Chuck Love’s day starts off with fighting parrots – a brawl the house multi-instrumentalist/producer/DJ would normally avoid if he didn’t need their squawk on his record (Yes, he truly goes there). Mr. Love then packs a suit case with his girlfriend, and the two get “Pop Love” to drive them to the airport, where they “fight like Fred and Ethyl over the treat bags Mom Love packed” and board the private jet they share with 130 other people. Touchdown. Sound-check. Hotel registration. And then, the best part: the hotel’s fuzzy white robes—which Love says is the benchmark of a “dope” spot. Fittingly, Love and his girl take a “disco nap” before rolling up to the club, where the gratuitous head-bobbing begins and doesn’t end until Love’s guitars are unplugged, the roof was raised, and subwoofers smoldering. Then, before he knows it, he’s back in the studio squabbling with the parrots again.
Love, as we’re sure you’ve gathered by now, is not a typical house music maker – in fact, the dance music veteran didn’t start off as most do with the bedroom DJ gear and gig here and there at the local dive bars. As heard on his very new, very first longplayer, “Bring Enough To Spill Some” (“it’s a bitch to type,” Love says), the man plays all his own instruments (and birds, even). When his contemporaries in his house-lovin’ home-base of Minneapolis expressed their love of the beat through DJ sets, Love would happily back them on trumpet, guitar, or really anything else he could find – his shows at legendary night spot First Avenue becoming more packed each month. It’s not that Love can’t DJ or produce – au contraire. Released by the house of Om Records – a label Love has followed for decades – “Bring Enough To Spill Some” is a 2-disc collection that demonstrates his special, stylistic diversity and ability to both mix a ridiculous set and produce tracks to showcase inside it.
Disc one features fourteen original, edited and remastered Love cuts, boasting collabs with house siren DeMonica on aptly titled “Spread The Love”, Estaire Godinez on “Bailando”, and longtime Twin Cities studio buddy Fourfeet on a handful of others. Followers of Love’s chunky, fluid funk will immediately recognize his dancefloor slayer “Back In My Life”, featuring Fourfeet on vocals and featured prominently on Miguel Migs’ Salted Compilation in 2006. We should also not forget the blood, sweat and tears shed by the partytime parrots, who appear on Disc 2: “Giveitupsista” includes ‘Flip the Bird’ saying, ‘C’mon!’,” Love laughs. “He charged me $100 bucks and a month�s supply of pizza crust for that one.”
Switching things up a bit, Disc two takes the listener through a jungle of trackier tunes, showcasing some of Love’s old favorites and new bangers – including but not limited to Andy Caldwell’s “Warrior,� Colette’s “About Us,” DJ Fluid’s “Keep On,” and Love’s own “Funky-Ass Beat/Still Funky.�
“The package has alla dat shit!” Love jokes in his lighthearted way. “The LP has tracks from the last two years of the material that people have come to know, also introducing downtempo and more minimal electronic production, infused with the soulful jazzy flavor that my music is based in. The challenge was to take my diverse musical background link it to my life long interest in electronic music and lock it down to the 4/4 house beat-mixed format.”
Love says he’s found a really good fit to do what he does from the DJ box, presenting his production as well as live solos with instruments and vocals, making the show just a little different from what house-heads usually see from their DJs. You’ll really have to see “The Bring Enough to Spill Some Tour” for yourself though, which has taken Love everywhere from Om’s Y Ultralounge party in Miami to Sydney to Hollywood. “We’ve also managed to fit in Snorkeling the Great Barrier reef, shopping the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, visiting the Cathedrals in Barcelona, and the beaches of Brazil,” Love adds. “But no matter where you are you can find a ham and cheese samich.” - Jen Boyles |
