Our endearing Welsh friend, Phat Phil Cooper rode the mid-nineties wave of rave with superclub residencies at Cream, Liverpool and Ministry of Sound, London. Over this time he was one of the few DJs to maintain worldwide guest spots – from Brazil to Brighton and Sydney to Singapore, bringing a unique blend of deep, jackin’ and intelligent house music to a global audience. All the time Phil was travelling, he was both collecting and exposing music at all corners of the international dance floor. By picking up Northern Soul collections in Ibiza and obscure afro-rock 7″s in South Africa allowed him to expand his already over flowing appetite for music. This freestyle genre-bending outlook needed a release. No DJ is content with playing weird and wonderful finds in their bedroom or laying down an occasional mixtape.

To this end, Phil came up with the NuNorthern Soul concept, a Sunday session of music presented in comfortable surroundings with – importantly – great food and wine. City Bar in Chester was the landing pad for the Sunday slouchdown and Jim Baron from Crazy P was one of the first of many NuNorthern Soul All-Stars. The pair would spin for eight-hour sessions, playing records from front to back, full length, blended and melded together to create an audio soundscape for lazy, hazy Sunday afternoons.

As Phil moved from the UK to Ibiza setting up a record promo pool, NuNorthern Soul went with him, transferring it from an English style bar to the legendary Base Bar on the old port of Ibiza town. It was an easier transition as Balearic ears are always after different beats and NuNorthern Soul provided them exactly that. Quickly the idea was moved to Base Bar’s partner the Es Vivé hotel in Playa Den Bossa where Phil would host the Sunday session as a pre-Space sizzle with a cool, music loving crowd rocking up for Sunday sustenance before heading down to We Love… Space. Quickly spotting the synergy that NuNorthern Soul had, in stepped promoter Darren Hughes and musical director Mark Broadbent, taking the NuNorthern Soul vibe to the Premier Etage roof terrace at Space every Sunday, kicking up a fuss with African and Latin beats, funk, disco, soul, hip hop and broken beats.

NuNorthern Soul lives on now in the form of semi-regular podcasts and Sunday sessions in various back rooms, barns and boozers across the UK… Stream the podcast here. Or subscribe via iTunes here. Also check out Phil’s blog for his general musings on trainers and stuff.

Phat Phil Cooper – DJ Profile

NuNorthern Soul – Myspace

NuNorthern Soul – Facebook

Hotel Es Vivé