Like their indie label peers at Daptone on the East Coast and Stone’s Throw on the West Coast, Brooklyn’s Truth and Soul is invested in carving out a space in pop culture for the lost funk of yesteryear and the future grooves of tomorrow. Sure, honchos Leon Michels and Jeff Silverman would be happy to make money along the way, for themselves and for their sometimes forgotten artists. But the label is nevertheless a labor of love that’s more about history than it is about profit.
That said, Truth and Soul is still bringing funk into the future, remixing revisionists like Amy Winehouse and backing up Wu-Tang Clan for a live-set version of the hip-hop collective’s greatest hits. But its true love is the abandoned work of old-school greats like Lee Fields or undiscovered talents like Tyrone Ashley. Michels and Silverman are archivists first, moguls second, and have no problem mixing future tech with past art, as long as the performance doesn’t suffer. Listening Post quizzed Michels and Silverman on their goals and the greats, and why they think Pro Tools is for slackers.
LISTEN: Lee Fields, "My World"
Free Download: Lee Fields, "My World"
Wired.com Listening Post: What made you decide to start Truth and Soul?
Truth and Soul: In the beginning, we started it because we wanted to continue the tradition of the deep funk 45s that we loved. We pressed each 45 in limited runs and usually reserved two to three 45s per band. As the label progressed, so did our vision. We started borrowing the sound and aesthetic of the 45s we collected, but soon realized the music we were making was changing and didn’t sound like a re-hashed soul record. We try to borrow from old soul records and then elaborate in style and sound in the hope of creating something new.
LP: Has funk morphed into something different in the age of Pro Tools?
T&S: There is a lack of the raw, human element in music, music that hasn’t been pitch-corrected and cut up through Pro Tools. Some of the most exciting moments in music are the mistakes and little nuggets that appear the 100th time you’ve listened to something. Because there are so many options with Pro Tools, that element of music has slowly been removed.
LP: But you haven’t abandoned it.
T&S: We still record to tape but also use Pro Tools for certain projects. Technology is not a bad thing, but sometimes it is used as a crutch. And that has allowed people to get lazy with music.
LP: What are some of the nuggets you feel Truth and Soul has unearthed? And what’s up with the El Michels/Wu-Tang collaboration?
T&S: We released a compilation of music from a little-known soul singer from Plainfield, NJ, named Tyrone Ashley. He recorded tons of music but has never released a full album, until now. We have also finished recording an El Michels full-length of Wu-Tang classics. A release we recorded in Puerto Rico with Bronx River Parkway will come out this summer, and we are also releasing a sweet new soul record by Lee fields & The Expressions late this year.
LP: Is there any money to be made in this line of work?
T&S: Truth & Soul will always be a labor of love. We have no dreams of selling 500,000 copies of a Lee Fields or Tyrone Ashley record. The people that love it will always love it, and new fans always come and go. However, we have started producing and re-mixing for a number of major label artists, like Amy Winehouse. We try to apply our recording aesthetic and taste to modern artists in the hopes of achieving a new, more soulful sound that can be enjoyed by our fans as well as fourteen-year-old kids who have only been exposed to Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake.
Photo: Truth and Soul
