You have to have some big ones to say you'll be known as Moodymanc but that's what DJ, producer, drummer did when he had his first deep house moniker so what's with the change to Balaphonic? YATM goes north to find out!
Of course, if Danny Ward wasn't based in Manchester, the name tribute to Moodymann (aka Kenny Dixon Jr. of Detroit legendary status) would not have worked nearly so well (if at all) but he's also known as Dubble D and as a drummer he's played with Fila Brazillia, Rae & Christian, The Pharcyde plus Manc jazz legend Matthew Halsall and Nat Birchall. So, when we know 'Resolution Revolution' started during lock-down, the obvious question is,did you want to get away from you Moodymanc persona for this new/different project?
DW: I started making and releasing music as “Balaphonic” around 10 years ago and have been DJing out under that name too, mainly as a resident at ‘One Tree Island’, a long standing party here in Manchester with the focus on playing dance floor music which comes or draws from influences from right across the globe.
As a project it started with me recording grooves on a Balafon (a type of African Xylophone) and building around them by recording live drums and percussion instruments from my ever expanding collection, sometimes inviting musician friends to collaborate by jamming then developing those ideas further.
I’ve tended to always make different music under different names and as a part of different projects: Dubble D, Vault:, Lenny Middles, as well as 2020 Soundsytem and more.
Given that clubs suddenly stopped during lockdown I found myself exploring the same recording techniques I’d been developing over a number of years but with a lot more freedom and time for experimentation.
YATM: And as the six tracks are all so good, if we can go through all of them, the next one 'Disorganics' (All Strings Mix) where the strings is the guitar/bass and that's prime Balearic but in a stripped mode?
YATM: So we were wondering why did you think NuNorthern Soul would be the label for this project?
DW: I’ve known Phil (Cooper - music lover, radio host & label owner: linktr.ee/phatphilcooper) for many years. He is a wonderful DJ, particularly in the respect of his depth and breadth of music knowledge and also his impeccable taste, something to which I’ve always aspired and admired! On top of this he is simply a warm, positive and honest person. I have learned the hard way over the years that this is perhaps the most important factor to consider when releasing music with anyone and is why I’m very careful in this respect these days!
YATM: And that makes sense as to why they released Maarten Goetheer's 'tribute' to Chick Corea, 'Suite For Chick' (with Pong Nakornchai - see reveiw HERE) and with that in mind, the next track, 'Six Fingers' takes a more percussive marimba in the rainforest approach; a bit experimental like Hermeto Pascoal - and I love the bass which make gives it a jazz flavor and then the sound like an old fashioned phone: it's a bit like the spiritual sounds of Carlos Nino?
Whilst I’m pretty unashamed in wearing my influences on my sleeve in all the projects I do, I’m also more than aware that I can only offer sincerity by my own Mancunian take. Ultimately it’s my own way of ‘resolving’ my musical love affairs (hence the album title!) so to have someone ‘get it’ is incredibly flattering!
One of my favourite sounds on this track is the bell that rings through occasionally. It’s a small brass ‘spider’ bell that was in my Gran’s house when we were kids - one of the only things I have of hers….another ‘resolution’ perhaps?
Many thanks to Danny for the interview and creating such a great album and Sharon at Shine for organising this.
As a project it started with me recording grooves on a Balafon (a type of African Xylophone) and building around them by recording live drums and percussion instruments from my ever expanding collection, sometimes inviting musician friends to collaborate by jamming then developing those ideas further.
I’ve tended to always make different music under different names and as a part of different projects: Dubble D, Vault:, Lenny Middles, as well as 2020 Soundsytem and more.
“Moodymanc” was actually the name of a vinyl imprint that I had through 20:20 Vision (they came up with the name!) though it started to stick as a nickname then artist name later. Some people hated it, some loved it. It’s nice to have a project which has less weight or expectation due to the name though.
The Moodymanc output, though somewhat eclectic has always been within the realms of ‘House’, but the Balaphonic releases, whilst still being aimed at DJs and the dance floor, have always started with a slightly different process: Organic instruments first and wearing their influences on their sleeve in terms of the roots of the rhythmic ideas.
Given that clubs suddenly stopped during lockdown I found myself exploring the same recording techniques I’d been developing over a number of years but with a lot more freedom and time for experimentation.
