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For this project, two longtime friends — influential guitarist, Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick and renowned DJ, record collector, and tastemaker Gilles Peterson — revive the raw, ’80s Brit-Funk sound that Maunick helped invent; the latter became an eternal enthusiast.
Both were born outside the U.K. — Maunick in Mauritius and Peterson in France — but each relocated and settled in London with their families during childhood. Inspired by U.S. artists such as Funkadelic, Maunick became a pioneer of the Brit-Funk sound — attempting to emulate his heroes with limited resources — playing in acts such as Light of the World, Freeez and, most notably, Incognito. On forming this latter act with Paul "Tubbs" Williams in 1979, he led them to success in the U.K. in the early ’80s with their charting debut album Jazz Funk and its accompanying single “Parisienne Girl.” For the remainder of the decade, Incognito went on hiatus, but Maunick regrouped the act in 1990 after they became an early signee to Peterson’s Talkin’ Loud label. The pair had initially met when Peterson interviewed him, as a fan, in his parents’ shed. Subsequently, the rejuvenated Incognito remained a going concern for decades, developing a fan base in the U.S. and releasing their 18th album — Tomorrow's New Dream — just a year before the idea for STR4TA was formulated.
The seed of that idea came from a comment that Tyler, The Creator made during his 2020 BRIT Award acceptance speech, underlining the inspiration that ’80s Brit-Funk acts had given him. Although STR4TA started as a jam session, it soon became a fully fledged project, leading to the release of the October 2020 debut single, “Aspects,” on Peterson’s Brownswood Recordings. Key to their venture was Peterson’s ability to dig out records containing moods or sonic nuggets that Maunick could use as inspiration for fresh material. Further singles followed and in March 2021, an album — also titled Aspects — was released, featuring contributions from Peter Hinds, Randy Hope-Taylor, Francis Hylton, and Matt Cooper. ~ James Wilkinson