AN ICONIC dance music pioneer has been announced to be headlining a UK festival this summer.
Moodymann, whose real name is Kenny Dixon Jr, will be playing his first London open air set in three years, which comes after GALA Festival revealed its 2025 lineup.
Moodymann will be headlining GALA this summer[/caption]
Moodymann will be performing in London this May[/caption]
GALA is celebrating 10 years[/caption]
The independent London festival is returning to Peckham Rye this coming May, with it set to run from May 23 until May 25.
The weekend will be bass-heavy and filled with club-centric and soulful music.
The stellar line-up includes many fan-favourite names in the world of dance music such as Floating Points, Ben UFO, Cost 2 Coast, Avalon Emerson, Caribou, Bradley Zero, and of course, Moodymann.
Moodymann’s festival stint at GALA comes more than three decades since his band mate was killed in a shooting.
Back in the late 80s, Moodymann used the name Mr. House, and was partnered with the rapper Kevin Bailey, who performed under the K-Stone, and the duo’s the producer was Kahlil Oden, known as K9.
The group were offered a joint record deal, but two days before the deal was signed, Kahlil was killed in a shooting.
The producer was killed in Detroit, and the label pulled the deal amid fears of violence.
K-Stone told MixMag: “He was actually killed two days before we were supposed to sign it.
“Even though it wasn’t any fault of ours, the label declined the deal because they didn’t want to get involved in any violence, they was thinking it was gonna be some violent street group.”
Talking about the late producer, K-Stone said: “We loved his production because he always used the funkiest old records.
“Moody would pick some of the craziest loops, old skool loops from different types of records.
“He would use breakbeats and vocal samples to create various different hip hop grooves and beats. We would come up with all kinds of dope ideas.”
Moodymann and K-Stone then signed to Atlanta’s Ichiban Records and toured for several years, with Moody soon going off on his own to release independent music.
Moodymann released his first record under his current stage name in 1992.
Glastonbury 2025 – rumoured acts
THE Glastonbury line-up hasn’t been confirmed – despite the fact tickets for the 2025 event sold out in minutes. Here are some rumoured acts.
Basement Jaxx sparked speculation they will be playing at Worthy Fam after leaving a “Glastonbury shaped gap” in their latest tour schedule.
It came after the hit duo announced their first live shows in 10 years – with gig-goers calling out a key “clue” in the order of their concert dates.
Yet acts including Olivia Rodrigo, Harry Styles, Sabrina Carpenter, Chappell Roan and Eminem are rumoured to be in the mix.
Canadian songstress Alanis Morrisette and Simple Minds have also been tipped to take to the stage.
The event will run from Wednesday, June 25 to Sunday June 29 for 2025.
But Moody’s first record received no public response, because he botched the production when he didn’t know one side of the record could only play fifteen minutes of audio.
He recorded thirty minutes on each side, resulting in records that played feedback.
In 1994, Moodymann officially launched his own independent label, KDJ Records, with the release of his EP Moody Trax.
He then went on to release several records such as The Day We Lost the Soul, which was a tribute to Marvin Gaye; Don’t Be Misled; and I Can’t Kick This Feelin When It Hits.
In 1997, Moodymann released his debut album, Silentintroduction.
Sign up for presale tickets of GALA Festival going live on Friday, January 31 at 10am UK Time: presale.thisisgala.co.uk.
The festival will take place this May[/caption]
Presale starts this month[/caption]
