If the melodic swoons and adhesive-like hooks of early-Nineties R&B could be seductively transposed into our current musical landscape, Two Inch Punch could very well be the ‘lovestep’ version of any new jack swing artist at that most impressive of times.
“I guess Toni Tony Tone were a big influence,” the producer explains. “Raphael Saadiq kept it moving. He made cheesy lyrics and melodies still sound cool and his bass playing is next level.”
Ben Ash’s T.I.P moniker was born towards the latter end of last year; a name connected more closely to two-inch tape analogue audio recordings rather than a nod towards Bruce Lee.
As his Soundcloud account eloquently sums up, it was his healthy upbringing of soul and vocal harmony groups that planted the seed for the lush electronica he now makes that looks likely to seriously coerce the musical flow of 2012. His mother was a fan of Keith Sweat and Otis Redding in the house and his dad played session guitar on tour and on records for classics like Jimmy Ruffin, The Pioneers, Desmond Dekker and Jimmy Cliff. It’s this that exudes in his music, “in terms of melody, song structure, heartfelt delivery and those boss chord progressions.”
He admits “a lot of electronic music is the extreme opposite to that, really technical and well produced but often lacks real soul.”
His arresting debut EP, ‘Love You Up’, was unleashed at the close of October 2011 with plaudits flying in from every direction for his summery approach to extreme vocal bending and rhythmic play. And quite rightly so.
A sunken hearts rework of Birdy’s ‘People Help The People’ also got lips moving due to some impressive harmonic layers that will make the heart miss a few and a guitar section that soothes better than Beechams.
Words by Emily Anderton
Photo by Samuel John Butt
Where: London
What: Love-induced electronica
Get 3 songs: ‘Love You Up’, ‘Breaking Hearts’, ‘Up In Your Mix’
Unique fact: His parents nearly called him Otis but his uncle Alec said, “I’m not having my nephew named after a lift.”
