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Feature: Universal Chromatic - John Beltran
Interviewer: Marcos Moret
Lancing, Michigan native John Beltran is set to release his sixth album in February, and it'll be his second on the Ubiquity label.
First coming to prominence on Carl Craig's Retroactive imprint, his earlier works were very much in the Detroit techno vein.
But with his more recent works Sun Gypsy and Americano, we heard him delving into his Latin heritage
much more deeply. His latest, In Full Color is a entrancingly mellifluous creation, blending beautiful melodies and chord
structures with accomplished production values and stirring Latin rhythms. For more, you can check out our review. But first, read the transcript of our chat with the man himself, as he talks us
through In Full Color, the Candela Arts festival in Puerto Rico, soccer, and crappy Miami trance!
How does In Full Color differ from the last album?
The one right before this was more Brazilian - batucada, a lot of samba rhythms. This one has a lot more of that Afro-Cuban
kind of rhythm. This one’s just a fusion now of maybe a little bit of Brazilian and afro-Cuban and electronic, ambient
things. My cousin rapped on it - Jason Lopez. I’m actually looking to produce him down the line - he’s amazing. That’s the
underlying thing. I think it’s got a little darker vibe. It’s a little more serious.
Were there things going on around you that influenced the way you put this together and the eventual musical outcome?
Oh yeah, I listen to all kinds of stuff. Acoustic, organic stuff, as far as like Latin music and stuff. And the jazz thing.
And if I listen to modern music it’s usually nu-jazz. It comes from a lot of different influences. This one’s kinda summing it
all up, really, from the last ten years of doing this stuff. The ambient thing is big in there. The warmth of the
strings, the chords. The Latin rhyth...these rhythms are pretty focused and pretty ‘dialed-in’ I guess. And as far as
influences, they come from everywhere man. They come from Fania stuff, from these new kids like Seiji doing the remix of
Bachilando. Being Puerto Rican I’m really close to Pablo, the guy who put that whole thing up [the Candela Arts Festival -
Ed.], that whole scene in Puerto Rico. So as far as the modern contemporary stuff, that’s totally what I’m feeling. I like
that track by Jaleo by Truby Trio - that’s some really cool stuff - you can play that to Spaniards and that’s authentic stuff
, I mean it’s hittin’. But it also works in the clubs. So a lot of this stuff that people are making today is really
authentic, traditional stuff, and I’m totally in on that.
Tell us a bit more about your time in Puerto Rico.
We played the Candela Arts Festival a few months ago. And that was the coolest thing I’ve ever been to. I wish I was
writing this album during that period. I guess it’ll cross over into the next album. But it was just a dope vibe, the people
were so cool, a lot of the Straight No Chaser cats were there, a lot of great artists. Ayro played a live set, John
Arnold...Ayro and John Arnold are very good friends of mine. It was just a great group of people down there. Osunlade was
down there. So you can imagine the scene.
Where do you live?
I’m like a gypsy. I’ve spent some time out in California, Los Angeles, Florida. I’m going back to Florida for at least the
winter. I’ve got a residency at this brand new club. I’m gonna a try to flip it there and crush all that crap music they’ve
been playing in Miami for so long. I think they’re getting done with that whole trance crap...I’m really looking to go down
there and make a change. The club is called Nocturnal, and it’s 3 levels. We’re looking to do a party for the Winter Music
Conference there so I want to bring in people like the Jazzanova
kids, Bugz, the Candela crew. Looking to do a pretty awesome party.
What’s your background with Ayro and John Arnold? Was that from when you used to live in Detroit?
Sure, like in Detroit everybody knows each other. More so, I think, than in London. Like sometimes when I ask if a person
knows someone in London, they don’t necessarily know. But in Detroit it’s pretty tight-knit. Whether they like each other
or not is another story [laughter]. So I worked with Ayro...I was supposed to go on a Transnet tour: Derek May had this
live band assembled and I was supposed to play a part of it - a huge tour around the world. I decided just to drop out of
it, I wasn’t feeling it. Jeremy took over. It was about 5 years ago and Jeremy – Ayro – took over my spot. And we just
kinda became cool after that. Worked on at track with him - Aztec Girl on LTJ Bukem’s Earth 4. Ayro sang on that and played
keys on it. John Arnold played guitar solos - really awesome guitar solos. I met John through Ayro, and just became really
good friends. Those are the kinda guys I like hanging with - they’re my kinda people.
So how did you go about putting the album together?
On Kissed By The Sun, I just finished the music, and sent Ayro the song and he wrote the vocals. And I didn’t have
the guitar solo on there yet, so I took his vocals, and I took all my files and went down to Miami and finished this song
down there. And that’s kinda how it goes. Colonel Red’s singing on a track, and really just sent him the song and he sent
the vocal files back, and kinda worked it that way.
