Started in 2015 by independent producer and artist, Steve Cliff, MeloFunk Music brings together singers and musicians through creative interpretations of songs.
Born and raised in Germany, and having been a part of the thriving independent music scene in Europe for some time, Steve was particularly attuned to the gaps that exist for artists in Canada.
When he moved to Toronto, creating platforms to raise the profile of local artists, in the city, and around the world became a passion project.
Over the past 2 years since MeloFunk was formed, the group has worked with a number of talented artists and has a permanent membership of InFuze (Sarika Navanathan, Magisha Baheerathan, Sofia Rahul and Shrutikaa Rajkumar) The Silly Chickens (Gobiraj Sivalingam, Kirishan Suresh, Suveathan Velauthar and Birithivy Yogaratnam), as well as Prabha Balakrishnan and Luksimi Sivaneswaralingam.
https://youtu.be/Ma9LeSb9jR8?list=PLJ4wwh6itU_pLE45pcmCe6PFVp2RjBhf5
Going beyond covers, the collective takes melodic tunes and reimagines them, bringing the music to life with a little bit of genre-bending funk.
Though there have been many performances to date, Steve shared that the very first time he received an inquiry about booking MeloFunk, is still something he considers a matter of pride. In chatting with him about MeloFunk, and his career in music, it was clear just how much he appreciates every part of the journey.
In his view “If you have a passion for music, you should keep fighting for it and working for it. If you inspire one person, keep creating work for that one person. 1 will become 10 and it’ll keep picking up from there.”
Having seen all the years of work put in by artists who are treated as “overnight sensations”, Steve also shared that more often than not, the talent is there. It’s the recognition and support which can take time to appear and catapult someone to fame—sometimes in moments, sometimes in years.
The commitment to an art form regardless, is what differentiates those who are poised and ready when opportunity arises. And he’s doing his best to create as many of those opportunities as he can.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWfkZSupvxU
Each MeloFunk collaboration requires about 7-8 hours of recording time, a couple of hours for the video shoot and then a few more hours spent in editing. This is of course above and beyond rehearsals for videos and for live performances.
This year MeloFunk is going one step further with an album of original songs and mashups to be released later this year. Those interested in learning more, making booking inquiries or supporting the project can connect with Steve at [email protected].
Catch the group live, this Saturday, June 3rd, when they hit the stage at Toronto's desiFEST!
