Catalogue Number: LMD024
Release Date: May 2009

A1: Shadowbox
B1: Gershon Got It Poppin’
B2: Hazey

The Lowdown

We’re not going to bother getting all clever on this one – the ‘Basement Vibes EP’ by Kelvin K is a deep house release.  Pure and simple.  No cheeky disco samples, no filtered breakdowns, no grand claims of reinventing genres.  It’s just solid, no-nonsense, heads down deep house from one of the best in the business.

Born in England, but brought up in the San Francisco Bay area, Kelvin K is now back in Brighton.  This San Francisco upbringing, alongside a move to Philadelphia where he became acquainted with Josh Wink and King Britt, goes a long way to explain some of the slick deep house grooves he creates.  Add to this the fact he worked as studio manager at the infamous Moulton Studios, home to the likes of Miguel Migs, Jay J and Chris Lum, and you know Kelvin K will deliver some of the finest deep house on around.

As a result, Kelvin comes from the school of quality not quantity; he works to develop strong bonds with labels and only releases music that he believes to be the best he can produce.  Having said that, the quality is so good that he’s had releases on some of the most respected underground labels out there including Nordic Trax, Tango, Nightshift and Multitracked, and his records tend to be the ones that stick around in boxes for a long time.

Kelvin began working with Lost My Dog earlier in 2008 when he remixed Daniel Kyo’s ‘Hypnotized’  and ‘Basement Vibes EP’ is a fitting continuation of the relationship.

Magazine Reviews

DMC Update – 5/5

This is a great UK label, filling a vital gaping hole for the many bemoaning the absence of slightly-twisted house labels like Classic and M.F.F. while joining imprints like 2020  as a bastion of pure, deep house. A good example is this EP from UK-born, San Francisco-bred, Phialdelphia house-schooled, now Brighton-based producer Kelvin, who serves up three tracks recalling the golden age of New York deep house. ‘Shadowbox’ harks back to early 90s creations on labels like Nu Groove and Strictly Rhythm with sighing strings and elegant keyboards, albeit on a slightly tougher, upbeat groove. ‘Gershon Got It Poppin” injects leaping acid, while ‘Hazey’ is melodic, resonant and quite lovely. Massively worth a dive. 

iDJ – 8/10

He’s been all over the shop this Kelvin character.  Blighty-born, brought up in San Fran, thence to Philadelphia and now residing in Brighton.  It shows in his music.  The three tracks here are full of house histor, from old skoolist Nu Groove mannerisms to deep Chicago acid and warm, gliding soulful gear.

iDJ – 7/10

“Deep house pure and simple”, says the press release, and yep, that’s the nail hit pretty firmly on the head.  All three tracks here are solid dancefloor workouts with a distinctly old-skool flavour: the Chi-town squelch of ‘Gershon Got It Poppin” is my fave but they’ll all do the do, mos def. 

DJ Reactions

 
Honey Dijon: Gershon Got It Poppin – loves it!

SCOPE: This is proper classy deep house. They really remind me of early Chez & Ron stuff.. And thats defo a good thing!! Proper “Basement Vibes” indeed. 

Fred Everything: nice simple deep grooves, thx

Demarkus Lewis: Kelvin K rocks it with this EP… Classic deepness with dancefloor energy .. niiice!!!

Jason Hodges: Got that old school sound thats makin a huge come back

Olivier Desmet: Love Shadowbox, proper mid 90′s kaoz 6:23 vibe, I’m all over it. Nice one Kelvin!

Peter Christianson: Kelvin delivers as always. “Gershon Got It Poppin’” is sure to find long life in my bag.

Manuel Tur: shadow box sounds really cool! 

Giom: Deepness to the maxxxxx!! Absolutely love “Gershon”, it is the one for me, pure acid pleasure.

Andy Inland Knights: gershon got it poppin is wicked

Jay West: really driving and moody, love what kelvin did here…thanx!

Ken Christensen: gershon got it poppin good shit! from one of the most underated artists in the world. big fan.

Matthew Bandy: really enjoying shadow box and hazey. will be playing for sure.

