Mixtape / Interview: B Bravo

Listen to B Bravo’s mix for The Stool Pigeon on the Mixcloud player at the end of the interview

When Dâm-Funk says a guy is one of the driving forces behind the West Coast modern funk movement, it’s fair to say he’s got the fullness of our attention. The guy in question is B Bravo — Adam Mori — and one listen to his ‘Kiss & Tell’ EP will tell you Dâm had more than an inkling what he was on about: these are sun-kissed, classic G-funk-inspired grooves that’ll have you dreaming of palm-decked boulevards and floss-like bikinis clinging to well-oiled butt cheeks.

Originally hailing from Monterey, CA where his Japanese father moved some years previous, Bravo made the move to San Francisco as a teenager to study film at college. Brought up on jazz greats like John Coltrane and Art Pepper, he played alto sax from an early age, but stopped playing until his college pals encouraged him to jam with their fledgling funk band. Rediscovering the pleasures of his childhood intrigue, Bravo wound up joining Bayonics, a Latin big-band/hip hop ensemble from the city’s mission district.

It was during this time that he began tinkering with computer programmes, discovering his true musical calling by attempting to imitate his favourite hip hop producers: “I started out imitating people like Dre or Bay Area producers,” he says. “There was something about that funk sound I liked, that bass line — ‘WOMP-WOMP-WOMP!’ I remember one of the first tracks I tried to imitate was the Dead Prez beat [does a frighteningly accurate impression of the bass line from classic track ‘Hip Hop’].”

After finally getting to grips with “what it was about a certain beat just made your face screw up”, Bravo started trying his hand at more original compositions, making his name as a solo producer along the West Coast and plugging his cause into the emergent modern funk scene: “It’s just a shift into more musical-sounding stuff, you know?” says Bravo, not exactly one for OG-style boasting.

“It’s composition and songwriting, not just a four or eight-bar loop with some weird sample over the top. Instead of it being like, ‘I’m making a beat for a rapper,’ it’s more about making a composition that works on its own. But it’s not just a West Coast thing — it’s worldwide.”

With his EP picked up by London label Earnest Endeavours (it’s out now) and a more dance and psychedelia-tinged full-length also in the works, you better work fast to keep up with B — Dâm-Funk’s already got the jump on you.

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