Initially it was a bit of a challenge to develop tracks without considering specific tempo ranges or sounds and arrangements that might be geared mainly towards club DJing, but it became really liberating to let the instruments and playing guide the shape of the music first. It eventually led me to re-visit some of the previous Balaphonic projects and jam sessions I’d had with friends with a fresh approach, as well as getting involved in some collaborations which came about in a similar spirit.
YATM: Funny enough, the album kicks off with something that's DJ and future beach/Balearic/dub all at the same time, the must have 2025 track 'Sunflowers In Dub (Deep Summer Mix)'? It's very Augustus Pablo in the rainforest; what was your vision for this?
DW: I absolutely love that description, thanks!
I made an original version which was released on my own ‘Well Cut Records’ back in 2017 as part of the ‘Balinese Saints’ EP. At that time, I’d been revisiting a lot of dub music but also remember thinking of “Towers of Dub” by The Orb.
I’ve been playing with a wonderful harmonica player and old friend, Robin Sunflower for many years in various projects (and still do) so I asked him to come into the studio and jam over the original beats on a couple of different harmonicas. I then used an old school technique of heavily fed back delays and channel muting on/off with those tracks to ‘dub out’ the takes.
I don’t play tons of my own stuff out DJ wise, but it’s been one that I’ve dug out often in late night or very early morning moments for its blissful, floating vibe. For this version I stripped out all the previous drum tracks and started re recording, but with a half-time, almost a ‘one drop’ feel, gradually layering up organic sounds and grooves. I also did a few takes using lots of shakers, seeds and bells-quite fluid textures - trying to keep them quite free and pontaneous. I was thinking very much of Airto, who has been a constant inspiration and influence (my initial connection for collaborating with his wife Flora Purim and their daughter Diana on my first Dubble D album was through lending him drums when in Manchester!) which is also where the inspiration for some of the vocals buried in the mix comes from!
The bass tone which gives the ‘one-drop’ is an instrument called the Udu. It’s a clay pot, traditionally for water, played by the women of the Igbo tribes in Nigeria. It also has some beautiful ringing tones but in this case I wanted to give the effect of a heavy 808 like bass to anchor everything, especially as there is no formal ‘bass line’ as such.
Though tricky to record effectively as they’re relatively quiet I really love these instruments and have five of them. They’re all featured on another track on the album, 'Udders' which inspired a 5/4 time signature. There’s a ‘solo’ section for which I filled one with water and tipped it to various degrees to change the pitch. The inspiration for the Udu was initially through the Brazilian percussionist and artist Nana Vasconcelos who is also referenced throughout the project!
YATM: And as the six tracks are all so good, if we can go through all of them, the next one 'Disorganics' (All Strings Mix) where the strings is the guitar/bass and that's prime Balearic but in a stripped mode?
DW: One of the first musicians I started to hang out and play a great deal with back in the late 80s/early 90s is a guy called Frank Grime. A wonderful bassist (guitar and double bass) who went on to become a really accomplished percussionist and multi-instrumentalist.
I had been sketching some beats around some light samba grooves, particularly mindful of a 1960s Brazilian “Quarteto Novo” album that I love. Frank came into the studio for a session and played double bass (I seem to remember him having to crouch down because I’m in a cellar and the ceiling is low!) but then overdubbed some parts with 10 and 12 string guitars and a mandolin with which he’d been experimenting with tunings. He then did a pass with a cello, playing pizzicato.
This became another track that came out previously on vinyl on “Well Cut Records” (actually the second release) but which I re visited with ‘fresh ears’- again stripping out most of the drums and re-recording new parts. When I first made the original track I remember James Holroyd dropping round and suggesting I should release a completely drum less version. Impossible for me to go completely naked in this respect (haha!) but I was mindful when making this mix, keeping the percussion much lighter and trying to let the acoustic guitars and double bass shine with the groove.
YATM: So we were wondering why did you think NuNorthern Soul would be the label for this project?
Pre-lockdown I was very lucky to play regularly at WooBar in Bali, grace of an old friend and amazing DJ, Damian Saint who is music director and resident there. When Phil first moved to Bali he came to sit by the pool with me, jumping on our wi-fi to do business pretty much straight after landing!
