Following his release with Ricardo Villalobos, label boss Steve O’Sullivan has collaborated with Frazer Campbell for a new EP on Mosaic—the label’s 38th release.

Since the start of the year, the pair had their heads down focusing on finding a happy medium between deeply swung grooves and the airy influences of Detroit, shaking out an “interesting trio of tracks for their label debut.”As well as an exclusive full preview of B-side “Alleyway Funk”— which is streamable in full above — we caught up with the pair to get an insight into the release.

Tracklisting

A1.Hypnotonic
A2. Soultonic
B1. Alleyway Funk

How did the collaboration come about?

Steve:

We met a few years back at a warehouse party I was playing at. We shared a few beers and laughs and after that Frazer started to send me tracks to check out which eventually ended up with me playing at one of his parties and providing a remix for his labels debut release.

Frazer:

It seemed right to ask Steve to remix one of my tracks from the EP Departed Emotions. The record has sold out across Europe which was a great feeling and happy that Steve agreed to do it. Obviously, when Steve asked me to work on a collaboration I was super chuffed especially as it was just after his work with Ricardo Villalobos.

Steve:

After finishing up my release with Ricardo earlier this year I thought it would be a nice touch to work with a producer who is perhaps less well known and as the two of us get on well I tapped this fella up. The initial idea was just to sit down and see if anything flowed, and thankfully it did.

Frazer:

To be honest, I don’t think either of us expected the fast results but the sessions always ended on a positive which doesn’t always happen.

What do you like about working together?

Steve:

I like to work with people who bring ideas to the table. When you’re alone with the machines it’s pretty easy to hit a wall where you just can’t find that final element that makes a track complete. With Frazer things were pretty easy: he has a quirky sound which is a good counterpoint to my more straightforward rolling vibe and I think the whole EP is a great example of how two minds are better than one. 

Frazer:

I haven’t actually worked with anyone else on my music as I find it a very personal thing and I am still developing my confidence and skills as a producer. But for a first time collaboration I couldn’t be happier; to work with a real veteran in the scene was incredible. Being a fan of his work and then receiving a text asking if I would be interested in a collaboration for Mosaic was amazing but also pressured in a way. 

The best thing was that we connected really quickly on ideas and jammed in both of our studios. We didn’t really set out with a particular idea but all three tracks developed smoothly and came together nicely. Don’t get me wrong: the sessions were long but as I said before, they ended well.

How did working with Frazer compare to working with Ricardo Villalobos?

Steve:

Ricardo is one of the most inspirational people to be in the studio with. His whole approach and studio set up is pretty free form and organic. He simply turns the tape on and you jam around until the magic arrives. I guess the beauty of it is the lack of structure and the happy accidents that occur in between the experimentation. We’d spoken about working together for some time so to finally get in there was pretty special.

With Different Strokes I guess the approach was a bit more focused. Plenty of experimentation and jamming but also a load of post production work to ensure that every sound was hitting the spot and served its purpose. It’s not my usual way of working but, as with all collaborations, I’ve learned a lot. More importantly, I had a great time working on the tracks. 

Different Strokes will be released on July 21, with “Alleyway Funk” exclusively available to stream below.