Ahead of the album launch party on Friday, Rob J. Madin gives us the low down on Sheffield, New York, Cardies and 'Monstro' - plus a small town in Wales!
YATM: I'm told you've got a side hustle as a comedian. Can you pronounce 'Machynlleth' and have you been at a comedy festival lately?RJM: My grandparents used to have a caravan near Machynlleth, so it’s a word that I have been confidently mispronouncing from a very young age. Never done the festival though (Ed. the campaign starts here).
YATM: With your comedy hat on, is that how your tribute albums to yacht rock and heavy metal came about?
RJM: I’m a huge fan of metal and yacht rock. Both genres are quite funny though, aren’t they. The yacht rock EP (‘For Those About To Yacht…’) was just some songs I wrote as part of a comedy night I did briefly in Kings Cross. I also made an album of instrumental funk covers of metal songs (‘IronWood’), which is obviously a ridiculous concept - but I like to think the majority of the tracks work quite well as Meters-adjacent Hammond grooves.
YATM: Do you see 'Monstro' as a 'tribute' to Jazz Funk?
RJM: In a way… Although it’s definitely not a pastiche. It’s also not entirely jazz-funk - that term is used fairly loosely.
YATM: How did the link up with Miles Away happen?
RJM: I’d recorded a few covers (things like Rupa, Ned Doheny, Universal Togetherness Band, etc) that I sent over to Dom via Insta DM. He asked if I had any originals, so I ended up writing four new tracks. We also picked the two strongest covers to include on the EP.
YATM: And let's get this right, where is the cover picture taken as it doesn't look like Sheffield to me?
RJM: It’s New York I think? I have no idea really – it’s a stock image by a photographer called Collis Torrington. It’s a cool photo. In the original, the car and the guy’s suit are both grey / brown but I utilised my limited Photoshop skills to turn them blue.
YATM: Are you good mates with any of the city's movers and shakers like Franz Von (MCs for TC & The Groove Family) and Afro-fusion (K.O.G) and Sheffield resident, singer/songwriter Wolf Peaches? Do you know all these guys?
RJM: I wish. You don’t get to meet many people when you make music on your own in your attic.
YATM: What is the most important club in the city at the moment?
RJM: I don’t know about most important… but there’s some cool stuff happening with things like Apricot Ballroom, Love to Dance & Gut Level. And Corporation of course.
YATM: Give us a run through of the Monstro EP?
RJM: It’s six instrumental tracks taking inspiration from all sorts of stuff - jazz-funk, soul, disco, yacht rock, Afro-beat, library music, etc.
YATM: Is there going to be a full length 18-minute version of Ayee Morshume-Reham Duniya?
RJM: As soon as I learn how to play the sarod for that big solo section in the middle.
YATM: So hard to believe the original came out in 1982.
RJM: Mad it took 30-40 years for it to catch on.
YATM: You’ve gone heavy on the 70s TV theme a little like the extremes of 'Heartacher' and 'Callisto Disco', what's your favourite TV theme from the era?
YATM: With your comedy hat on, is that how your tribute albums to yacht rock and heavy metal came about?
RJM: I’m a huge fan of metal and yacht rock. Both genres are quite funny though, aren’t they. The yacht rock EP (‘For Those About To Yacht…’) was just some songs I wrote as part of a comedy night I did briefly in Kings Cross. I also made an album of instrumental funk covers of metal songs (‘IronWood’), which is obviously a ridiculous concept - but I like to think the majority of the tracks work quite well as Meters-adjacent Hammond grooves.
YATM: Do you see 'Monstro' as a 'tribute' to Jazz Funk?
RJM: In a way… Although it’s definitely not a pastiche. It’s also not entirely jazz-funk - that term is used fairly loosely.
YATM: How did the link up with Miles Away happen?
RJM: I’d recorded a few covers (things like Rupa, Ned Doheny, Universal Togetherness Band, etc) that I sent over to Dom via Insta DM. He asked if I had any originals, so I ended up writing four new tracks. We also picked the two strongest covers to include on the EP.
YATM: And let's get this right, where is the cover picture taken as it doesn't look like Sheffield to me?
RJM: It’s New York I think? I have no idea really – it’s a stock image by a photographer called Collis Torrington. It’s a cool photo. In the original, the car and the guy’s suit are both grey / brown but I utilised my limited Photoshop skills to turn them blue.
YATM: Are you good mates with any of the city's movers and shakers like Franz Von (MCs for TC & The Groove Family) and Afro-fusion (K.O.G) and Sheffield resident, singer/songwriter Wolf Peaches? Do you know all these guys?
RJM: I wish. You don’t get to meet many people when you make music on your own in your attic.
YATM: What is the most important club in the city at the moment?
RJM: I don’t know about most important… but there’s some cool stuff happening with things like Apricot Ballroom, Love to Dance & Gut Level. And Corporation of course.
YATM: Give us a run through of the Monstro EP?
RJM: It’s six instrumental tracks taking inspiration from all sorts of stuff - jazz-funk, soul, disco, yacht rock, Afro-beat, library music, etc.
YATM: Is there going to be a full length 18-minute version of Ayee Morshume-Reham Duniya?
RJM: As soon as I learn how to play the sarod for that big solo section in the middle.
YATM: So hard to believe the original came out in 1982.
RJM: Mad it took 30-40 years for it to catch on.
