There’s an urgency to get out of the tube at Camden Town station – secure your valuables, cross the road, and mind the smugglers. Through the barricade market stalls, a bright blue sign shines. Where are we? On the A to Z of London, we’ve just arrived at the very building which houses Fingerlickin Headquarters and Soul of Man – one part Justin Rushmore, one part Jem Panufnik – and many parts a breakbeat success story.
“I remember hearing something on the radio a few years ago about a company…and they just explained that the company was an extension of someone’s personality,” tells Justin, on what makes the soul of Fingerlickin Records. “And I think, really, when you talk about all the artists on the label, it’s a company of people who all share that theme. The whole breakbeat community, compared to other styles, tends to be a bit more family-based and down to earth.”
“With Fingerlickin’, it started with the music really,” Jem comes in about how Fingerlickin’ was born. “And when we started creating the sound, we were sort of aware that there it was this other genre bubbling away. It was totally different to what we were doing before and we thought we’d make it a brand, really. When it was just us doing releases for FLR, under different names, we were being diverse but putting it under the one umbrella.”
Label owners Justin Rushmore and Jem Panufnik aka Soul of Man have pretty much got it made in terms of owning an independent underground label that’s now bursting at the seams after five years of coming to life. Fingerlickin’ Records boasts some of the biggest names in breaks bizniss – Plump DJs and Krafty Kuts, to name a few. Under the Fingerlickin’ name – which won the ‘Best Label’ at the International Breakspoll Awards earlier this year- Soul of Man have toured Australia with their labelmates during our summers, escorting thousands of die-hard party people into the new year. Back in Camden, add to the label an overflowing café and bar, a record store downstairs, plus a whole network of PR people and radio supporters who help keep it together, and you’ve got a full throttle multi-functional machine that attracts people from far and wide. So how happy are these two with the surmounting success of the company?
“We’re shocked and appalled! Didn’t want it to be like this at all!” Jem has a smart-bite before tells the real deal. “No, it’s really, really exciting, and incredibly rewarding ‘cause obviously you can’t predict the scale of things. Our first single on FLR, ‘Love & Hate’ was picked up by a few big names. And then we came out to Australia for the first time four years ago, played a few Fingerlickin’ tracks, and people cheered.”
“And I think it was the first time it actually dawned on us that this was truly an international thing,” adds Justin, the more soft spoken of the two, of how the baby-steps of the Fingerlickin sound, even several years ago, had already taken giant leaps outside Camden Town. “And since, it’s been a natural progression because what we tend to do is allow people to develop [label artists] to their full potential. You know, the Plumps aren’t trying to be Top 40 pop stars – Lee Coombs definitely is…and Krafty wants to return to his old job as a jelly seller.”
Both Justin and Jem bust out in a laugh after making fun of Coombs and Krafty. They’re regular jokers, finishing off sentences for each other like they know what the others next off-the-wall remark is going to be. It’s not surprising in friendships and long-term business relationships since Justin is label A&R and Jem is the in-house artist (the one who does all the sleeve designs), and before Fingerlickin’, the pair had a House label called Spirits of Inspiration, where, even before that, they had met working on a project called ‘Avin it in Ibiza. And according to Soul of Man (who could just as easily be called Slice of Ham with the crazy comments sprouting out), being silly has become one of the norms within Fingerlickin’s corporate identity.
“We’ve all got a silly sense of humour,” Jem identifies, suggesting its relevance to being down to earth and one of the many mutual values that the Fingerlicker’s share. “It’s good team work. If we’ve just got a finished track, we’ll play it to the Plumps or whoever for the feedback. There’s a good sort of rapport between all of us. And we hook up on the non-business side as well.”
Though there’s no need for Soul of Man to only bask in the company’s success, they can just as easily bask in the glory of the Soul of Man name alone. After a long nearly a decade of working together Justin and Jem have released an massive about of 12”s, compilations, collaborations, whites, and remixes as Soul of Man and released music under alter egos like Solomon Funk for Freddie Fresh’s Howlin’ records. The next few months will be – after a tight scheduled tour in Australia – preparing for the release of their debut artist album in October entitled Soul Shaker.
“It’s been full on. Totally. We’ve been trying to divide the week up in the studio, but it’s been a lot of work. Schedule’s mental,” explains Justin. “We’re doing the Glastonbury Festival. And there’s a gig in Brighton the Wednesday beforehand. And then another gig on Sunday, before we leave [for Australia] on Tuesday. We’re probably not even going to be able to see straight! I’m getting a bit older now and my body’s not quite the same as it was. I figure it’s going to be a discipline of not drinking too much booze and not partying too hard. I say that now but…”
But this time the tour will be entirely about Soul of Man and every bit of the huge tunes, and showmanship silliness that goes with some of the best twosome mixing you’ll ever hear. “The idea of this tour is that it’s the first time, since the first time, that we’ve done a Soul of Man tour,” continues Justin. “What we want to do, is make the right impression about us as deejays, and showcase the new tunes that are coming through. Just put the spotlight on us a little bit, and let the performance speak for itself.”
“We might do a silly dance, though. We’re working with top choreographers,” adds Jem, giving us a fishy clue.
Check out Soul of Man on their Australia tour:
July 4 – Canberra, Babylon
July 5 – Sydney, The Metro
July 9 – Newcastle, Star Hotel
July 10 – Hobart, Syrup
July 11 – Melbourne, The Lounge
July 12 – Perth, Ambar