It was through that, then playing with him next door at Potato Head, that I started to learn much more about NuNorthern Soul, its music and the concept and ethos behind it and was naturally thoroughly impressed.
As a body of work I was pretty clear that ‘Resolution Revolutions’ was not immediately suitable for any of the more ‘club focussed’ labels that I’ve been involved with, or indeed my own, and yet I felt I wanted to work with a label who understood where I came from in that respect but that was connected to a much more ‘open’ forum.
Since lockdown I’ve been lucky to find more DJ gigs than ever before, mainly here in Manchester, where I get to play extended sets right across the board, from jazz to techno, but also referencing my times DJing in Bali and Asia: A major inspiration for these tracks too which I started to play out more alongside releases from NuNorthern Soul amongst other labels.
The dots all started to join so I was overjoyed when I finally plucked up the courage to play them to Phil, and even more so when he saw them as a body of work in their own right and wanted to do a vinyl release! I actually can’t think of a better home for it than NuNorthern Soul!
YATM: And that makes sense as to why they released Maarten Goetheer's 'tribute' to Chick Corea, 'Suite For Chick' (with Pong Nakornchai - see reveiw HERE) and with that in mind, the next track, 'Six Fingers' takes a more percussive marimba in the rainforest approach; a bit experimental like Hermeto Pascoal - and I love the bass which make gives it a jazz flavor and then the sound like an old fashioned phone: it's a bit like the spiritual sounds of Carlos Nino?
DW: Again, I’m blown away by your referencing. You’ve no idea what that means to me! As a kid I started to be heavily influenced by Brazilian music, initially Airto and Flora, who I discovered through Chick Corea and Return to Forever, then all the bossa/jazz samba stuff. One night in the early 90s I turned up to Band on the Wall here in Manchester (where I was a regular ‘house’ drummer for quite a while) to check out an Egberto Gismonti gig which I presumed would be in that vein (go easy on me - this was way before there was an internet!). I was completely blown away-it was like no music I’d heard before and it led me to dig deeper (and further sideways) where I stated to encounter the music of artists such as the above (If you check out the Quarteto Novo stuff mentioned above you’ll actually see Hermeto and Airto looking incredibly dapper and straight!).
I started the track by thinking of afro 6/8 rhythms, playing very simple patterns on the balafon, but very lightly with my fingernails. The ‘watery’ sounds come from using a couple of parts of an Indonesian Sudanse bamboo instrument, the Angklung (another Bali connection, though this one came from Oxfam!) and bunches of dried nuts and seed pods as a foundation for the groove! Again, it features Frank’s double bass and guitars from a previous session.
One of my favourite sounds on this track is the bell that rings through occasionally. It’s a small brass ‘spider’ bell that was in my Gran’s house when we were kids - one of the only things I have of hers….another ‘resolution’ perhaps?
YATM: That's so cool! I'm a big fan of Oxfam (by total co-insidence, listen out for Gerry Hectic 'Listerners Choice' appearance on Charity Shop Classics on Manchester's All FM from last Sunday, Mixcloud link HERE) and experimental instruments from ya Grans. Talking more influences/Manchester, 'Bloco Manco' sound like it could have been a BiggaBush drum circle at the Haçienda? That bass is mad good.
DW: Ha! Thanks! Another very flattering comparison! Actually, around the time I was going to the Hacienda, there was a street Samba group called Inner Sense Percussion who were pretty ubiquitous around town but who went on to tour festivals, shows and workshops worldwide.
I’d often find myself rehearsing in the same studios (Manchester was a particularly small musical village then!) but would also fill in as a percussionist on gigs if needed. It was through them that I first became aware of ‘Samba Reggae’, which as it suggests is a form of Samba from Bahia in the north of Brazil which is heavily influenced by Jamaican grooves. The bass lines are often played by the big ‘Surdo’ bass drums and sound huge and heavy.
This is definitely a very Mancunian take, with 808 bass drums playing the Surdo parts, then me layering up the other instruments on top. I had a period of playing drums with Reggae and dub artists in the 90s who were hugely influential on me, particularly DubDadda, Freedom Masses Soundsytem and Nucleaus Roots. I would sit mesmerised in the studio watching the dub mixes going down. The mix here is in particular homage, but it’s something which runs throughout my production and DJing on the whole.
