Sam GreenwoodToday we’re excited to premiere a psychedelic, disco, funk track from a very talented artist and friend GSD who has written, recorded and produced the album in only two weeks.
Since 2005 when I first met Leo aka GSD, I’ve watched a talented guitarist go from touring in a band around the UK, to embracing dance music, raves, drum machines, Abelton and various dance music collaborations, but now, in my opinion, he has found his feet with a sound, genre and a style that is very much him, that I just knew would someday appear. The sound he was chasing and which I could see he was well capable of has come through in his excellent new GSD project and album ‘Unmixed Unlocked’.
From a young age, Leo has been performing in indie rock and funk bands. His curiosity for creating unconventional sounds has always been there, experimenting in as many genres as possible without losing identity.
As bands and touring took an unexpected hiatus this year, the opportunity arose to work on a new music project. He moved to Italy at the beginning of the first lockdown and while walking the streets of Rome, he dreamt up the idea of ‘Unmixed Unlocked’ – a fresh emphasis on getting things finished. The project ethos was coined from the depths of the studio, when collaborating with others, he realised that trying to get things done took ages and ultimately some things never got finished.
The GSD concept was born in his mind, however, executing it was going to be a massive task. On arriving back to the UK, he sourced all the gear required to write, record and mix an album in only 2 weeks. And so embarking on a solo project and ‘gettin shit done’ became Leo’s main focus during these strange lockdown days, marking a return to DIY and the days-of-old when records were written, recorded, mixed, mastered, and released in two weeks.
The album will be released on ‘Coupe De Ville Record‘, a label he co-runs with good friend Mark Sutton, as a place they can self-release, maintain independence and allow for such projects to turnaround in such a short time frame.
Thus emerged ‘Unmixed Unlocked‘, an album of psychedelic funk-pop bangers, over layers upon layers of driving drum machines and deep funk bass.
Some of the many names to influence GSD to this point include Mr. Margaret Scratcher, Prince, 80’s Italo disco, Donnie Benet, Empire Of The Sun, Jamiroquai, MGMT, the late and great Bill Withers and Van Morrison.
Ahead of the albums full release tomorrow [Friday 18th December], we’re delighted to premiere the 6th track from the album, titled ‘Surfin’ in A Dream’. You can pre-order this track and the whole Unmixed Unlocked album from the GSD Bandcamp page right here.
GSD IS A COLLECTIVE WAY OF LIFE