Tipsy Session 39 - Bearface (U.K.)

When it comes to electronic music, few cities can touch Bristol or London. Renowned for their diversity and rich musical offerings, both have graced us with a cultural significance that’s very much their own. How fitting then that they both played key roles in the life of Bearface. Born to Punjabi-Indian parents and raised on a diet of eclectic sounds, the DJ/producer was born in Bristol but decamped to London during his formative years in the late 90s. It would prove to be an inspiring move. Bearface has come a long way since then. These days, he is busy working on the Beartone label, which itself has enjoyed great success recently courtesy of the recent San Jose EP. A perfect example of where the producer is at right now, the breezy sounds of the EP has endeared Bearface to a whole new audience, and ultimately led to his music being signed to the mighty Exploited, where Claptone and Purple Disco Machine leant their support to the brilliant sounds of ‘Moon’. The sound on San Jose is a far cry from his early days as an acid jazz percussionist and his breakthrough track, ‘Bare Brass’, coming from his and Max Mistry’s Bana Kuba moniker. There were steps between these two. Soon after he started in the acid jazz scene, he became a regular at clubs such as the iconic Plastic People, where his love affair with all things house music only intensified further. “I always love the music that the DJ was playing at 3am”, says Bearface, and an infatuation with the sounds of Masters at Work, Mood 2 Swing, Ron Trent and Chez Damier would appear to cement the point. “Whether it was French touch or house music from Chicago, as long as it maintained that dreamy, futuristic sound I was hooked”, he says. A born creative, it wasn’t long before he began to experiment with music production himself. After honing his sound over a number of years, his first release, the ‘Bare Brass’ track, became KISS FM’s ‘Track of the Week’, an accolade that eventually got the record signed to Roger Sanchez’s Stealth label and licensed to com