Sonar Sessions 2008 - RBMA Showcase Pt 1

Theo Parrish

Sound Signature, Detroit

"Love of the music should be the driving force of any producer, performer or DJ." Welcome to the merry world of Theo Parrish's music. A mind of (and in a league) of his own, the Chicago-raised, Detroit resident is the legitimate heir and conscience of a DJ school that stems from ancestors like Ron Hardy, Frankie Knuckles or Andre Hatchett, radio shows on WBMX and clubs like the Muzic Box. As anyone who has experienced a Theo Parrish set can testify, the work of this consummate architect of sound envelopes the listener, and transmits new perspectives on club sonics. Maltreating the EQs, playing vinyl like a self-contained vamped instrument, fusing soul, jazz, house and disco into one capacious ardent ball is all part of Theo's musical expression. He can fuse the rhythmic, disco-based pulse of Chicago house with the modernist motorik soul of Detroit techno, while at the same time pointing to a lineage in black music that runs directly from Sun Ra to Sound Signature. "Jazz spawned house music, jazz spawned hip hop, jazz spawned funk and they all reflect back into that," he says. This applies as well to the songs and tracks from Parrish's own pockets. His label Sound Signature provides an adventure playground for vital drum machines, touch-and-go arrangements, regal synths and some of Detroit's finest soul music talents. So if you want to see the future via the raw, soulful roots of house music, then you've come to the right teleporter.