Littlemen: nice crisp, deep release. liking the acid vibe on gershan got it poppin. cheers xx

Joshua Heath: i dig got it poppin.. good chugger here, with a little of that acid to get the late night bugs flyin :-)

Luke McKeehan: all tracks super hotttt tamales! Kelvin K is the man nuff said!

Raoul Belmans: Nice tunes from Kelvin! Aciiieedd.

Joshua Iz: Nice EP – always like Kelvin’s stuff…! 

Colette: All three tracks are solid, but Gershon Got It Poppin is the standout for me.

Radio Support

MyHouse-YourHouse (Steve Arnell, Sir Cosmic)
Ibiza Global Radio (Jose Maria Ramon, Joan Ribas)
Beat 102-103 (Ray Colclough)
Club FM (Bobi)
Spin South West (Dan Sykes)
George FM (Daniel McGlashan)
Chicago House FM (Rob Clarke, Louis Hughes)
Kiss FM Russia (DJ Electric)
XFM (Geoff M)
Juice FM (Thomas Tuft)
SSRadio (Nick Power)

Click here to listen or download

Kelvin K Press Kit

Following that is a Pete Dafeet record (LMD025) called ‘Alto’ featuring remixes from Nacho Marco, YSE and Johan ELG.

Catalogue Number: LMDX002
Release Date: June 2008

1: The Droid
2: Hypnotized (Kelvin K Remix)
3: Hypnotized (Atnarko’s Bump Mix)
4: Hypnotized (Original Mix)

The Lowdown

Spain’s Daniel Kyo (Dani Perez to his mum) joins the Lost My Dog ranks, and keeps the label’s ethos of working with up and coming producers alongside more established names going.  So far the Valencia based producer has found success as one half of Subharmonics, who have impressed with music for Magnolia Digital, Zoomer Community, Addicted Music and most recently Loudeast Records.  Dani has a love of “atmospheric harmonies, deep sounds and groovy rhythms”, something which his two original tracks showcase perfectly on ‘The Droid EP’.

Kelvin K provides the first remix. Born in England, but brought up in the San Francisco Bay area, Kelvin is now back in Brighton. This San Francisco upbringing, alongside a move to Philadelphia where he became acquainted with Josh Wink and King Britt, goes a long way to explain some of the slick deep house grooves he creates.  Add to this the fact he worked as studio manager at the infamous Moulton Studios, home to the likes of Miguel Migs, Jay J and Chris Lum, and you know Kelvin K will create some of the best deep house on offer.  As a result, Kelvin comes from the school of quality not quantity; he works to develop strong bonds with labels and only releases music that he believes to be the best he can produce.  Having said that, the quality is so good that he’s had releases on some of the best labels out there including Nordic Trax, Tango, Nightshift and Multitracked, and his records tend to be the ones that stick around in boxes for a long time.  We were extremely happy at LMD HQ when Kelvin agreed to remix ‘Hypnotized’ because we know he doesn’t just take on any old project.

Also on remix duty is Orlando based Atnarko, who co-owns the Eight-Tracks imprint with Q-Burns Abstract Message.  Atnarko’s own sleek productions, which he describes quite simply as “funky and fun”, have been pressed for underground imprints like Nightshift Recordings, Tango, Lowdown and Robsoul. He joined Patrick Turner for “Explicit Theory” and has worked with folks as varied as drum ‘n’ bass eradicator AK1200 and house-diva DJ Heather. His collaborations with British house-legend Huggy as “Formidable Force” for the 2020 Vision label landed in the record crates of the world’s top house DJs who prized their quirky, yet floor-movin’ vibes.

Magazine Reviews

iDJ – 4/5
As if to emphasise the fact that he’s one to watch, here’s Daniel Kyo again with two more shimmering melodic housers. Once again his cuts are bang on the money but they’re outdone by some pretty special remixes of ‘Hypnotized’ from Kelvin K and Atnarko respectively.  Both, in their different ways, are so deep they more than live up to the track’s title.

