FSQ x Bad Business featuring Fantine
Please read on for the story about how we made FSQ’s Caribbean Disco remixed of “Cadillac Villa” by Bad Business featuring Fantine. Please stream the track on Spotify and add it to your playlists. Thanks …
Morgan Wiley, mainly of the incredible original funk disco troupe Midnight Magic, and also of FSQ, over the past two years is remixing songs by the New York City indie alternative group dubbed “Bad Business”. It turns out we liked several of Bad Business’ original tunes, just like this one “Turn it On”. The tune is filled with nautical metaphors and the music video is a fun romp on a small boat in the Chesapeake Bay.
Bad Business, led by Alex Vans, has a strong affinity for Steely Dan, and other AOR - Album Oriented Rock groups - of the late 1970s and early 80s. We guess you could call this style of music #YachtRock, but we are neither that familiar with the genre or consider it a great term. For instance, Boz Scaggs’ “The Real Lowdown” could be considered a part of this genre but we think that’s an extremely funky tune. Or Billy Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do” is another hit from this era and style that straddles the line between R&B and jazz rock. We have an affinity for tunes like these, and Bad Business is cutting original songs in this vein. Last fall, 2019, Bad Business released a new single, titled “Cadillac Villa” that grabbed the attention of FSQ.
“Cadillac Villa”’s guest vocalist, Fantine - a Russian Dominican chanteuse who seems to be splitting her time between Australia and the US - really adds an element of drama to the tune. Cadillac Villa is an ode to escaping New York City for warm Florida beaches. Specifically, the song is set at a little hotel in Fort Lauderdale, Florida off Las Olas Boulevard. You can find the Cadillac Villa on Google maps.
The real Cadillac Villa, Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
FSQ’s Chuck Da Fonk Fishman went to Andrew Raposo (of Midnight Magic)’s Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York City recording studio in February 2020 and began work on taking Bad Business’ yacht-rock-esque (we hate the term, but don’t know how to best describe it) anthem “Cadillac Villa” into early 80’s brit funk territory.
FSQ’s Caribbean Disco Remix of Bad Business’ “Cadillac Villa” is built around a wiggly Roland Juno synth bass line, plunky pianos, and Casiotone vocal choir pads. It’s constructed with a mindset of being right “on the one”, the downbeat of each bar of the tune. There’s a great call and response between the bass synth and fender bass lines written by Chuck and laid down by Andrew Raposo who engineered the sessions.
FSQ’s Chas Bronz (Tate Masimore) came to New York City for our FSQ Leap Year 2020 party at Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York City’s PonyBoy restaurant bar and dance club. After an all night FSQ DJ set at PonyBoy that concluded with Pillowtalk’s Mikey Tello throwing a surprise freestyle / electro / hip-hop closing DJ set, Chas and Chuck returned to Raposo’s studio lay down a slate of funk guitars. From Nile Rogers-esque rhythm guitar to Funkadelic guitar army lead lines, Chas covered it all and he brings this remix to life.
So much Fazio’s pizza and red wine was consumed in the process of making this remix.
By the time Andrew, Chuck and Chas had cut all this funk style quality goodness on the FSQ remix for Bad Business, Covid 19 was just hitting, and things were shutting down. But there was something still missing from the remix.
This FSQ remix should put you Caribbean mindset, especially as “Cadillac Villa” is an ode to Florida! FSQ member One Era (Matt Coogan) got the remix session and laid down a driving Balearic beat replete with wood blocks, staccato electronic handclaps, tiki tiki hi-hats and suspenseful drum fills that create the right kind of action for this remix. One Era can play all kinds of instruments but it’s always his drum work that impresses us.
With the addition of this Balearic beat, and Chas’ sunset guitar solos, this FSQ Caribbean Disco remix for Bad Business featuring Fantine was now bound for Midnight Riot’s new compilation “Balearic Headspace” Volume 5, released May 29th, 2020 exclusively on Traxsource.
This is FSQ’s fourth contribution to the “Balearic Headspace” series with our FSQ “I Zimbra” cover (FSQ Cap Negret Remix) being found on Volume 2, FSQ “Shades of Yello” (Jack Priest Remix) found on Volume 3, and Afterlife’s “Give It Up” (FSQ Remix) being found on Volume 4.