Electro in a melancholy funk “Kool Kids“, created by Retro Kid! ? ??
Enjooooy! ?
There is a bar in Copenhagen called Holberg No. 19. The barman is an Englishman called Jake Juba.
His regulars are the ‘Holberg Crew’ – a bunch of successful mid-life cool cats, who make the Copenhagen cool kids look timid. There is no fixed age to the crew. But they have lived. Jake sees them as ‘Retro kids’ – re-living their earlier years, and still setting the bar to which younger upstarts can only stretch.
…Which is how Retro Kid came to be.
Retro Kid offer electronic grooves, but with a melancholy twist to their innate funk. A 909 drum machine provides the bang, leading a wave of sounds. An analogue kit provides the funk. And the vocals drift soulfully on top. The band couple hooks with a restless hit.
Jake is the kid. He is a beat machine; always looking for a bigger boom. Which is why he often makes trips to Helsinki, to indulge in the infamous techno scene there. Jake operates a factory of sounds with a bunch of downright Dane’s and a 909.
Back in his teenage days, Jake founded and chugged along to York band Paris Commune, who were featured on Steve Lamacq’s BBC R1 show ’New Music we can trust’. Shortly after, the band morphed into Dorade & Balite with numerous plays on 6 Music. A few years later, he formed half of Hunt In Pairs. An ambient, electronic project, Hunt received a lot of praise on international blogs for the singles ‘Slow Dance’ and ‘Prayers’.
Jake then went to Film School in Edinburgh to study Directing, but continued to produce music in his spare time. Now he is pausing the film career to focus on Retro Kid.
On drums, Frederick is a beat wizard. He plays drums for 80.5% of small bands in Denmark from electronic, jazz thru to funk. He needs no click track. He is always looking to take Jake’s electronics head on. He resides in anunderground bunker in Copenhagen listening to Japanese folk music.
People say he plays like a dog sticking its head out of the window of a fast car. Jake takes Fred on with extreme delays and chaotic pulses. Fred usually wins.
Christian Christian bursts at the seams with hazy vocals. They distort with power. He provides a lyrical hygge that melts in your mouth. He played in a few punk bands in the past. Now he is rocking electro.
Finally, there’s a vocal powerhouse in Christiane. She loves to get out the deep voice on rare occasions. Bringing a bit of glam to the band, she is desperate to find matching outfits for the boys. With a soft spot for Smokey Robinson and an ear for soul music, she keeps Retro Kid in touch with the past.
So back at Holberg No. 19, Jake blasts out his demos and receives wise critique from the Holberg Crew. They dig. The band takes it from there.
Retro Kid EP available only on very limited 12” from 17th February Debut UK show on February 20th 2017 – Old Queen’s Head,
Debut video for RETRO KID features Sørren Malling, Award-winning actor, who has appeared in world-renowned Nordic Noir series such as The Killing & Borgen. It was written & directed by Jake Juba.
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