SOULPHONETICS

Soulphonetics – a musically-conscious and globally-minded Chicago-based DJ collective- co-founded by producers Caswell James and Christian Vera, amongst others- promises a night of non-stop soulful-netics during their 3-year-anniversary of Dance Syndrome, one of their most popular evenings, this Saturday, April 28th at Taxim.

“Soulphonetics has been around for eight years. The people who founded Soulphonetics originally are Caswell, Cordell Johnson, and David Chavez, and they brought me in as a lead promoter,” says member DJ Christian Vera. He continues, “when Johnson and Chavez branched out to meet the needs of the city’s musical appetites, such as Excursions at Subterranean or Chavez’s SoundCulture, I stepped in. I used to host my own parties and would spin music that speaks to Soulphonetics, and that’s how I got involved.”



Soulphonetics was founded with the purpose of creating a scene specifically anchored in the traditions and contemporary sounds of Afro-Latin music that spans the scope of Bossa Brazilian Break Beats to Baile Funk to Batacuda to Samba Reggae while organically weaving in the electronic rhythms nestled in House and Latin Jazz grooves. They have succeeded in diversifying the breadth of their musical compendium by collaborating with and bringing in world renowned DJs such as Maga Bo and Quantic, New York’s favorite Uproot Andy, and Chicago’s own Mwelwa, NewLife, Sonorama, SoundCulture, and StarFoxxx. In addition to hosting live music and spoken word acts, which include Luciano Antonio, The Opposition Party, Planeta Azul, The Color Brown, and Zuzuka Poderosa, Passistas Samba Dance Group are always gracing the scene with their colorful, shimmering, kaleidoscopic costuming and rhythmically, hip-swaying Samba moves.

Previously housed at the Social Butterfly Club on Grand Avenue, Soulphonetics has moved to a spot that has less of an urban feel (for those of you who recall the Butterfly) to Taxim, a more eclectic lounge with ample dance space, flavorful hookah to appease any midnight palette, and a summertime rooftop that overlooks the city lights in the heart of Wicker Park.

“We like Taxim because it’s a fairly new music venue that we’re helping introduce to Chicago that simultaneously provides us with the space to be as musically creative as we want, ” says the Soulphonetics duo.

Given their growing popularity over the past three years, Soulphonetics has musically enlightened the collective consciousness by opening for international acts such as Les Nubians and Luisa Maita, by playing at major summer music festivals such as Summer Vibez, and at a number of elite Chicago venues: too many to name here. They have held several residencies, most recently at the Underground Wonder Bar for a weekly event appropriately titled The International Love Affair, an intimate evening where they spun fused, global-lounge electronic beats. Listen below to get a taste of what Soulphonetics is about:



Whether you attend the 3-year-anniversary this Saturday which features Brooklyn-based, Venezuelian born PataFunk and Afro-Puerto Rican Nuestro Tambo, or one of their regular and monthly Dance Syndrome parties at Taxim (every last Saturday of the month), there is no doubt that Soulphonetics will make you unfurl your most dynamic self and your most gravitating dance moves! - Gozamos

Brazilian electronica has been hard to come by in Chicago — or anywhere in the Midwest, for that matter. But if the global fusionists at SOULPHONETICS have their way, the thundering favela beats known as Baile funk or Carioca funk are coming here to stay.

Call it a meeting of the minds. “The idea came from friends who kept asking me about Baile funk in Chicago,” said Will “from Brazil” de Carvalho, a musician who performs with Chicago Samba and and The Cecy Santana Band when he’s not fronting his own eponymous band. “I decided to fill this gap in the local Brazilian scene. The idea is to provide a new Brazilian party alternative for the community and anyone who’s interested.”

So he approached DJ Christian Vera of SOULPHONETICS. “I was also getting the itch of doing an all out ‘funk’ night for quite some time,” Vera said. “Not that we [SOULPHONETICS] didn’t play it regularly, because you know we play it a lot, but we mix it up with the other mashups and global sounds we are known for.”



And yes, the music is the real deal. “You’ll get to hear it all,” Vera said. “From old school classics to new school, Funk melody to Rasteirinha, carioca bass to Proibidão and anything that people enjoy dancing to.”

Stream the first 10 minutes or so of the Future Rootz Radio above for a sample of the goods, and if you like what you hear, make sure to show your support — the plan is to make this a weekly night.

Friday, Dec. 12, 10:00 p.m. – 4:00 a.m. @ Rehab
Free with RSVP til Midnight ($5 w/o)
$5 after Midnight with RSVP ($10 w/o) - Brazil USA News

DJ collective Soulphonetics recently played a hot live set at Chicago’s Crimson Lounge. Christian and Caswell flooded the room with house, hip-hop, jazz, Afro-Latin and electronic rhythms that you can now enjoy even if you couldn’t attend the party. Enjoy the 2-hour set below and feel free to download. - Sinuous Magazine

"Tusoni2 and Sound Culture brought a Sunday night of Latino hip hop to a sold out Subterranean featuring Ana Tijoux in concert promoting her new album, “Vengo”.

The Color Brown started the night flowing Spanish rhymes while SOULPHONETICS was spinning the beats. Tijoux came out afterwards with her full band behind her.

She kicked off her set with tracks from her recently released album, “Vengo” but mixing it up with tracks like 1977, Sacar la Voz, and La Bala." - Extra News

We’re no strangers to the awesomeness of Soulphonetics. The fact that they’re celebrating their first anniversary at Harbee’s only makes us like them even more. It says a lot about their success as music makers, selectors and overall booty-shakin’ DJs extraordinaire. Join their anniversary celebration this Friday, January 9th at Harbee’s in Pilsen. They’ve invited DJ Marcus Doucette along for the night’s festivities.

We asked Christian Vera a few questions about Soulphonetics residency at Harbee’s as well as some of their favorite songs of 2014.

soulphonetics

What has one year at Harbee’s done for your music library?

Regardless of where we play our music library is always expanding in all directions, in different colors, in different genres, in different lengths, in different moods. You feel me?

How does this residency differ from others?

Hmm. I would would say that here we feel at home, cozy and able to just play without any issues from the promoter, owner, crowd & such. We like that feeling. It reminds us of our days at the old Butterfly Social Club and our dance Syndrome parties.

What can someone expect to see and hear at “CHEEKY!”?

Expect to hear and see anything and everything. One night Caswell wound up playing just drum & bass and cumbia while another night I only played deep house and hip-hop. In other words, musically we have no boundaries. You’ll see people losing their minds on the dance floor just taking in anything we feed them.

What’s up with Soulphonetics in 2015?

The cliche “bigger & better things” applies. We’re aiming for more gigs out of state and across the country. We want to release new music as well as new remixes we are working on for other artists.

(Excuuuse the question, y’all but…) What were the most requested songs of 2014?

That always varies… but, for the most part we ignore requests. Sorry but that’s just a given for most DJs. PEOPLE! WE ARE DJ’s! NOT JUKEBOXES! - GOZAMOS