Ski Oakenfull- Acid Jazz's New House Hero

Ex Galliano and Talking Loud playa Ski Oakenfull recently went solo with the release of his acclaimed album Life Changes, a soulful collection of downtempo funky house cuts. Previously synonymous with acid jazz the London based producer recently took up DJing and appears well placed to carve himself a lucrative new niche.

"Acid Jazz and Talkin' Loud tended to overshadow the acts that were on the labels. I wasn't that conscious of the scene at the time, I just liked going out and playing music." Ski chatted to Skrufff's Jonty Adderley last week about his new switch to house music and the legacy of 10 years of working in London's leftfield dance scene. "Acid jazz provided a chance for musicians to shine," he said. "It seems these days many artists are studio computer bods (techies) and there's far less live music around."

Skrufff.com: You're started work on your solo album in 1999, when did you actually create the music-
Ski Oakenfull: "When I actually decided to properly make and finish my album I was drawing from ideas over the last four years. I'd previously being doing loads of other projects and I'd be doing my own thing whenever I had a spare moment, though never properly finishing things. Half of the songs are new, the other half are ones I've finished off but I had a lot to choose from - from thirty five tracks to twelve."

Skruff.com: Your website biography says "obviously we're not dealing with acid jazz anymore', when did you decide to put aside the acid jazz thing-
Ski Oakenfull: "I didn't write the biog to be honest, but I never consciously reached a point of deciding to no longer make acid jazz music because I never thought I was doing that anyway. It was quite coincidental that I found myself involved with Gilles Peterson and being asked to join Galliano. I first signed a record deal when I was in a band called K Creative when I was 20 and we certainly weren't listening to his (Gilles Peterson's) radio show and we certainly weren't making jazzy tinged hip hop. We were much more interested in American hip hop and house music at that stage. Then we entered that world and started meeting different people. To me the defining acid jazz moment was joining Galliano but I always felt that I brought a new flavour to the band. When I made this new album it reflected all the influences from my background - there's certainly a jazz influence there because I'm a keyboard player and I've always loved people like Herbie Hancock and Joe Zawinal. But also house people, like Larry Heard, for example, inspired me."

Skrufff.com: Herbie Hancock was seriously rude both times I interviewed him years ago, though loads of musicians love him, did you actually work with him-
Ski Oakenfull: "In a very roundabout way, I was never in the same room as him. I've worked with Bluey from Incognito quite a lot and he was commissioned to do a Herbie Hancock remix. He asked me along to do that one. He'd done this Rhodes (keyboard) solo on this horrible, cheesy keyboard and we thought 'Fuck that, let's put a real Rhodes solo on it.' It was bizarre replacing his solo. I must admit, I've been disappointed when I've seen him because I wanted him to get his old instruments out and retain his old vibe. I saw the Headhunters at the Barbican a few years ago and they were awful. He's probably someone that's been so idolized by so many people that it's sent him nuts (mad)."

Skruff.com: Wasn't your album due out in the UK last December-
Ski Oakenfull: "It was released in France and most of the rest of Europe then but in the UK it was originally supposed to come out on Incredible (Sony UK's dance label). They put out the first single with a Pascal F.E.O.S. progressive house mix, and that did quite well actually. Then office politics appeared, someone left the company and it got picked up by Ngenda. People have known me for Gallliano but now people are starting to recognise me for my own music which is q Tags

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