JOIN THE FUNK FOUNDATION

By Ryan Harrison FANS of dance music are in for a treat this weekend as Palma hosts an exclusive live session of ground-breaking music, presented by British DJ Damien Meadows and featuring the world-renowned Garry Christian, from Liverpool group The Christians. Damien, alias DJ Medz, who is on his seventh summer in Majorca, will perform with The Christians frontman along with other top musicians as part of the Freestyle Funk Foundation project, which has been spearheading a new movement in dance music for the past year. This weekend's gig at the Club 113 club in Palma is the product of three years of planning and will for the first time blend the instantly recognisable soul voice of Garry Christian and the dance arrangements of DJ Medz, with the backing of live instruments, including guitars, percussion and keyboards. This unique ensemble will perform six original DJ Medz tracks at the concerts taking place tomorrow and Sunday, as well as recording an exclusive never-before heard song called Summertime. Fans of The Christians will also get the chance to hear Garry sing two of the band's own famous numbers, The Bottle and Harvest for the World. Garry, who has recently finished a sell-out comeback tour with the band, was excited about the prospect of fusing two different styles of music. He said: “These two sessions come after three years of planning and waiting. I've never delved into the dance world before, so it's going to be really exciting. It's a new avenue of music for me. “DJ Medz has opened my eyes to new ideas and what's great about what we're attempting is that it's a new angle on dance music. It's striving to do something new. Medz is still using beats, but he also incorporates this into an organic mix, using live instruments. It's what I'd call human dance music.” Damien, fed up with the state of the dance music after 15 years in the business, pioneered a new dance sound with his project, the Freestyle Funk Foundation, which celebrates its first anniversary this weekend after a year touring Majorca and Ibiza. He said: “The robotic dance music that's produced today is what's killing music. What we've presented to people is dance music with a human feel, through the live musicians on stage. Our aim is to bring entertainment back to the youth. I think the beauty of music is being able to get up on stage and play in front of people, live,” he added. Damien, who is from Manchester, has performed at a number of top London clubs in his career, including The Ministry of Sound. This weekend's concert will also see professional session guitarist Stewart Boyle on show, who has performed alongside the likes of The Christians and Tori Amos. The backing vocals for Garry Christian will be provided by Emmgy, who was the original singer with the Freestyle Funk Foundation a year ago, and will also try his hand at trumpet to boost the brass section. Tomorrow's gig will see the various musicians playing Damien's tracks as he intended them, however on Sunday, at what's now a weekly slot at Club 113 called Dope Jam Sessions, there will be an opportunity for players to improvise over familiar dance beats that Damien lays down. The gigs kick off tomorrow and Sunday from 11.30pm onwards at Club 113 in Ca'n Barbara.