Planet Funk

Planet Funk arose in 1999 as a leading force in Italy’s dance-music landscape, formed through the merger of two established club acts. Souled Out had been assembled by Neapolitan producers Alessandro Sommella, Domenico “GG” Canu, and Sergio Della Monica, while Kamasutra brought together Florence keyboardist Marco Baroni and DJ Alex Neri. The group’s name derived from an earlier track by Neri. English singers Auli Kokko and Dan Black were subsequently recruited, and the collective produced “Chase the Sun” in time for summer 2000. The single achieved surprise success in Ibiza, leading David Boyd—who had discovered Verve—to secure the band a contract with Virgin Records. Their debut album, Non Zero Sumness, arrived in 2002, earned gold status, and received top honors at the Italian Music Awards. A reworked edition titled Non Zero Sumness Plus One followed later that year, with The Illogical Consequence appearing in 2005 and Static in 2006. Additional vocal contributions on these releases came from Raiss, Sally Doherty, John Graham, and Luke Allen. The ensemble has also been enlisted to work alongside Simple Minds and to deliver remixes for New Order and Faithless.