YATM: Tell us a little about 'Oxum', the collaboration with Ocean Waves Brasil?.
DW: I’d met an Italian record producer, Carlo Variola when working on a project for a Jamaican dancehall artist with him and we became friends. Just before lockdown he moved to the Northeast of Brazil and started to make multi-track recordings of local Candomble religious ceremonies, combining them with electronic sounds under the project name ‘Ocean Waves Brasil’.
Candomble is a religion that originated in West Africa, travelling to Brazil with the slave trade and becoming influenced by Catholicism, but it worships various deities and has specific rhythms and rituals that associate with each. (Oxum is a Goddess of water, love, fertility and wealth. She’s very welcome on this album!).
Carlo very kindly started to send me the stems of his recordings to re-interpret and I worked on a few ‘versions’ of different tracks. It’s not something that had been heard before in Brasil, so I was incredibly happy (and relieved) to find that my versions were warmly received. I’m very grateful that we could include ‘Oxum’ here!
YATM: Is 'Resolution Revolutions' the forerunner of more Balaphonic releases?
DW: I do have various other Balaphonic tracks that I did around this time, plus plenty of other ideas ‘in the pot’ that have come together since, so I am hoping to put more out in the future for sure. As to format and timing...please watch this space! :)
YATM: Are there any remix plans?
DW: Remix wise, I have done a few in the past under the ‘Balaphonic’ guise and have actually just been working on something for Warriors of the Dystotheque. But am hoping that this release might inspire some more from other more eclectic angles. I absolutely love remixing!
In terms of remixes of this album, I know that the label is planning to have some done once it’s properly out there. I’d be very excited to hear where other people might take it!
YATM: I think you [Danny] could well be busy with remix requests. Are there any launch party plans?
DW: We're doing a ‘Bandcamp Listening Party’ at 7pm (GMT) on April 23rd which I hope you might join if you can: https://balaphonic.bandcamp.com/merch/balaphonic-resolution-revolutions-listening-session
And whilst I’m busy out and about DJing, again am hoping that this release might give a few more people the confidence to book me for ‘Balaphonic’ sets too! I’ll also be playing as Balaphonic as ever at our next One Tree Island party here in Manchester on 14th June!
YATM: We definitely want more Balaphonic, perhaps at a Brazilian, Lation, Deep House festival at Bala Lake?
DW: Perhaps that’s where we should be organising a launch party? It would certainly be a beautiful spot!
YATM: And I've been wondering, would we have met at the Soho Pizza Express in 2007 when Matthew Halsall (he of trumpet, band leader and owner of and head of A&R for Gondwana Records) was playing with his band?
DW: Ha! I’m trying to do the chronology… it’s a slight blur! That was quite possibly a little after. By that time things had got pretty full on with 2020 Soundsystem touring, my second Dubble D album and the advent of the ‘Moodymanc’ imprint!
I started playing and doing bits of recording with Matthew around the inception of his Gondwana label. I’d been doing a lot of work with Grand Central Records here, both playing live with Rae and Christian and Aim as well as working on releases, and he pulled me and Sneaky (Simon Houghton, bass: Fingathing, Rae and Christian etc.) as a rhythm section with another lifelong friend and to this day bandmate, John Ellis on keyboards, who at the time was perhaps most notably a part of Cinematic Orchestra. It might well have been (my neighbour!) Luke Flowers, also from Cinematic Orchestra at the time who was playing on that gig?
Blimey that's some background Danny has and one of the many reasons why 'Resolution Revolutions' is so good. And don't forget there's a Balaphonic ‘Bandcamp Listening Party’ at 7pm (GMT) on Wednesday, 23rd April (that's tomorrow) with Balaphonic aka Danny 'Moodymanc' Ward and NuNorthern Soul label boss Phat Phil Cooper : https://balaphonic.bandcamp.com/merch/balaphonic-resolution-revolutions-listening-session
BUY LINK: resolution revolutions | Balaphonic
Artist: Balaphonic
Title: Resolution Revolutions
Release date: 25th April, 2025
Label : NuNorthernSoul
Catalog Number : NUNS068
Release date: 25th April, 2025
Label : NuNorthernSoul
Catalog Number : NUNS068
Format: Digital / Bandcamp
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