STR4TA

Longtime friends influential guitarist Jean-Paul "Bluey" Maunick and renowned DJ, record collector, and tastemaker Gilles Peterson came together for this project to resurrect the raw '80s Brit-Funk sound Maunick had helped create, while Peterson had long championed it as a devoted follower. Born abroad—Maunick on Mauritius and Peterson in France—both moved with their families to London as children and put down roots there. Drawing from American acts like Funkadelic, Maunick pioneered the Brit-Funk style by replicating his idols despite scarce equipment, performing with groups including Light of the World, Freeez, and, above all, Incognito. He co-founded the latter outfit alongside Paul "Tubbs" Williams in 1979, guiding it to early-'80s U.K. recognition through the charting debut album Jazz Funk and its single "Parisienne Girl." Incognito paused operations for the rest of the decade, yet Maunick reassembled the band in 1990 once it joined Peterson's Talkin' Loud label as one of its first signings; the two had first connected when Peterson, still a fan, interviewed him inside his parents' shed. The refreshed Incognito stayed active for decades thereafter, building an audience in the U.S. and issuing its eighteenth album, Tomorrow's New Dream, one year before the concept for STR4TA took shape. Tyler, The Creator's 2020 BRIT Award acceptance speech planted the initial spark by highlighting the influence '80s Brit-Funk acts had exerted on him. What began as a jam session quickly evolved into a complete endeavor, yielding the October 2020 debut single "Aspects" on Peterson's Brownswood Recordings. Peterson's knack for unearthing tracks whose atmospheres or sonic fragments could spark Maunick's new compositions proved central to the effort, and after additional singles appeared, the album Aspects followed in March 2021 with contributions from Peter Hinds, Randy Hope-Taylor, Francis Hylton, and Matt Cooper.