Day 1: Groove

Hello, this is Harry. 

You’re here, you’ve opted for the red pill, to delve deep into the minds of Toucan Echo. To travel on this journey with us.

What will you find? Who knows. . . here I am writing the first paragraph of The Masterplan and even I don’t know what to expect. Nevertheless, I hope you are as excited about the next 5 days as James and I.

It’s going to be a blast.

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Let’s kick off

On a Saturday night, about a year ago, James and I were caught up in the full flow of London nightlife.

We had started by discussing future plans for Toucan Echo over a few drinks. But after 5 or 6 pints our ideas had started to dry up and before we knew it we were at a disco night in my local. Think, y’know, traditional looking English pub, half of the pub goers dancing, the other half shouting at each other trying make conversation by the bar. But all in all everyone is having a good time. 

All of a sudden we catch a whiff of groove.

It had crept up on us, a track so funky the room couldn’t help but dance. I spot the DJ, sitting on his chair, hunched over the vinyl player, headphones half on with his back to the room, a typical record store junkie.

James sees the elated look on my face, the hypnotised look in my eye, and says ‘Go ask the DJ what this track is’. Being a vigilant groove seeker I walked over and tapped him on the shoulder:

“What is this track???”

He shouts back at me through the thick funk:

“THIS… is the GREATEST disco track ever written”

In that moment, intoxicated (ahem, ​by the groove), I agreed with him.

What was the track, you ask… ‘Do What You Want To Do’, by T-Connection. HUGE.

This sparked just one of my deep phases of obsession with groove. Turns out James likes it too, so that’s what today is all about.

GROOVE

Here at Toucan Towers (the top secret rainforest headquarters of Toucan Echo), we’re always in search of the next funkiest thing to add to our arsenal.

This rhythmic quest takes us all over the musical spectrum. From the swaying rhythms of African and Latin music, the wobbly world of Hip-Hop, the floating exchanges of hi-hat, snare, kick and ride in Jazz, all the way to Techno, to Disco, to FUNK.

Groove is everywhere, and we want to absorb it all. We have started out on a journey that will only conclude when we have channeled all the above genres into something so electrifying it will make any room dance.

Here’s some tracks that showcase two groove messengers on who have stared out on their path (…us!): 

~MUSIC and VIDEOS~

We channel our inner Paul Simon here with live version of our song ‘Never Gonna Live It Down’, mixed in to ‘Diamonds on the Soles of her Shoes’. This jam has an infectious quality that makes you want to get up and dance! 

Lord Owes Me The Summertime is about those gloomy rainy days in summer where you feel like you don’t just want, you DESERVE some good weather for once.

So we mixed a lazy, summertime (almost stoner), psychedelic vibe with a chorus bass line that just kicks off!

Here’s Level Up – a funky song about picking yourself up, bouncing back instead of being held down by daily obstacles. 

We even overdubbed our own crowd (yes, that’s around 30 James and Harry’s you hear in the background, cheering ourselves on). 

***BONUS***

Harry’s Groovy Groovers (HGGs)

These are some of my favourite, funky dunky, groovy doovy, jumpin’ AND bumpin’ tracks.

AS AN HONOURABLE ADDITION TO THE HGGs, check out Djoro, by Abdoulaye Diabate, this isn’t on a streaming site that I’ve found 🙁 may it soon find a home. But I stumbled accross it on a chance vinyl purchase and it changed my life.