YATM: You’ve gone heavy on the 70s TV theme a little like the extremes of 'Heartacher' and 'Callisto Disco', what's your favourite TV theme from the era?
RJM: Anything Keith Mansfield had a hand in. The Grandstand theme is a masterpiece (Ed. 'Grandstand' being a Saturday afternoon BBC TV Sports progamme).
YATM: I bet you could do a wicked 'Hill Street Blues' - there's a little bit in Michael Miglio's ‘Never Gonna Let You Go?
RJM: It’s a huge tune. Always wanted to do an album of TV theme covers but Matt Berry sort of beat me to it.
YATM: Can you talk us through Bouquet Garni a little?
RJM: It’s probably the most “jazz-funk” of all the tracks. Every song on the EP is built around a drum sample. There’s a website where you can buy multitrack files of various session drummers improvising different grooves. This one is Clyde Stubblefield I think. You can basically chop up / edit the loops and then mix the drums how you want (each session file has about 12 different mics). It’s great. Anyway, with this one I edited the full drum track before I’d written anything melodic, then wrote the song to the drums.
YATM: Is there a launch party for the album release?
RJM: Yes, on Friday (16th - release day) we’re throwing a party at Sidney & Matilda in Sheffield. I’ve got a band together and we’re playing all the songs live for the first time. Dom from Miles Away is DJing, and we’ll have some vinyl copies of the EP available.
YATM: As we've just had International Jazz Day, I would say it is definitely worth checking the 'Head Hunters' album out again. 'Sly' sounds quite a bit like elements of 'Monstro'. Thoughts?
RJM: Yeah, Herbie was a big influence. Particularly the overall sound of things - the 70s synths, the dry drum production, the swirly electric pianos, etc.
YATM: Do you still listen to the Head Hunters album from time to time? Do you find something new each time?
RJM: Yeah, love it. I love any album that is 40 minutes long and only 4 tracks.
YATM: Would you recommend any other jazz-funk albums that we should check for International Jazz Day?
RJM: I’ve been listening to ‘Complete Expressions Vol.2’ by Hysear Don Walker (Young Holt Trio) a lot - sort of laid back funky Fender Rhodes-led 70s grooves. And more towards the disco side of things, I really like Brian Bennet’s ‘Voyage (a Journey Into Discoid Funk)’. He played drums in The Shadows, wrote the theme music for BBC’s Rugby Special in the 80s and also made this mad space funk album.
YATM: On the flip side, my mate turned up to do a jazz DJ set the other week in a big Starsky Cardy (that he tells me cost £300 from Australia) and it actually did look smart; is that something you are likely to see on the streets of Sheffield?
RJM: I’m wearing a cardigan right now. Cardigans are back.
RJM: It’s probably the most “jazz-funk” of all the tracks. Every song on the EP is built around a drum sample. There’s a website where you can buy multitrack files of various session drummers improvising different grooves. This one is Clyde Stubblefield I think. You can basically chop up / edit the loops and then mix the drums how you want (each session file has about 12 different mics). It’s great. Anyway, with this one I edited the full drum track before I’d written anything melodic, then wrote the song to the drums.
YATM: Is there a launch party for the album release?
RJM: Yes, on Friday (16th - release day) we’re throwing a party at Sidney & Matilda in Sheffield. I’ve got a band together and we’re playing all the songs live for the first time. Dom from Miles Away is DJing, and we’ll have some vinyl copies of the EP available.
YATM: As we've just had International Jazz Day, I would say it is definitely worth checking the 'Head Hunters' album out again. 'Sly' sounds quite a bit like elements of 'Monstro'. Thoughts?
RJM: Yeah, Herbie was a big influence. Particularly the overall sound of things - the 70s synths, the dry drum production, the swirly electric pianos, etc.
YATM: Do you still listen to the Head Hunters album from time to time? Do you find something new each time?
RJM: Yeah, love it. I love any album that is 40 minutes long and only 4 tracks.
YATM: Would you recommend any other jazz-funk albums that we should check for International Jazz Day?
RJM: I’ve been listening to ‘Complete Expressions Vol.2’ by Hysear Don Walker (Young Holt Trio) a lot - sort of laid back funky Fender Rhodes-led 70s grooves. And more towards the disco side of things, I really like Brian Bennet’s ‘Voyage (a Journey Into Discoid Funk)’. He played drums in The Shadows, wrote the theme music for BBC’s Rugby Special in the 80s and also made this mad space funk album.
YATM: On the flip side, my mate turned up to do a jazz DJ set the other week in a big Starsky Cardy (that he tells me cost £300 from Australia) and it actually did look smart; is that something you are likely to see on the streets of Sheffield?
RJM: I’m wearing a cardigan right now. Cardigans are back.
YATM: Is there still Human League/ABC/Heaven 17/synth/keyboard/WARP appreciation community in Sheffield?
RJM: There is in this house.
YATM: So glad you sent the files off to Miles Away as this album definitely needs to be heard.
RJM: Thanks, appreciate it.
If you can make Sidney & Matilda's on Friday, it's bound to be a great night (see flyer below) and if there's a 6 track 12" you can't do without this year, 'MONSTRO' (YATM review HERE)
Artist: Rob J. Madin
Title:Monstro
Release date: 16th May, 2025
Label: Miles Away Records
Cat. No: -
Format: Limited Edition LP Vinyl / digital / Bandcamp
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