STR4TA

Legendary London producer Demus follows up his remix of STR4TA’s first single and selects four tracks to reimagine from the band’s sophomore album STR4TASFEAR, turning in a lean, mean dance floor-ready remix EP. Demus dials up the bass and kicks and dubs out the vocals to transform the source material into funk-inflected, club thumpers designed to shake up a sound system. The Demus Dubs is released physically on a limited run of 500 hand-stamped vinyl records on 16th February and out digitally 17th March 2023.

Demus AKA Dilip Harris is a veteran producer and mix engineer with an outrageously varied discography that includes everyone from Little Dragon and King Krule to Kamasi Washington and Mount Kimbie - but his background in London soundsystem culture runs like a thread through all his work. His relationship with Gilles Peterson, began all the way back in 1990 when he co-produced UK Soul classic Road to Freedom by Young Disciples for Peterson’s seminal Talkin’ Loud label. It was only right then that Gilles decided to tap his talents again to remix his new project STR4TA’s first single.

‘Aspects’ with the Demus dub on the flip came out on Brownswood as a white-label 12” in 2020 with little fanfare but it quickly sold out of its limited run - even though the band (Gilles Peterson and Brit-Funk pioneer Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick) were still anonymous at the time. This was due in no small part to the Demus remix on the B-side, described by one Discogs reviewer as “Brit-Funk on steroids”.

The Demus Dubs EP sees Harris build on his long standing relationship with the band and the four reworked STR4TA tracks sparkle with the same magic as that first release. The dubbed out extensions echo the work of pioneering Disco remixer Walter Gibbons but have a darker and grittier edge. On the first track, Demus turns ‘City Sounds’ (originally a Brit-Funk workout) into a low-end deep house meditation with delay-soaked drums and smooth pads. ‘To Be As One (feat. Theo Croker) [Demus Dub]’ sees Harris turn it up a notch and bring the piano chords to the fore with a heavy breakdown that brings to mind Marshall Jefferson’s House music classic ‘Move Your Body’. On the EP’s B-side, the dub influences are more pronounced. ‘Turn Me Around [Demus Dub]’ propels the original into space while keeping the listener grounded with a throbbing four-to-the-floor foundation. Demus loads the final track, ‘Why Must You Fly (feat. Omar)’ with a layer of fuzz and delay transforming it into a half-time funk-dub whirlpool driven by the frenetic bass and Omar’s wriggling synths.

STR4TA is the new wave jazz funk project pioneered by Gilles Peterson and Jean-Paul “Bluey” Maunick. Long-time friends and collaborators, STR4TA sees them mine new musical possibilities inspired by a shared formative era. Heavily supported by BBC 6Music, Pitchfork, The Guardian, Dj Mag, Mixmag, Wax Poetics, The Vinyl Factory, MOJO, CLASH, Télérama (FR), Radio Nova (FR), KCRW (US), Rolling Stones Italy & Japan. STR4TA have performed electrifying live shows at We Out Here (UK), Primavera Sound (Spain) and headline show at The Jazz Cafe, London.

STR4TA - The Demus Dubs is available physically on a limited run of 500 hand-stamped vinyl records on 16th February and out digitally 17th March 2023.