That old school, funk soul sound

ALL THE WAY TO GISBORNE: Troy Kingi brings his smooth 70s soul sound to the Dome next week. Picture supplied

The old-school, funk soul sound with smooth vocals that Troy Kingi gave New Zealand with his most recent album Shake That Skinny Ass All The Way To Zygertron comes all the way to Gisborne next week.

“Shake That Skinny Ass All The Way To Zygertron is a fictional account of two people from different times and dimensions meeting in the cosmos, falling in love and having a child with golden feet,” says Kingi.

Thus is fulfilled “an ancient prophesy written in the hieroglyphics of the coming of the messiah.”

A big inspiration during the writing process was American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Shuggie Otis’s 1974 album, Inspiration Information, says Kingi.

“Just the overall aesthetic of the album — warm, real pleasing to the ear but weird at the same time.”

When he recorded his 2016 debut solo album, Guitar Party At Uncle’s Bach, Kingi aimed for a live sound from the Motown/Beatles era. The album’s second track, Time Lapsium Gangtasium, has even got those shikka-wakka guitar rhythms 70s groovers won’t realise they have missed from their lives until they hear them again (‘Shaft!’ they will cry). Digital technology has a lot to answer for with the soulessness of autotune and vocoder.

“Sequencing tracks, cutting and pasting these perfect drum loops, cleaning up our recorded imperfections, I feel you lose the human element of the song,” says Kingi, “you lose the vibe and feel that used to be so strong in 1970s soul music.”

Troy Kingi, with local support acts Tyna Keelan, The Pines and Rose Campbell, the Dome Bar, December 14, 8pm. Tickets $30 from the venue or http://www.ticketspace.co.nz