. The ʻSpecialʼ EP sees him release 3 more songs of eagerly awaited soul music, equally heaven- sent. And plenty more eyes and ears are following now.