Slow Hand Motëm is known for bringin' the fonk to Hamilton. The gentleman known as Motëm, GBZ, or even Gregg to his friends has dabbled in a style of music without a name in any part of the world. To sum it up, that's what Slow Hand Motëm is. "Whaaaaa?" you ask. Exactly. That's it.
"We're hosting a Skweee show in a couple weeks" Mr. Motëm informed me a few weeks back. I was baffled with this term. Politely, I nodded, thinking he had said something completely different and changed the subject. I still wondered what I missed in the conversation, because he continued to talk about it. Asking for clarification would have been too simple, I apologize for my ignorance after the fact. Then I found the post online: "Skweee Invasion!". That's the word. Skweee. S-k-triple-e. I was directed to the ever-knowledgeable Wikipedia (this site seems to be a common thread with Slow Hand Motëm, hear: Home Alone). I'm trying to write Skweee for Dummies here. Synths, funkin' bass lines and soulful rhythms pepper the sounds of Skweee.
But Slow Hand Motëm is not a Skwee band. An album called International
Skw*** Compilation was released by Skweee label Harmönia in Finland, featuring a SHM tune.
"I think they call Slow Hand Motëm 'Skw***', like on the compilation," explains Motëm, "It's not quite Skweee [explaining the expletive deleted asterisks]. No one around the world knows exactly what to call the Slow Hand Motëm music, which is how I like it."
The connecting factor between Slow Hand Motëm and Skweee is the Funk. The groups
pull from inspirations in the funk music genre.
Skweee music bubbled to the surface for Gregg just last summer. After finding out about the obscure music on the internet, he was in contact with Harmönia. "I had never tried to make Skweee music in a contrived way or anything," says Gregg, "It just happened naturally."
So he made his funk, and they made theirs. Until now. A plethora of Skweee bands got a hold of Slow Hand's music and re-re-re-remixed it. So far, Skweee artists Limonious, Mesak and Mrs. Qeada have put their spin on Motëm tunes. This resulted in an upcoming Slow Hand Motëm remix album. The remix album doesn't only feature artists from Northern Europe, though. Local DJ's, MC's and artists have lent their talents to the SHM remixes. That list includes Soundambulist, Riddle Lizard, The Intuitive Hypa, Good Rev Overdrive, Solid DJ Oak and Bocce among many others. The disc is expeceted for the summer, and I'll be sure to let you know exactly when.
Everyone wants a piece of Motëm. Harmonia artist PJVM is set to perform his first Canadian show, with Motëm by his side. This show is happening June 28th. If you're interested contact me here or SHM himself through myspace.
Pick up SLOW HAND MOTEM's latest release Ear Sports through www.somethingsecret.ca.
www.myspace.com/slowhandmotem Slow Hand Motëm
www.myspace.com/harmoenia Harmonia
www.myspace.com/reklamaatio PJVM
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