DJ Reactions

Mazi
Lost My Dog is single handedly keeping my faith alive in house music. The Atnarko mix is as good as anything he’s done and the guy is badass.

Johnny Fiasco
Original mix is incredibly deep.. spacious and inspirational. Love it.

Laurent Garnier
will fit perfectly in the set.

Shur-i-kan
Very nice tracks. Thanks!

Inland Knights
great ep.. loving the original of Hypnotized.

DJ Linus
nice and deep – right down my alley.

Funky Transport
loving atnarkos fresh take on this. great percussion.

Anthony Pappa
All tracks are very good. Excellent release.

Nacho Marco
Dani is just a great producer. Both originals are damn good. Really into the remixes too. Full support.

Blacksoul
beautiful deep house!! LMD cant do wrong!!

Murray Richardson
Great remixes on this overall cool ep, kelvin k mix doing it for me!

Mark Farina – Excellent

Da Sunlounge – Love the Atnarko Mix

Joshua Iz
Love the original and Atnarko Remix and Kelvin’s is dope too. Will play all 4 tracks.

Olivier Desmet
All 4 cuts are smooth and excellently produced. lush stuff. LMD always delivers.

Jevne Miller
The Droid is dope ! really smooth! Freerange style!

Scope
What a cool release.. Lovin this.

Harold Heath
Two cool remixes but the pick of the bunch by a mile are the two Kyo originals, top records, top label

Radio Support

Global Soul Radio
Danceradio.gr
RMC2 Radio
MyHouse-YourHouse
Proton Radio
DI.FM
209radio
Topradio
Ministry of Sound
Unknown fm
Ibiza Global Radio
Dinamo FM 109.8
WHCR 90.3 FM
Radio FRITZ
Magma FM
Chicago House FM
Beat 102-103
Spin South West

Where are you and how the heck are you?

“At the moment I am in Brighton, listening to jazz and relaxing before heading out to LA then SF to see friends and play. I’ve been living in Brighton for the last seven years. On a personal level am good, I’m blessed with good people in my life. Money is not abundant but I survive and most importantly I am happy. It sounds cliche but music in all forms makes me feel content. I tried stepping away and figured that out. It’s a tough time for everyone but I still feel blessed.”

You’ve done a bit of traveling over the years… San Francisco, Philadelphia and now back to Brighton, UK. How have those places influenced you musically and where do you like best?

“That’s a good question. I will take the influence bit first. In terms of influence, SF has got to be highest on the list because it’s where I got exposed to House and became involved. SF has always had some incredible djs and listening to them week in and week out certainly helped frame my ideas about what I like. Also, it was just a magical time in the early 90′s coming off of some pretty hard times in the states. With the risk of sounding cliche again, the parties really were amazing back then. Ironically, the first djs to really expose me and a whole lot of other people to what was primarily American music back then were from the UK. To this day they still have a huge influence on SF.

Next Philly – I guess this is where I got exposed to a more East Coast style of House and that broadened my perspective. In SF it was more Chicago Acid and had that SF pscyhedelic twist – dubby. But in Philly I got exposed to a more vocal and soulful side as well as more techno influenced stuff. I went out looking for House and ended up latching on to nites that King Britt and Josh Wink were doing, along with some of the other great local Philly Djs. I was only in Philly for a few years, but that experience really shaped my appreciation of the Philly/NY/NJ sound.

Now Brighton – Brighton is really where I have started to produce. Living by the sea and having more time generally here than the states has been great. I think Brighton is where I’ve really started to try and put together all of my influences and start to develop my own take in the studio. It’s a learning process and I am progressing constantly.

And now to the LIVING question! It’s a real toss up between SF and Brighton for me. I loved Philly, but I was always a West Coast boy and Brighton feels more familiar with its laid back vibe. I love living in the UK for all sorts of reasons, especially because I like to travel to foreign countries. It stretches your mind. It’s quick and relatively cheap to do that compared to the states, where you are so far away. But, SF is a fantastic place to live. California’s people, and it’s weather just nice. Not to mention Mexican food, which I love. If I could I would live half here half there!”

