British soul singer Steve Spacek and the Sydney based producer Katalyst have teamed up to from the soul-fi duo Space Invadas. Groupie caught up with Katalyst to chat about their upcoming album appropriately titled ‘Soul:Fi’.

Given your quite disparate backgrounds, how did you guys team up?

We hooked up through a mutual friend who thought we might work well together. Steve had moved to Sydney and our friend gave me a copy of his album to check when I was on the lookout for guest vocalists on my last album, ‘What’s Happening’. We got down together on that tune and got to know each other a bit through that process. That tune went on to do well internationally and was licensed to comps such as Giles Petersons ‘Brownswood Bubblers.’ Steve heard more of my music and we decided we should do some writing together on a soul based tip…….and along came Space Invadas.

You classify your music as ‘Soul-fi’ and claim that aliens from the 60s played a part in the development of your sound. What inspired your space-age meets old school soul sound?

Steve is quite futuristic in his approach to music across the board……on a production tip and also vocally. With this record we set out to bring a mix of all our influences to the project…..but also to make something that people could identify with in terms of old school meets new sounds and styles.

Your debut album, fittingly entitled ‘Soul:fi’, is due out in March, and you’ve been making numerous festival appearances (Days Like This, Playground Weekender, Future Music, Golden Plains…) in the lead up to its release. How is it going translating the songs from studio to stage?

The live show has turned out to be a lot of fun and we have expanded on some of the studio arrangements as well. Its feeling really good as a live set…..the sound is true to the record but gives us the freedom to explore new areas in a live situation. Steve is an amazing front man coz he’s just so real and honest as a performer. The band has become a really tight unit and everyone is involved because they love the record…so we couldn’t ask for a better crew. We’ll be getting out a lot over the coming months so look out for a show near you

Both of you have been involved in a number of musical projects – do you have long-term plans for Space Invadas or is it just one rung on the musical stepladder?

As you say there is a lot on for both of us. Including getting this release out overseas. We have the 1st single coming out soon in the US, digitally and on wax. We have been getting love on the radio both in the US on KCRW and in the UK on the BBC. We are already writing new songs for the next album……..in our spare time on the road and a little back in the studio as well. Were both really looking forward to working on fresh tunes under the Space Invadas banner so there’s no doubt were here to stay in this form for a while to come.

And finally, can you let us in on any Groupie experiences ? We wont tell anyone … (that’s a lie).

We love groupies….cause groupies are fans…. and we love fans. But any groupie experiences are best left between the artist and the groupie wouldn’t you say? Groupies are usually lots of fun except if they’re of the stalker variety……nuff said.

Groupie Magazine