Dance Duo JBZ Chat Disco With Société Perrier
JBZ (Jay Bee Zee) are a production duo made up of legendary producer and remixer Marc JB from Bimbo Jones and Simon Bartholomew from Brand New Heavies.
Between them they have been working on a ‘disco album for the modern generation’ titled iDisco which sees collaborations with Basement Jaxx, Omar, KC and the Sunshine Band, Jocelyn Brown, Junior Giscombe and Alabama 3.
We caught up with Marc JB, Simon Bartholomew and collaborator Junior Giscombe in the studio to discuss the project.
What is the idea behind iDisco?
Marc JB: iDisco takes all the funk and musical magic from the 1970s disco era such as live instruments then puts them with modern sampled drum elements to give the tracks an edgy club sub-bass depth. iDisco features multiple musical collaborations on each track to give it a multi-dimensional emotion as can be heard all through '70s Disco Classics.
What do the initial tracks sound like?
Simon Bartholemew: Well there's my Brand New Heavies guitar, you're gonna hear that sound, but also Marc’s vibe from his 71 number 1 dance hits. So it's a fresh sounding familiar set of tunes, you won't be getting any Village People business, it’s more on a soulful tip. Disco got a bad name, but there's some heavy Disco tunes been made.
How did so many collaborators get involved with the project?
Junior Giscombe: I was told about the project from a friend who is also involved. Then I heard from Marc who explained what the project was about and I then got sent a backing track and I couldn't say no.
How does writing with JBZ compare to your writing with Phil Lynott in the past?
JG: Now the two are so different! JBZ are lots of fun and laughter. They’ve got a track on the project that reminds me of Earth Wind and Fire, these guys are hot. Phil was a teacher and helped me to look at music openly.
iDisco will be released later this year
