2 Hours Behind

Dadmandog – 2 Hours Behind

Fortunately, we’re seeing a revival of 80s culture, and as a part of that, there has been a resurgence of genres derived from funk, disco, and city pop, though on a small scale. However, many of these new genres, such as nu-disco and future bass, are reinterpretations of classic funk rather than direct recreations of the music popular in the late 70s and early 80s. Considering this, Dadmandog set out to address two key challenges with this release.

One enjoyment of funk, or rare groove, is the act of “digging”. This is the pleasure of discovering rare and previously unknown records in record shops, and encountering new music. Once a piece of music becomes well-known, it inevitably loses its novelty. These rare grooves are, of course, “old records”, and it’s virtually impossible for “new 80s funk records releases” to be made unless we could somehow time travel. With the advancements of the internet, video platforms like YouTube, and the ease of cross-border e-commerce that made everything way more accessible, discovering unknown funk has become more difficult. The Dadmandog project aims to provide a new digging experience for funk lovers, listeners, and DJs. My goal was to create technically a “new” 80s funk record. Specifically, I aimed to recreate the sound of the boogie heyday from 1979 to 1982. While artists like Earth, Wind & Fire and Evelyn King were dominating the mainstream, acts like High Fashion and Gune Dunlap were electrifying disco clubs (and I love them all). I wanted to capture that transitional period from organic analogue grooves to electronic-driven sounds.

Another challenge was to counter the classicization of funk. While it’s wonderful for the genre to be famed as classics, it’s a shame if it becomes music that was once popular but is no longer listened to. Funk is still loved undoubtedly, but the aging of the original listeners cannot be ignored. While it’s natural for people to age, the generation that truly experienced and felt passionate about funk in its heyday is getting older. We, the younger generation, can only imagine the atmosphere of the 80s funk movement based on the music created by that generation and the stories they tell.

Analogically speaking, I’m from Hiroshima, and every year in school, we had “hiroshima survivors’ peace talks” where people who had actually experienced the atomic bombing came to my school and vividly described the situation at that time. However, as 79 years have passed since the end of the war, the number of survivors is decreasing. Now, it is up to our generation, who have heard these stories, to pass them on to the next generation.

While it may be disrespectful to compare this to the peace education, I believe a similar situation is emerging with funk. It’s not just limited to funk but applies to all cultural activities. The day when we can no longer directly hear stories like “D-Train came to our bar for a drink after his live performance” or “I saw Luther Vandros perform with Change and knew he was going to be huge” is probably not far off.

Considering this, Dadmandog has decided to release “2 Hours Behind” as a time capsule that captures the atmosphere (of course, it may be an utter bullshit within the realm of a Gen-Y’s imagination) of the golden era, rather than focusing on trendy reinterpretations. As a side note, the artwork for this album was recently shot at a disco in Xinjiang Uyghur. The retro interior and the warm atmosphere created by the dancing customers gave me an unforgettable experience, as if I had time-traveled back to the 80s. In Xinjiang, which is located nearly 3,000 kilometers west of Beijing, “Xinjiang Time”, which is two hours behind China Standard Time, is unofficially used. The feeling I experienced there was more like being “4 Decades Behind”. Following this concept, hereby I wanted to deliver a slightly retro, time-reversing “Dadmandog – 2 Hours Behind”.

Yam a.k.a. Dadmandog

Release Information

• Official Release Date: The 21st night, September 2024
• Pre-order Start Date: 23 August 2024
• Format: Digital Album
• Catalogue Number: DMD-001
• Distribution: Bandcamp, Amazon and iTunes. No streaming is planned at the moment