Simon James is the 35-year-old Scottish born musician and singer behind the alias Woolfy. His influences include dirty disco, the rare 12″s from 73 – 84, a bit of English punk, pub funk, and booze.
Los Angeles 1999 – Dan Hastie and Simon James meet in a run down bar in downtown LA. A pint? Aayy, a pint will do fine … You make music, I make music, let’s make music. The two embarked on what’s become a nine year adventure known as Projections.
Their first release on Chicago’s Guidance Recordings was Kingsburg, a track that’s appeared on many compilations, including house legend Tony Humphries at Fabric. From there, the full length, “Between Here & Now” was released. It made serious waves on the electronic scene and put Projections on the map. The lads have become known in Los Angeles for their knock down drag ‘em out parties, dropping a concoction of spaced-out house, dubbed disco, funk & beard rock. The dancefloors last forever. As well as Dj’ing, they are busy with Projections, Woolfy, and the supa heavy funk band Orgone on Ubiquity/Nuff Rope Records (CA/UK).
Fast forward to 2004 New York where they meet Dj Spun of Rong Records playing at a local pub. A few bottles of rum later and Rong Records was releasing the Woolfy / Projections split single. As Woolfy vs Projections they recorded the concept album The Astral Projections Of Starlight for Permanent Vacation Records.
Captain Starlight is a figure in a song named “Zazu“ by German 70’s comedian and music artist Frank Zander. “Zazu“ has been a treasure hit amongst DJ Harvey and the Cosmic Disco DJ’s in the early 80s, such as Danielle Baldelli. The instrumentation of the album refers to 70’s psych rock such as Pink Floyd & Alan Parsons, but also to the downtempo sound of the 90’s by Kruder & Dorfmeister, and to the house vibe of a DJ Harvey set.