In The Studio With | Soul Clap

Soul Clap’s third album is founded on a passion for environmental and social activism. Danny Turner reveals the deep house duo’s motivation and dualistic approach to production

© Bill Kennedy Photo LLC

Soul Clap’s Charlie Levine and Eli Goldstein originally hailed from Boston’s local DJ party circuit, gathering quick acclaim for their bootlegs and house remixes. Fusing multiple generic elements with futuristic production techniques, their debut album EFUNK demonstrated a bold electro-funk sound, followed four years later by the self-titled Soul Clap – described as a skyscraper of jazz-infused influences.

Disturbed by political and environmental issues, the self-taught duo’s third album, WTF (World Transformation Force) exhibits their activist leanings. A diverse body of work – and undoubtedly their most sophisticated album to date, the messaging affirms Soul Clap’s commitment to global change, aligned to their multi-generic spin on underground house.

It’s been about five years since your last album. Did the pandemic accelerate your desire to make a new one?

CL: “We actually finished this album before the pandemic and were wrapping it up in Los Angeles as the news spread that there might be a situation going on. I remember sitting in the studio with producer Lee Curtis at the helm and Eli standing behind him receiving a text from his wife about everybody having to be ‘quarantined’. I looked at them as if to say ‘she’s crazy’, but she was right on the money.”

EG: “It’s interesting that the whole concept and narrative of the album was pre-pandemic and pre-George Floyd protest, so these were already subject matters that we were thinking about and now seem to be quite pertinent and timely.”

So the year-long delay in release was more due to not being able to tour or promote the album?

CL: “It was more about having this luxury called ‘time’. Touring is connected to it because as you’re finishing an album there’s already plans for its release with deadlines set for the artwork, mixing and mastering. Because we didn’t have to tour this time, we could spend an extra month having Zoom meetings with our mix and mastering engineers to really get things sounding perfect. We also took time to find the right label rather than putting it out independently.”