Colin Mc Bean better known under the alias Mr. G is a veteran from London’s Tech-House scene. Proudly distilling his positive vibes at the top of his 59 years old through his music G has already achieved quite a work along his musical journey. Djing since his 30’s, he has been a part of the infernos UK based trio KCC composed of his friends Cisco and Keith Franklin as well as the other half of The Advent with Cisco.
Chapter 1: When Jamaican Dub meet Afro-American Soul
G’s relationship with heavy basslines and soul blends started back during his teenagehood through his familial background and his jobs as he used to work at R.E.cord and be the box boy of his hometown - Derby.
The initiation to music has been sparked by his father who used to tape records from their old gramophone and the family’s Jamaican roots. His father’s behaviour has influenced him to collect any records which speak to his soul and make him dance. The ’70s and the jazz, disco, funk and boogie wave with icons like Earth Wind and Fire, Funkadelic have been the cornerstone of G’s appetence for dance music.
Soon he began to do his weekly pilgrimage to the record store praying for this bliss one feels when finding the musical gem. Even when he was travelling to Jamaica he would go to the record store and seek for dub and reggae vibes. This passion for digging has led him to work for R.E.cord the local record store where G has widened his musical spectrum thanks to the diversity the store was offering.
Aside from this activity G was also a box guy bringing and setting up sound systems for house parties. Since his young age he was already playing with speakers amazed by the memory of his trip to Jamaica. A place where speakers are omnipresent in the daily life always jamming heavy dub bass.
“When I go to where my parents are from, every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday there’s a sound system.”
XLR8R - Q&A: Mr. G
Chapter 2: Music as a healing therapy
G’s music is characterized by a furious competition between kicks and basslines. The dustiness and roughness are coming from the resampling at a low bit rate of a whole black music history from the ’70s - reggae, gospel and soul. This gives a kind of duality to his tracks which perfectly reminds the complexity of human emotions.
Yet, studio time is perceived as a cathartic moment where, as in jazz music, he composes intuitively tracks which capture the emotions flowing through. This moment is a bit introspective as it deeply captures his mood as his work tends to mirror the inside. Then, everything Mr. G is doing in his studio is full of meaning and feelings.
“When I go to where my parents are from, every Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday there’s a sound system.”
Hyponik - Mr. G: “Every day is a blessing"
Chapter 3: Be real, be blessed, be G
One particular aspect of Mr. G is his understanding of djing profoundly embedded into digging. To him, vinyl mix forces DJs to believe 100% in their selection as the format bind to a limited number of records.
“With vinyl, you can limit yourself. That’s my thing: you have to believe in your selection. There’s none of this “let me go back to my 10,000 songs to find something…’ No! I made a selection and this is where I’d like to go! If it doesn’t work, then you’ve failed. But that’s how I see the job.”
Afropunk - Mr. G: On the art of dance music
Djing is really the science of the music archiver - digger - who knows the history of the tracks and sometimes has a privileged link with it. Before there was no tracklist then people had two options either get close to the DJ and see on the vinyl which artist it is or remember the music until it flashbacks during a dig session at the record store. It is all about projecting one’s feeling on the track while sitting with the record projecting yourself at the party in order to assess in which kind of ambience it would fit.
G’s selection directly reflects his mood and it is something which is felt in the way he dances during his sets, profoundly living the moment shared with the public. In fact, he needs a physical connection in order to fully share the moment. His live shows enable him to bring his favourite gear in order to get comfortable and confident while playing his music and dance.
“I’m a dancer – When I feel free, dancing is just me getting down. I can only dance if I’m feeling something.”
Hyponik - Mr. G: “Every day is a blessing"
This philosophy of being blessed with any moment of joy shared with others is deeply linked with an accident which has taken down Colin years before. He has suffered from a heart attack - since his recovery, he commits himself to thank life for any moment received.