
Sharam Jey is hittin'it with his debut artist album, '4 Da Loverz' through Underwater Records.
'4 Da Loverz' kicks off with a pop 'n' lock flex of kaleidoscopic funk on 'Feel Nobody' before 'Slave to the Rhythm' drops, dragging in moody shuffles and dribbling synths. '4 Da Loverz' hits like Deep Dish OD'd on prozac, pouring needle-fluff vocals and strutting 4/4 against a spiralling current of melancholic whispers. 'Message To Love' sees Sharam take to the mic with Prince-like smacks of pouncing electro slabs before 'Fly Girl' comes on like a street-swing dance-off between The Neptunes boys and Justin Timberlake. 'One Like U' drops a flare 101 to a boom-box backdrop of 80s breaks and space age electronica.
Sharam describes the album as a representation of his past five years. "As a teenager I loved all sorts of music and I've tried to take elements from it all with the album," he explains. "I've had some of the guitar riffs in my head for the past five years but I've been waiting to get everything just perfect for the album. It's taken a lot of time but you can't just get a good track overnight."
With the opportunity to drag out a string of big names to feature on the album, Sharam passed on the idea and roped in neighbours, friends and even took to the mic himself on 'Message To Love' and 'When The Dogs Bite.' "I wanted new talent," he says. "Anyone can drag in a big name but if it doesn't feel right then what's the point? Where's the fun?"
Sharam has put out over fifty releases under either his own name or a string of pseudonyms; perhaps the most commercially successful was the Three N One remix of Energy 52's 'Café del Mar.' Sharam's re-rub was voted one of the best remixes of the last decade, entered the top forty at number twelve and saw Sharam single-handedly achieve 'landmark status' for dance music in the UK charts.
With the aftermath resulting in A-list remix fervour amongst the likes of Faithless, No Doubt, Salt 'n' Pepa and Moby, Sharam got into the thick of it and in 2001 formed King Kong Records. "I wanted to be involved in everything from artwork to pressing," he explains. "It's been a good way of road-testing material for the album and I love the freedom I've got with it."
Sharam met Underwater head honcho Darren Emerson at Space; "I wanted to thank him for playing one of my tracks," says Sharam. "He asked if he could use it for one of the Underwater compilations and everything just snowballed."
A year later, Sharam joined Darren Emerson's Underwater league and released 'Shake Your' and 'Rox City' to unexpectant dancefloors across the world. "Darren's always supported my tracks and the guys at Underwater are just like my extended family; there's a good vibe around them and we have a lot of fun."
Look for Sharem's personal appearence in Chicago at Club Four in February.
