Copyright biography, 2008 “We play sounds with worldwide appeal. You can drop them from Portugal to Australia to Japan. It’s soulful house music with a global vibe.” Stalwarts of the house scene for almost a decade, London based DJ/production duo Sam Holt and Gavin Mills – aka Copyright – are about to jump to the next level with the release of their debut album, ‘Voices and Visions’. An assured collection of soulful house, classic song writing, with latin, afrobeat, disco, funk and tech influences and outstanding vocal performances from a stellar cast of collaborators, ‘Voices and Vision’s’ is set propel Copyright into the super league of global house players. Having their first proper release on the hugely influential US label Soulfuric back in 2000, the boys proceeded to put out a slew of quality tracks on that and several other labels (including their own imprint, Copyright Recordings) in the early noughties. Tracks like ‘Good For You’ feat Angie Brown, ‘Bulo’ with longtime friend and percussion collaborator Shovel and ‘Release Yourself’ set the pace, while their move to Defected in 2005 saw them jump up a gear with tracks like ‘He Is’, ‘Bring Me Love’ and ‘I Pray’. The international recognition they received from these releases culminated in Defected boss Simon Dunmore asking Copyright to mix the 2007 ‘Miami In The House’ compilation. Distilling the Copyright sound while showcasing their mixing prowess and nose for what makes a great party, it went on to sell more than 30, 000 copies globally. Which begs the question, with so much success, how come it’s taken them so long to finally deliver their debut long player? “I think we wanted to wait until the time was completely right,” says Gavin. “We were quite happy developing our sound, gaining production experience and honing our DJing. Then out of the blue Simon said ‘you guys should do an album. Why don’t you give us three maybe four new tracks, we’ll put it together with some of the stuff we’ve released before.’ It evolved and we’ve ended up with about eight new tracks.” And it’s been more than worth the wait. Sublimely blending their trademark soulful sound with a host of other influences, the album is a reflection of their varied and universally-appealing DJ sets. “There are tracky parts, classic song writing, percussive stuff, deep elements and even some hip house!” enthuses Sam. The hip house comment refers to the inclusion of original acid and hip house pioneer K.C. Flightt, alongside new school rapping sensations Mr V and Miss Patty and old school don, the inimitable Jazzie B. “We wanted to represent a bit of UK flavour. It’s great to have an English accent on a house record. We went down to Brixton and came back with that iconic sound,” says a wide-eyed Sam of the band’s experience of working with the Soul II Soul legend. Elsewhere, longtime cohorts Shovell, Imaani and Tasita D’mour make an appearance, ensuring continuity for the original Copyright fans, while all brining something new and unique to the mix as the Copyright family pushes the sound forward. In keeping with their global ethos, expect to see the boys DJing around the world to promote the album in 2008, including a number of live performances with the album’s guest artists – cementing ‘Voices and Visions’ position as a key release for 2008 in Britain and overseas. At a time when the UK’s reputation abroad isn’t all that. It’s good to see some of Her Majesty’s subjects doing their bit to spread the love.