Inspiration Information, ten years young, and still championing the true school of dance music for the next generation. A decade of Friday night sessions celebrating what is truly classic from our heritage, every week punctuated by a reminder of our roots. A decade of Friday nights with the joy of hearing great tunes for the first time, of discovery as much as remembrance. A decade of thrills, spills, laughter and love, Let's keep partying, but for now it's time to go back.
"The summer of '97, Notting Hill Arts club still has a bookcase of paperbacks in the corner but is beginning to recognize it's true role as a nightclub (with an arty twist). To that end I'd already been asked to start a night playing purely Brazilian music once a month on a Saturday (thank you Shabs!), however the proposition of running a weekly Friday night was more a case of no thank-you Shabs! Well at least until I had an idea, and that idea was basically Phil Asher.
I'd never worked with Phil and barely knew him, of course we had mutual friends within the scene, and I used to see him at The Loft, (the one in Camden with Paul Trouble, not NYC/ Mancuso!) Anyway I respected where Phil was coming from, a true music head. So when I bumped into him at a party, it was an easy conversation. Let's do it, musical freedom, disco/boogie, a bit of jazz and Latin, see how it goes. It was as simple as that; let's call it Inspiration Information, easy!
As far as |I can remember the first few weeks were a bit tentative, but we soon found our groove, and again it wasn't something we really needed to discuss, it all happened pretty organically. We both relished the opportunity to blow the dust off our old twelve inches, boogie and disco was always going to be our musical mainstay, However we also found ourselves introducing each other to a lot of music, we had plenty in common, but with Phil's sketchier jazz knowledge and me with an enthusiastic but limited understanding of the whole disco to house tradition, there was a fair and happy exchange of ideas and tunes.
Inspiration Information indeed! I'm sure I can speak for both of us when I say that Inspiration Information was a release from the scenes and attitudes we'd been stuck with. I'd been gagging to do a night like this for some time having been pretty bored by the whole post-jazz scene since it's adoption of trip-hop and electronic cool, and for Phil it was a chance to do a night on his home turf without it being a house thing in any shape or form. Not to say that we haven't occasionally dropped a four to the floor, but mainly we've stuck to our guns Maybe that's why Inspiration Information has endured, having built our night on the solid foundation of some of the greatest, funkiest, most soulful music ever made we've always had a touchstone for what real quality is.
The roots of Inspiration Information lie in two related but separate traditions, one being the whole New York club scene from Mancuso through Larry Levan and beyond, the other being London rare groove and boogie. So yes we play plenty of Paradise Garage classics, but there are so many tunes that were championed by the likes of Trouble, Bobby and Steve and a whole host of others from the early pioneers like George Power at Crackers onwards that have become true London underground classics. Tunes like Clyde Alexander and Sanctions "Got To Get Your Love" that I always think of as being London tunes.
Anyway our influences don't stop there, because the nature of Inspiration Information has always been so open we dip into all kinds of styles, original two-step soul, punk and new wave, salsa hip-hop, afro-beat, all the music that reflects our inspiration. "Many styles" as Phil often describes it with a wry smile. The "information' side of our session is about the new music that inspires us, it's no lie to say that we were the first club to truly support and champion "broken beat". Seminal classics such as Afronaught's "Transcend Me" were played first at Inspiration Information. So many great's we've been in the lucky and privileged position to blast exclusively, The Blacktones "Pleasure Ride", Da Lata's "Pra Manha" and "Golden", Blakai's "Afro- Space" and of course a raft of restless soul specials!
As well as all the home grown music we've also played important stateside tunes long before others have got on the case, Dwele for instance, even big hits like Amerie's "One Thing" were played at Inspiration months in advance. Maybe it sounds like idle bragging, but that's just been the way, we don't need to shout about what we do, and we've survived a decade with only minimal promotion.
We've been dedicated to our Friday night session for all these years, however from time to time one of us will take a booking elsewhere or be on tour, and that's given us the opportunity to bring in some great guests, Osunlade, Kenny Dope, Rich Medina, Modaji, Dego, IG culture, Mike Slocombe, Bembe Segue, Shuya and Yoshihiro Okino, Masaya Fantasista and Taro (Jazzy Sport). DJ Mitsu the Beats,Noel Watson, Orin Walters, aka Afronaught, Daz-I-Kue, Mark Force, Alex Attias, Karl Injex and Tyler Askew, Tyrone Francis, Jason Palma, Ross Allen, Jimbo, Zaf, Luke McCarty, Dobie Alex Pratt, Dj Deep, Dave Jarvis, Sylvie, Helen Asher, Kindred spirits one and all who've understood what the night's about, which is why we rarely book anyone who hasn't been down to the session first.
Not forgetting our Ladies 1st roster of warm-up selectors, as female djs are so chronically under represented it was a no brainer for us when the club extended it's hours to introduce our soulful ladies. So respect to Katie Barber, Sasha Field, Hannah Sawtell and Michelle McGuire.
Recently we started a program of live performances to further boost the early session bringing a new dimension to the night. As we look forward to celebrating our 10th anniversary this summer, Inspiration Information remains an essential part of our lives, and it's been a healthy antidote to the fickle trends of dance music. To start each weekend with a powerful dose of classic soulful grooves reminds us where we're coming from"
Patrick Forge