Looking at your Mexican/Puerto Rican side of things, are there any particular sounds that you grew up with that you
think have filtered through to your work now, or people you can really look up to from those two countries?
Ruben Blades. You know, any of the Fania guys: Willie Colon, Hector Lavoe, Ray Barretto. That’s the stuff my Dad listened to -
he had all the records. My Dad actually used to kick these tracks, big time. He’s Puerto Rican but he hung out with a lot
of Mexicans. I grew up in these funny times where they’d play some salsa and by the end of the night they’re all singing
Mariachi tunes. So that was bizarre, but none of that stuff filtered through. I was just a little kid, I was off
playing with Star Wars figures while my Dad’s friends...it was a funny old scene but it was pretty cool actually. They were
all pretty much just normal guys but by the end of the night they were all singing together.
This was when you were in Detroit, was it?
In Lancing, Michingan.
Do you have any other strong interests outside of music?
I’m all about soccer man! English teams? I’d have to say Liverpool, but Real Madrid’s my team. But I
like to watch Man U, I can’t deny that, they’re just crazy good. I play quite a bit but I hurt my knee over the summer,
playing basketball actually, in this tournament thing, and I haven’t played soccer for a while. They have this team over
here and I play with Irish and English cats and it’s an awesome brand of football...but yeah I can’t do it this winter
because my knee’s kinda screwed up, but hopefully I’ll get back into it soon enough.
Can you pick a couple of the songs on the album and tell us how they came about, what they mean to you, what they were
about?
Yeah okay. Candela: you’ve got this Brazilian kinda samba bassline with Puerto Rican vocals which is pretty rare. I liked
it when it was done but now I hear it in clubs, and people are actually talking about it...it means so much more to see it
kinda touching people. So I actually really really like it now. And I love the vocals.
The vocals lend it a kind of rawness, from a personal perspective. I guess it’s partly because at the beginning you’ve got
the talking about setting up the jam session or wehatever you had going on. And it just lends a certain party atmosphere
to it.
If you hear an English accent on it that’s Orin [Orin Walters aka Afronaught - Ed.]. In fact, right before the rhythm starts, you hear him go “La Candela!”, a little off, outta key. Yeah, that was a
pretty cool recording session – it had a traditional vibe – a little raw, a little dirty, for sure. Like I said, it was
kind of a weird mix for me at the beginning, doing a kinda samba bassline to it. And then to have those really authentic
Puerto Rican vocals - it was kind of a weird thing. I don’t want to keep doing the same thing over and over so, yeah, I’m
excited by that track.
Then I guess the Colonel Red track for me – Your Colors – for me it’s kinda along the lines of Masters at Work -
I’m really big on those two. But it has great solos in there by John Arnold who’s playing guitar on the track. And
Colonel Red is pretty awesome. So that one that as a producer I love to listen to. There’s a great bass player on that
track, great guitar work, and the vocals, so that one for me is the most fun to listen to. Kinda outside of me, yet me.
Everything else I pretty much had complete control over - composition...obviously not the vocal stuff from like Jeremy and on
Candela - that’s cool coz those are new elements in my music. But this was kinda loose and free and had a lot of different
expression...
Where did the title come from: 'Your Colors’?
I usually just kinda write in a fictitious way about about somebody. Like She Is is really not about anybody, it’s
kind of made up kind of thing. When I was younger I used to write very specifically about somebody or something. Now I can
kinda just create outside...outside looking in. That’s one thing about the album there’s nothing really too specific on it
(apart from Kissed By The Sun) which is the way I like it. When I look back on the album, I’ll probably really feel
good in the sense that it’s not dated in my own mind, you know?
I suppose it, in a way, it makes it more applicable to any situation you might find yourself in.
Hopefully other people are feeling that too out there - that it’s pretty broad.
What are you doing now? And, other than promoting this, what are you going to be working on next?
I’m just doing some remixing right now. A Colonel Red track. And I just did an Osunlade remix. Also look for the Astor
Piazolla remix album - I’m on it and so is John Arnold. I'm remixing Xantone Blacq’s Search For The Sun. It’s kinda got a
Seiji afrobeat feel to it - it’s gonna be hot! And then waiting to get out of here and head down to Miami and just
start writing tunes and building up that party.
NOTE: 'In Full Colour' is released in the US and UK on 17 February 2004
Read the Know The Ledge review of 'In Full Color' here.
RELATED LINKS:
In Full Color - Know The Ledge's review
Ubiquity
Discography
Buy In Full Color at Amazon.com
CD
Buy Sun Gypsy at Amazon.com
CD
PUBLISHED: Thursday 18 December 2003
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::: RELATED LINKS
Review of In Full Color - on
Know The Ledge.
Ubiquity
Discography
Buy In Full Color at Amazon.com
CD
Buy Sun Gypsy at Amazon.com
CD
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