Funk Division

Funk Division
Background information
Also known as The Soul Garden
Origin Walsall, Staffordshire, England
Genres jazz, funk, soul, acid jazz, electronica
Instruments Drums, Vocals, Synths, Samplers
Years active 1994–present
Labels Digital Jukebox Records
Associated acts Joyce Sims, Fonda Rae,Blak Prophetz
Website www.funkdivision.com
Members

The Funk Division, also known as The Soul Garden [1] is a soul jazz and funk group formed by Mark Duffus Blak Prophetz in 2005 in Walsall near Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

The Soul Garden

The Soul Garden was a studio production band that rehearsed in Mark's custom built recording studio on a weekly basis with session musicians and friends. They were involved in remix projects for established recording artists like Joyce Sims, Justin Timberlake, Preeya Kalidas, Warren Stacey and more.

Today

Mark represents the Funk and Soul sides of the band where as Derek (DK) King later joined to represents the House & Garage mixed versions of the songs that he produced. The two have since worked together as a key outfit with different session singers and musicians whilst still providing not just their own material but also remix/productions for many other well known recording artists including Fonda Rae, Glen Goldsmith and more.

One of the first known release as the Funk Division came out in 2015 with a retro type song and music video entitled Want You written and produced by Mark Duffus which was a clear combination of Jazz Swing & Funk. Ed Potten, Music Journalist from The Times,The Sunday Times newspaper described it as "A Soulful, organ-driven funk with a twinkle in its eye" [2]

The song achieved a review from Chris Wells, editor of Echoes_(magazine) who described it as "uncluttered, attidinous, energetic funk. DeRobert fans ought to love it" [3]

A similar review came from Camilla Cassidy of The Edge Magazine who was also very impressed with the power of the delivery of the same song. In her review she said:

"The song starts somewhat 60s, with strong and slick female vocals with power that echoes the song’s statements of independence and self-affirmation. Choruses build to deliver a rich sounding take on modern jazz; power and bluesy instrumentation are layered with quick lyrics to give a smooth, polished sound." [4]

The next song to follow was an uptempo dance hit entitled Tell Me Something which contain two individual mixes by the duo. On 18th April 2016 a review by Soul, Jazz & Funk Magazine described the song as "hugely insistent, picking up plays in the more discerning soul clubs" [5]. An additional review by Andrew Gee of USA's Impact Global Magazine described the track as one that "Takes you back to the future of black music" [6].

The third release from the duo entitled Right On written and produced by Mark Duffus which contained a photography cover image provided by one of New York's most respected Hip Hop photographers Joe Conzo[7]. It also included a cool House/Garage mix by Derek (DK) King.

Not so soon after came very soulful release entitled If You Were Mine which included a disco mix and house mix. The dance and disco mixes was produced by Mark whereas the House/Garage mix versions were produced by Derek (DK) King. When Bill B, Editorial of Soul, Jazz & Funk magazine discovered the song he favoured the Soul mix saying "It's a steady, tight modern soul groove with convincing vocals; it's very insistent too ... bit of an earworm" [8]. A similar liking to the song's House version came from Adam Giddens, Editor of IHouseU magazine [9].

Discography

Singles

  • 2006 "Butterflies" by The Soul Garden on Digital Jukebox Records (Produced by Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz))
  • 2009 "Groovy Day" by The Soul Garden on Digital Jukebox Records (Produced by Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz))
  • 2011 "What She Really Needs" by The Soul Gardenon Digital Jukebox Records (Produced by Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz))
  • 2012 "Missing You" by Andre Espeut & The Soul Gardenon Digital Jukebox Records (Produced by Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz))
  • 2013 "Don't Stop (The Hustle)" by The Soul Garden on Digital Jukebox Records (Produced by Mark Duffus Blak Prophetz))
  • 2013 "Addicted To You" by The Soul Garden on Digital Jukebox Records (Produced by Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz))
  • 2014 "Dimensions" by The Soul Garden on Digital Jukebox Records (Produced by Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz))
  • 2015 "Want You" by The Funk Division on Digital Jukebox Records (Produced by Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz))
  • 2016 "Tell Me Something" by The Funk Division on Digital Jukebox Records (Produced by Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz) & Derek King))
  • 2017 "Right On" by The Funk Division on Digital Jukebox Records (Produced by Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz) & Derek King))
  • 2018 "If You Were Mine" by The Funk Division on Digital Jukebox Records (Produced by Mark Duffus (Blak Prophetz) & Derek King))

References

  1. ↑ Phillips, Noel (26 February 2013). "The Soul Garden Unveil 'Don't Stop (The Hustle)". The Flavour Magazine. flavourmag.co.uk.
  2. ↑ Potten, Ed (27 September 2015). "Funk Division's Want You". The Times, The Sunday Times (Web).
  3. ↑ Wells, Chris (22 September 2015). "Funk Division's Want You". Echoes (Echoes).
  4. ↑ Casidy, Camilla (18 September 2015). "Funk Division's Want You review". The Edge Music Magazine Reviews. TheEdgesusu.co.uk.
  5. ↑ Bee, Bill (18 April 2016). "Tell me Something Funky". Soul, Jazz & Funk Magazine. soulandjazzandfunk.com.
  6. ↑ Gee, Andre (18 March 2016). "Takes You Back to the future of Black Music". Impact Global Mag Reviews. ImpactGlobalMagazine.com.
  7. ↑ Gonzales, David (4 October 2005). "The Man Who Took Hip-Hop's Baby Pictures". Joe Conzo. nytimes.com.
  8. ↑ Bee, Bill (19 March 2018). "Division One Funk". Soul, Jazz & Funk Magazine. soulandjazzandfunk.com.
  9. ↑ Giddens, Adam (16 March 2018). "Funk Division's If You Were Mine". IHouseU Magazine. ihouseu.com.
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