Time for a quick USA vs UK showdown, which side of the pond do you favour for…

“Sport? Gotta be UK. I love football. Proper football that is :)
Food? Gonna be the states here. It varies where you live there, but SF has amazing food and varieties of food. It wins on the Mexican food alone!
DJing & Parties? That’s a tough one. I’d probably say the UK for djing because there’s always been more support for our music here. Probably the same for parties, but my best partying memories are in San Francisco.
Lifestlye? UK. I am really into life balance and not working all the time. In the US it’s all about work work work. Also, where I live, I don’t even need a car. In the states it’s basically a necessity, because public transport is terrible in general. You don’t realize how much of your life you are wasting in cars and traffic until you break free. I am a huge public transport fan.
Girls? “I wish they all could be Californian girls”. Nuff said?”

Which artists are currently exciting you within house music?

“Franck Roger, Shur-I-Kan, Jovonn, Deepblak, Patrick Turner, Marlon D, Iz, Abicahsoul, Brother’s Vibe, JT Donaldson, Fred Everything, Replika, Jay Tripwire, DJ Fudge, Ron Trent, Pete Dafeet, BitterSuite etc… just good House not some microcosm genre. And of course the classics always excite me – Earth People “Dance” gets me going as much as ever and I am a big Jerzey Boy fan.”

And away from house, what other styles of music and artists are you into?

“I’m listening to Jazz now but I also listen to the Blues sometimes. A fair bit of Funk and Hip Hop and classic Soul and R and B. Good rock and Ska, mostly older stuff for me. Artsits like Webster Lewis, John Coltrane, Muddy Waters, Parliament, James Brown, Gangstaar, Black Sheep, X clan, the whole Atlantic Soul roster especially Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Rolling Stones, Kinks, Specials etc. I love classical too, but I don’t know many of the composers, It chills me out and it’s great to do office stuff to.”

We’re very excited to have you on Lost My Dog, can you tell us a bit about your forthcoming release ‘Basement Vibes EP’?

“Well first off, thank you. I feel proud to join a group of producers that have come before me on such a quality label. The EP sort of reflects my feeling that we can’t forget the roots of House in our efforts to constantly advance. Progress is great, but I think that simple House that it’s all built on can be just as moving. I guess I was sort of feeling what a lot of other people were at the time because we seem to be seeing a resurgence of that raw sound.”

Have you got anything else coming up we should look out for?

“I’ve got an EP due out shortly on Hudd Traxx. It’s a bit more dubby, but still influenced by that retro vibe. I’ve also just signed an EP to Conya so that should be out soon, and there’s some unreleased versions of older trax in the pipeline. I’ve got some remix requests too, so maybe some remixes.”

And finally…have you seen our dog?

“Nope. But I promise to keep looking.”

Welcome to the very first edition of the new Lost My Dogcast. The new monthly show will feature new and recently signed music to the label as well as our current favourite tracks of the month, we shall also be bringing you a exclusive half hour guestmix each month from the world’s best DJs and new talent. So download it and give it a whirl.

Click here to subscribe to the Dogcast

Tracklist

1. Andrew Phelan & Origami ft Audio Angel – Take Your Time (Prismatic Tracks)
2. Bass Experiment – Sick Note (Replika Dub) (Headtunes)
3. Trademarq – Broken Wagon (Bon Johnson Remix) (Bananza)
4. Marko Militano – Lose Control (Frederico Todos Remix) (Lazy Days)
5. Ledesi – Alright (PDP Mix) (Unknown/Matty)
6. Danny Stott – Circuits (Harold Heath ReRub) (Lost My Dog)

Kelvin K Mix

7. Jovonn – MY Pot (Next Moov)
8. The Mocha Chips – Ain’t It Funky (Bronze Mocha Music)
9. Franck Roger – Solltude (Real Tone)
10. Kerri Chandler – Something Deeper (King St/Nitegrooves)
11. Kelvin K – ’92 (Conya)
12. Kelvin k – Shadowbox (Lost My Dog)
13. Replika – Real Thang (Conya)
14. Jovonn – Unknown (White Label)