Funky DL first started music production at the age of 12 where he used programs like Pro 24 and early versions of Cubase to learn sequencing and the manipulation of MIDI.

By the time DL was 15 years old he was sampling using the Akai S1100 and sequencing at his Uncle’s recording studios with programs such as Creator and Notator run via the Atari 1040 STE

During this period DL invested in the Commodore Amiga home computer and familiarised himself with a sampling and sequencing package called “Pro-tracker”.

He spent many years making beats on the Amiga using a television screen as a monitor and hooking up turntables directly to the computer to snatch breaks and beats. As Pro-tracker was only an 8-bit sampler and you could only run four sounds at once, obviously it had its limitations.

Eventually DL went on to the professional studio environment where he used the Akai S1000 sampler and Cubase to construct his beats and his creativity excelled as there was always an engineer on board who could help DL to further is Audio vision.

DL really found his footing when he purchased the original Akai MPC2000 back in 1997 and found that the groove and the manoeuvrability with each sound was second to none and since then all of Funky DL’s music is programmed using the MPC2000.

It is so often remarked that DL’s manipulation of bass notes and baselines is of the highest degree mirrored but in its own way to the likes of Jay Dee (Former Slum Village) and DJ Jazzy Jeff. What allows DL to get this kind of groove is firstly the programming which he insists is replicated in accordance to the drum groove where DL layers each MPC pad with a bass note which allows the movement of its playing to be that of a percussive nature. Secondly the choice of sound and the filters used to give it the warmth and the resonance needed to compliment the rest of the music. And lastly the notations where a lot of the time, the signatures of the bass melodies easily compare to that of old dub reggae tracks.

DL says “I think that beat making is one of the most influential ingredients to hip-hop and hit making. Look at producers like Pete Rock who were and still is able to paint vivid pictures and mood through just his music alone! Songs like ‘They Reminisce Over You’ were classic anthems because musically it took your breath away and what made it even more special was the fact that it didn’t even have a vocal for the chorus, it was just a saxophone but still to this day that song is played in clubs all over the world”

“When I make a beat I try to capture some kind of mood and feeling in just the music alone because firstly when you do that you defeat any language barrier internationally and secondly music for me is about feelings whether good or bad, high or low. It’s a vibe and a feeling so the beat has to work and the effort must be made to ensure that very result”

From producing ‘Classic Was The Day’ right through to Since 77 (The Latest Funky DL Album) DL has insisted that production is as much a part of him as rhyming and if he were to rhyme on an album which he had no production input whatsoever it’d be like the fans would only be getting half of him and not Funky DL in his entirety.

Funky DL has turned his hand to producing other acts such as Thursdays Love, Dyanna Fearon, Shola Ama, Phoebe One, Korus and Penfold as well as AG, and Sekz from New York.

The Thursdays Love album was a breakthrough for DL as he wasn’t entirely sure of his production capabilities for the project however he proved that with faith and determination an optimum result could be produced, and that coupled with the vocal extraordinaire of Sienna led to a highly successful debut album ‘For The Love of Jazz and Thursdays’

DL’s latest venture of size is producing the Dyanna Fearon Album ‘Life When You’re Driving’ in which he says “This is some of my most exquisite and perhaps greatest ideas as a producer ever!”

Keep locked into production corner and we’ll update you of any and all up and coming production activity as brought to you by Funky DL!!!