Fusion House: Play that funky music, white boy

08 May 2015 - 02:21 By Yolisa Mkele

What do a retired Ohio-based sexagenarian and a twenty something Capetonian who likes playing with his computer have in common? If you guessed music then your lollipop is in the post. South African dance music producer Das Kapital (Kyle Brinkmann) recently released his latest EP, City Back, and enlisted the aid of former funk music star Robert Neale jnr, who toured the world as a member of the band Faze-O in the late 1970s.The two have created a murky industrial house EP through which Neale's vocals reverberate like a bass guitar chord."Robert and I hooked up through my manager. He is a little crazy and has a flavour that I really like," said Brinkmann.To the uninitiated it may seem that old-school funk and modern dance music wouldn't make the ideal couple but Neale and Brinkmann managed to cross that gap in a way few people at opposite ends of the age spectrum have."I love club music," effused the 62-year- old Neale. "During recording, Das and I had a real synergy and that allowed us to bridge the generation gap."This generational bridge-crossing was assisted by the fact that in his heyday Neale was way cool."Things were good for a while.We got to tour the world ... and we built up a huge following. Unfortunately a lot of things happened through the back door," said Neale, referring to the end of the band's relationship with the Ohio Players, a funk band with whom they were touring.To make matters worse, in the late 1980s the rap group EPMD sampled some of the band's music without jumping through the regulatory hoops. The album sold millions - Neale and the band didn't receive a cent."It was terrible when we found out that they'd been sampling our stuff, but we have people looking out for us now and are hoping to start recovering some residuals," said Neale.Despite these setbacks he remains sanguine. "People are really surprised when they hear some of the stuff I'm doing. The first time I listened to the track with Das, I was with my eldest grandson, who loves gangsta rap. He was blown away."Perhaps the most intriguing part of their relationship is that Brinkmann and Neale have never met. Their entire relationship has taken place through Skype, Dropbox, and e-mail.Brinkmann's EP 'City Back' featuring Robert Neale jnr can be purchased on www.beatport.com..

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