Music
Press
Beasley Price might sound a bit like a high street furniture store (“Did you see – there’s a half price sale on down at Beasley Price?”) but they’re actually former members of Texan funk crew T Bird & The Breaks and they’ve got an LP out called Is/Are Here. The sound on it is somewhere between old school NY electro from the eighties and Muscle Shoals soul from the sixties which ought to put them temporally and geographically (if not musically) somewhere in the middle of the Appalachians in the seventies. You won’t find any duelling banjos on here though. That’s not to say there’s a lack of acoustic instruments alongside the lo-fi programmed beats however for there are plenty of both. There are also a number of guest spots – the first featuring Texan soulstress LZ Love, with Jazz Mills and T Bird himself also making an appearance – all within the first four tracks. I mention this because actually the strongest of these first four tracks is the catchy lo-fi stank (and album highlight) of the Prince-like Best Of Me where the band supply their own vox. Other highlights include the stuttery electro of Mellow American and the swirly clavinet of instro closer I Like It Mellow. Is/Are Here is not at all what I was expecting and probably not what you are either, though having said that, I’ve just told you what to expect so you there’s no need to act all surprised. - monkeyboxing.com
Beasley Price might sound a bit like a high street furniture store (“Did you see – there’s a half price sale on down at Beasley Price?”) but they’re actually former members of Texan funk crew T Bird & The Breaks and they’ve got an LP out called Is/Are Here. The sound on it is somewhere between old school NY electro from the eighties and Muscle Shoals soul from the sixties which ought to put them temporally and geographically (if not musically) somewhere in the middle of the Appalachians in the seventies. You won’t find any duelling banjos on here though. That’s not to say there’s a lack of acoustic instruments alongside the lo-fi programmed beats however for there are plenty of both. There are also a number of guest spots – the first featuring Texan soulstress LZ Love, with Jazz Mills and T Bird himself also making an appearance – all within the first four tracks. I mention this because actually the strongest of these first four tracks is the catchy lo-fi stank (and album highlight) of the Prince-like Best Of Me where the band supply their own vox. Other highlights include the stuttery electro of Mellow American and the swirly clavinet of instro closer I Like It Mellow. Is/Are Here is not at all what I was expecting and probably not what you are either, though having said that, I’ve just told you what to expect so you there’s no need to act all surprised. - monkeyboxing.com
Discography
Best of Me EP
Is / Are Here - the debut album. Includes tracks that have been featured on KUT 90.5 in Austin, TX.
Photos
Bio
Beasley / Price create music that blends funk, electronic, and dance. Lo-fi electro matched with acoustic instruments like saxophones, trombones, vocals, keys, and the occasional harmonica. It’s Funkatronic. Part live performance, part DJ, all infectious dance with tough attitude and big sounds.
Artists Stephen Beasley and Matthew Price met in 2008 in the studio while recording tracks for T Bird and the Breaks’ acclaimed album, Learn About It. They have since recorded, toured extensively, and played with T Bird and the Breaks, Galactic, and the Sugar Foot Allstars before setting out on their own.
Now, they’ve teamed up to create cutting-edge sounds in funk and dance, writing, recording and producing all tracks for their first album.
On the debut album, Is / Are Here, Beasley and Price collaborated on all aspects of production: song-writing, recording, engineering, and mixing. With the concept of producing large dance tracks, infectious grooves, intelligent lyrics, and lots a hooks.
The album features performances by guest artists T Bird (T Bird and the Breaks), LZ Love (Billy Preston, Parliament Funkadelic, and Stephen Marley), and Jazz Mills (Cowboy and Indian).
“The sound on it is somewhere between old school NY electro from the eighties and Muscle Shoals soul from the sixties…” -MonkeyBoxing.com
Beasley / Price manipulate their recordings on stage. Essentially, they control the recordings live much like a conductor controls an orchestra – in this case, by using digital DJ’ing equipment. On top of that, they add live vocals, horn-lines, keyboards, harmonicas, and improvised solos.
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