Aaron Ross gets about a bit. Whether it's hosting the Defected Radio Show, jetting off around the world for far-flung DJ appearances, or troubling the Traxsource charts with his soulful-yet-sturdy house beats, he's never short of something to keep him occupied. On top of that - as Soul Heaven resident - he's just been asked to mix a retrospective compilation celebrating 10 years of Soul Heaven. Happily, he managed to squeeze us into his hectic schedule for a quick chat...
For those people who might not know, what’s Soul Heaven all about?
Soul Heaven started out as a club night at the Ministry of Sound with garage pioneers Bobby & Steve along with Phil Asher as the residents. The club night has gone from strength to strength over the course of the last 10 years – taking the parties to the shores of Ibiza and Thailand and beyond. The record label was something I set up with Defected and Oli White the original owner of Soul Heaven, and after a successful series of compilations had been released reflecting the sound of the parties we all felt it was time for the label to launch and we kicked it off with a soulful classic from Peven Everett. That was nearly 5 years ago now.
So why is it time for a retrospective?
The end of this year will be 5 years of the label and this year is 10 years of the club night. There’s enough quality releases to put them together in a nice mix. And I had done the A&R for the early releases and Neil had done the A&R for the newer releases and we’re both residents at the club night and tours, and partners in the production team Fanatix – so It all kinda made sense...
Why do you think soul and house music make such willing bedfellows?
House comes from disco and disco came from soul....think that kinda sums it up!
Talk us through your mix…you had a lot to chose from so how did you narrow it down?
Actually as my mix was based on the earlier Soul Heaven releases I didn’t have a lot to choose from it was more about making the records I had work in a nice flow. I went from the deeper instrumental tracks to the more upbeat soulful vocals…and the flow worked out nice.
Tell us about your Fanatix project? Is it something you’re still involved in?
We’ve been working on music together as Fanatix for 7 years now...We had an album out a couple of years ago on BBE which was a bit of a milestone for us. More recently we’ve been concentrating on solo efforts but Fanatix will always be there and we have a few new records in production awaiting songs.
Soul and vocals especially are making a comeback in house in a lot of sub-genres…why do you think this is?
Songs are what give music the most longevity and are what people can hook into most easily, so I think whatever the genre people are looking towards creating a good song that can stand the test of time. And soul can manifest itself in many ways, sometimes it’s just in the groove that has a bit more of a feeling rather than traditional musical soul. I think it was lost from some parts of dance music but is creeping its way back in via a subtle funk or swing to a production. Elements of soul in music make it more emotive and uplifting which I think is an important part of dancing in a club environment.
What else have you going on at the moment?
As I mentioned I’ve been working on solo productions and remixes, I just completed a remix of Jaheim on a song called ‘Finding Your Way Back’ and also had a single on restless soul ‘Talia’. Then next up is my remix of the Muthafunkaz ‘A Reason To Love’ and a song I produced called ‘Feel My Love’ featt. Gia Mellish. The Defected Radio Show which I present is going from strength to strength – we’re now broadcasting on over 35 stations around the world, and my day job doing A&R at Defected is keeping busy too!
Interview by Greg Sawyer
The Sound of Soul Heaven Records is out 16th August - click to listen & buy
