"Soulful music isn’t just Soul music; you can find soul in everything." – DJ/Producer King Britt, on finding the soul of techno.

Phliadelphia DJ/Producer/Remixer King Britt has been a purveyor of both past and future sounds; pioneering cutting-edge Dance music by bringing the past to the present. A music lover since childhood, he has always shown a great reverence towards Philly's musical heroes: from Jazz greats such as Art Blakey, John Coltrane and Sun Ra, to the early pioneers of Hip-Hop such as DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince. His music has always paid homage to these legends –his way of educating listeners and showing them where the music of today comes from.

"I think the new generation really needs to go back and grasp a lot of the past and see what was going on in Philly," Britt states. "A lot of the new singers and players don’t give respect to the past, especially in Hip-Hop. It’s up to us to bring the past to the now and give them a sense of history."

Britt first came to international attention as the DJ for the Hip-Hop-meets-Jazz group Digable Planets. As part of that collective during the early 90s, he brought House music influences to the mainstream. In fact, he explains, it was the American Garage House sound that inspired the formation of the group.

"Butterfly [of Digable Planets] used to go to all these parties in NYC and Philly and he was influenced by that sound to bring a band on the road," Britt remembers. "The whole DJ culture at that time was a heavy influence on him, it was a natural progression. Our party influenced Digable, and Digable influenced Sylk 130."

After 2 years on the road with the group, Britt began work on Sylk 130. The work he produced under this moniker ("When the Funk Hits the Fan" and the remake of the classic "Last Night a DJ Saved my Life") still stands out as some of the most influential and notable modern House music, channeling House music's Disco roots in an undeniably modern way.

It seems now that Britt's mission to educate listeners has taken a new direction.

"I've learned to appreciate what’s going on right now and try not to think of the past too much," he reveals of his new direction, which does not consciously revisit the musical past. "As long as we keep [the past] within our creations it will always come out, sub consciously."

With Interpretations, Britt's newest album under the moniker The Nova Dream Sequence (released earlier this year on Germany's Compost Records), he presents a collection of instrumental Techno music, which subconsciously pays homes to the pioneers of that genre, such as Detroit's Derrick May and Juan Atkins. Britt is pushing the envelope with this unexpected project to show people that any style of music, even Techno which is often regarded as mindless noise, can be soulful and emotional.

The album's tracks are simply titled as "Dreams"; Dream 1 starts off as a swirling urban soundscape, capturing the everyday pulse, static and blaring brass sounds of the city. As the night of dreams continues, things get stranger, and more digitized: Dream 3 captures both an experimental European sound and a classic NYC Freestyle 80's vibe. While at times highly synthesized, all of these dreams capture a definite sense of motion, which translates exceptionally well on the dancefloor, and also manage to maintain an organic sound, even at the most digitized of moments.

"I’m doing Techno music in my way," he says of the project. "Techno does have soul, and it can be funky; that’s what I want to bring out. Soulful music isn’t just Soul music; you can find soul in everything."

In 2005, Britt released another unexpected project that fearlessly fused music of the past with mysterious, surreal, and futuristic sounds. With King Britt Presents: Sister Gertrude Morgan, Britt reconstructs and remixes field recordings from the New Orleans poet, singer and street preacher. Britt fuses mysterious and mesmerizing drum beats and surreal, at times dissonant, guitar licks that fit perfectly around and between Morgan's tambourine, the only accompaniment to her often-improvised acapella vocals.

A night on King Britt's dancefloor is an eclectic affair, spanning the spectrum from '80s Freestyle and jackin' House to spaced-out Dub, Jamaican Dancehall and now even industrial-sounding Techno. From record to record, there is no doubt that Britt knows what he is doing; the musical journey is always clear and deeply moving, even if you happen to be lost deep in thought for a moment on the dancefloor.

"Music on a general basis is a language, and a way to communicate," Britt says of his genre-defying style and his ability to connect with audiences through music.

"You can play an African record, then a Cuban record, and then a Hip-Hop record and it all works together. You can send the same message by combining all those records together. It’s an experience; you listen to these sounds it takes you on a journey."

Words and live photos by Alex R. Mayer

Many thanks to King Britt for taking the time to speak with us. Also, thanks to Greg at Music and Art