Skinned #2: Garth Be [Sweet Sticky]

Thank God for Garth Be. His recent The Seven Movements LP is one of the most perfectly sculpted collections to come out of Manchester in recent memory. We're talking high calibre emotion here, people; it's a record that more than deserves a place in the soul-soothing section of your shelf, probably filed next to Glenn Underground or Theo Parrish. In fact, you can hear Garth channel the vibrations of Chicago and Detroit in almost everything he touches, from the feel good hop of Moodymann-style house, through squelchy quasi-acid adventures, to the darker arts practiced by Jeff Mills and the like.

But there's an extra element to Garth Be's work that reeks of originality. Like his music, it's hard to pin down in definite terms, almost as though the essence of his sound is constantly pulsating into something else. This mix sums up his style to a tee, so, without further ado, let's all take an hour to feast on this fine selection of twinkling keys, warm pads and murkier moments designed for the witching hour and beyond. Pure heat.

The Skinny: Hey Garth, how’s 2014 been treating you so far?
Garth Be: Sofas are good. I've finally found solid ground to launch my new label, Sweet Sticky, which is a big milestone for me. That along with being fortunate enough to meet a group of people who share similar creative objectives so, all in all, feeling blessed this year.

To our shame, we only came across the name BE last year on your Hudd Traxx EP – before that, you have to go back another six years to your first release on StilLove4Music. What were you doing with yourself in that time?
At least we've found each other now! Back then I was doing the same thing as I am now. Maybe not going out as much, but still very musically driven. Six years ago was a heavy time. Within a year I'd lost my soulmate, five years worth of productions and everything I was using to make music; my girlfriend died and my flat got robbed. I was a bit of a mess for a while, and I didn't get another set up for two years. Finally getting back into the swing of things now.

There’s not much biographical detail out there on Garth Be – can you take us on a brief whistle-stop tour of your musical journey, and what influenced you growing up in the Northwest?
It all properly started when my sister introduced me to Doggystyle and Black Sunday. That turned me on to funk, soul, jazz... Later, I worked at HMV. Gilles Britton – not Peterson, unfortunately – who was my boss, and sort of a Gilles Peterson figure, put me onto loads of good hip-hop and broken beat. I started DJing at a Revolution bar and met Simon Wycherley. He introduced me to Moodymann, UR, Larry Levan, Chicago, Detroit, New York house... lots of really deep, ace house and techno. They were my foundations. Then I went to Eyes Down and everything totally changed. I've been making music since I was 13. Everything I've done along the way has always referenced what I've been listening to or what's been happening day-to-day. I think I'm at a point now where I feel comfortable with the equipment I'm using and what's coming out of the speakers.

What’s your studio set up saying at the moment?
It's an absolute shit tip! I've got an MPC2000XL, Nord Rack 2, MC-303, Kawai K1, Roland D-110, Logic Platinum 5.5 on a PC, a Teac X-1000R (gifted to me by Jonathan Davidson RIBA Snr - thank you!) some decks, a bag of records, and lots of other random shit everywhere.

The Seven Movements LP, is sold out everywhere – and rightly so. How long did it take to put together, and what were the biggest challenges you faced throughout the whole process?
The tracks were all done in the last year, apart from Don't Want, which is a bit older. There was an issue with Dreamline. The test press came back too muddy and I had to change the track. I'd layered two baselines and it was too heavy. The biggest challenge was actually pressing the button and starting the label.

The artwork is pretty rad, too.
Yeah! That's been done by myself, Richard Harris, Rachel DL and, more recently, Joe Whitmore. In terms of the sleeves, they were all stamped by hand. Me and Richard painted the sleeves, and he did the paintings that were used for the centre stickers on the record. In both cases we were responding to the music from the album and representing it visually. That's essentially the method. Joe's done the same thing with the animations he's done for the repress. At some point I'll put out a release that does the opposite – music made in response to something visual. When one action starts inspiring another you get this perpetual cycle going from one thing to another. Within that there's all these reactions going off, and that's the main focus of the label, to capture those reactions. Working like that, the tracks come out like musical sketches, some more complete than others, some more polished than others, but they all reflect a point in time and they're all very honest.

What can we expect from Garth Be in the rest of the year?
Currently waiting for the US/Japan repress to drop. Had an issue with metal work being 'mothers'. Baffled me too, but it's all invaluable experience. There'll be an exhibition at Soup Kitchen, for a month, starting 1 August. Rachel DL, Richard Harris and Joe Whitmore will be flexin upstairs and then, in the basement, there's a nightclubbing experience ’til 5am. Bring your self-contained underwater breathing apparatus.

Tell us about your mix.
It was done at home, first takes, no planning, no rehearsal (it shows), pulling records off the floor, that've been on rotation in my bag over the last few months and haven't made it back on to the shelves. Roughly spliced together on a ropey Behringer mixer (Alexander Fingal Martin). The tracks are from records I love, put together in an honest way.

TRACKLIST IN PROGRESS

New World Aquarium - Trespassers
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LK - Perhentian
Funkinevil - In The Grid
Drexciya - Living On The Edge
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Jonas Kopp - Alkitran

Keep a keen eye pointed towards Sweet Sticky's online basecamp here.