Murk is Oscar G and Ralph Falcon, one of the most celebrated and accomplished production outfits in house music. With close to two decades of experience behind them they have a signature sound; one that is utterly unique and which continues to inspire aspiring and established producers to this day.
Here, ahead of the release of House Masters MURK, Oscar G and Ralph Falcon give us some background info on all the tracks that feature on the compilation.
House Masters Murk by Defected Records
Intruder (A Murk Production) feat. Jei 'Amame' (Long Ass Mix)
RF: It had been years since our last release on Murk and we finally thought we had something worthy of releasing on vinyl in the digital age. Jei had been asking us to work on something with her so we took advantage of the situation to bring her on board and Amame was the final result.
Oscar G & Ralph Falcon 'Dark Beat' (Murk Monster Mix)
OG: I was on a South American tour back when Dark Beat was first released. I was doing two bookings on the same night in Cali, Colombia. The first was an all-ages club that closed at midnight. I was shocked when I played Dark Beat and 2000 kids between the ages of 10 to 15 started to sing along and do a synchronized dance to it. Totally surreal.
The Fog ‘Been A Long Time’
RF: Made this one in my bedroom with my old analog equipment back in the days. I remember lugging all the stuff back and forth from my place to the studio. I had to sample almost every syllable of the vocals for them to sound right…those were the days!
Liberty City 'If You Really Love Someone' (Original Mix)
RF: This was our second Liberty City release. I remember someone calling us to tell us an R&B group was using the name Liberty City soon after, then I saw the name on a video game as well…viva liberty city!!
Romanthony 'Falling From Grace' (Murk Main Mix)
OG: We were always fans of Romanthony and were completely up for mixing this track for Azuli. We worked at a small studio Dave Piccioni had in the basement of Blackmarket records in London. We were accustomed to renting out big studios at the time, so we were a bit worried when we first walked in, but by the time we left we were inspired enough to scale down our own operation at home.
Ralph Falcon 'Every Now And Then' (Ralph Falcon 2009 Remix)
RF: This was the first release on a friend and I’s label called Miami Soul. The verses are actually me singing the pilot which we couldn’t get the vocalist to sing. He did get the chorus right though.
Funky Green Dogs From Outer Space 'Reach For Me'
RF: We actually used a real wawa guitar on this track. The guitarist had to use motor oil out of his trunk to get his wawa pedal to work properly!
Liberty City 'Some Lovin'
OG: We were originally not sure if we wanted to release this song as were not thrilled with the mix. Then a few months later we were sitting on the steps of New York's legendary Sound Factory listening to Junior Vasquez work ‘Some Lovin’ to death! He literally played it for half an hour, extending the intro, mixing into the dub and at one point he shut it off and the audience began stomping their feet and singing the hook. An unforgettably inspiring moment!
Interceptor 'Together' (Original Dub)
RF: We released this track at WMC in 1992. A friend of ours played it at a place called Club Nu and the response was phenomenal. I remember getting swarmed in the DJ booth by DJs and industry folk when this was dropped.
Coral Way Chiefs 'Release Myself'
OG: We were touring in Italy quite a bit around this time and this particular record really took off there. The lyrics are “Release my…” and an ad-lib bit where he sings "shaa!". We soon realized people thought the song's lyrics were "Policeman" "Stop!". They would request the policeman song at every show. We still laugh about that to this day.
Willie Ninja 'Hot' (Murk Mix)
RF: It was an honour reworking this track for NYC legend Willie Ninja. Back then there were so many people and places to draw inspiration from. This mix was NYC all the way!
Dynamo Electrix 'You'
OG: It seems like in one form or another this song has been played in New York and Miami clubs for the better part of the last fifteen years. One of the strange things about song writing is how songs take on a life of their own. I don't even feel like it's my song anymore, I just look at it as a go-to record in my sets.
Bobby Pruit 'Tried So Hard' (Special Vocal Mix)
RF: Bobby is one of the most talented vocalists I’ve ever met. His range and ability to harmonize is second to none. It’s so easy to work with people like this.
Deep South 'Believe'
OG: Sharam – of Deep Dish fame – once told me this was his favourite Murk song and that it was way ahead of it's time. He said the lyrical content was serious and applied to our current state of affairs. Ralph and I felt very strongly, at the time, that this was our best work to date. Ironically it sold less copies than any other Murk release. Maybe Sharam was right!
Ralph Falcon 'I Need Someone' (Original Club Mix)
RF: I remember making this track with some fresh new gear I had just bought. For me it’s all about new sounds, it just takes a few good sounds to make a decent groove, and a great vocalist like Victoria Wilson James was the icing on the cake.
Funky Green Dogs From Outer Space 'High Up'
RF: This song was born from a pattern Oscar had made on his drum machine. The groove was so good it would’ve probably better left alone, but I loved that pattern so much we made a full vocal out of it with a girl called Club Z. The rest is history.
Oscar G 'Chunky Buddah'
OG: I came up with this track the first day I set up Logic software in my studio. I had used only analog gear to that point so it was a big transition. It ended up getting a great reaction from all my DJ homies and eventually got picked up by Innervisions for their Secret Weapons series. It definitely made me feel better about the transition.
Intruder 'U Got Me'
OG: This was our first release on the Murk label. I was 20 at the time and could not believe so many DJs were actually playing our record. We had to ask my Dad for a 2000 dollar loan to re-press records due to the demand. He gladly loaned us the money with 10% interest. Business lesson learned.
Fury 'Pain'
RF: This track was done in that old Jersey house spirit of the 1990s. Zanzibar’s and Tony Humphries were truly inspirational!
Tito Valdez 'Tumbe' (Murk Boys Oscar G Choice Rmx)
OG: We did this mix in a small home studio in Italy somewhere. I recall there was a big dog, a non-English speaking engineer, a nice lady that would offer us coffee and it was freezing cold. We had been in Italy touring heavily for about two weeks straight and completed four remixes between gigs. This was the pick of the litter.
House Masters MURK is out 6th February - listen & pre-order
