Cymandre3000: The Musical Fusion of Andre 3000 and Cymande
The music hadn’t started yet as I stepped into Stable Cafe for a semi-private performance of Brycon and Maitre D’s unleashing of Cymandre3000 live, hosted in the Mission by BFF.FM. For those who don’t know, Maitre D and Brycon are San Francisco/Bay Area-based DJs and producers with numerous credits to their name. You may have heard them on your favorite streaming platforms, which often feature hit shows, or at least a venue in the city. They have been making music for everyone for decades, and Cymandre3000 is just that, a little something for everyone.
If you were like me, sitting in the trees at Stern Grove a few years back, then you know who Cymande is. For those who don’t know, Cymande is a British funk band that gained prominence in the early 1970s. While they are technically classified as funk, I would beg to differ as the music bends multiple genres and spectrums. Andre 3000 is a flute player and the other half of a side project called OutKast with Big Boi from Atlanta. Put Andre 3000 and Cymande together, and you get the magic and the pun that is the album Cymandre3000.
“This project is more than the sum of its parts. It’s not just for Andre fans or Cymande fans. Brycon has likened this project to peanut butter & jelly, in that it is a combination that can be enjoyed as its own unique flavor. Of course, if you dislike one or the other, it might not be for you, but I think it stands on its own and doesn’t require the listener to be well-versed in either artist’s catalog,” said Maitre D.
“Between these two artists, we honestly had so much inspiring material and good vibes to build off. We saw Cymande live in Monterey (shoutout DJBADDJ) a few years ago and they were magnificent,” said Brycon.
“The idea was so reliant on the pun that we took Big Boi’s parts off almost completely from the project just to stick to the theme,” Maitre D.
As the intimate crowd took their seats, it was show time. It was slow grooves and straight up hand clappers from start to finish. Helena Handbasket led the way, peppering the duo with questions in between tracks and her dancing—the BFF.FM crew threw a good party.
This isn’t your typical Twitch live mashup. This is an album comprised of years of music study to find out what works. I have helped Brycon move his record collection, let’s just say the collection has it’s own room.
To peel back the layers of the process Maitre D let us in, “This is definitely an album that could not have happened only a few years ago, as we utilized the new stem splitting technology that is now growing in popularity. While we were able to utilize official acapellas of some OutKast/Andre 3000 songs, some of our favorites were just not available. Even more so with the Cymande material we used, as none of that material was released in an instrumental/acapella format. We started by creating instrumental versions of the first 3 Cymande albums using an indy stem splitting software called Stemverter 3 and just tried out various blends in Serato DJ software until we liked something, and then we would take the parts into Ableton Live to piece it together. Once we started developing the compositions in Ableton, we selectively added elements of both artists together to form an amalgamation, sometimes adding small elements from other sources. In the end, we created compositions that were much more than your run of the mill DJ blend edits.” You don’t say…take notes kids.
When asked for their favorite track on the album the answer was surprisingly unanamous. “I love the slow ones so much I’ve got to say “SpottieOttieDopaliscious (Changes Edit)” is such a pure and good amalgamation of things that sometimes I can’t believe we made it,” Brycon told me.
“Man… I would also say Spottieottiedopaliscious (Changes Edit) as well. Not only is that on my short list of top favorite OutKast songs, but I really think the 2 songs blend so harmoniously and the resulting composition has such a heady vibe. It may not be a dance single, but it’ll get the heads bobbing for sure,” sayid Maitre D.
I’m going to disagree with the musicians, because my favorite is the last track. Call it nostaglgia, but if you listen you know.
Labor of love, Brycon? “Hmm, well like many labor of love style projects, this one was a labor of love. Just kidding but we really put a lot of work and fun into this and we’re pretty excited for everyone to hear it. Ultimately, I think listening to this will cause more people to listen to Cymande and Andre and that could never be a bad thing.”
I would have to agree.
The project is available on digital & cassette online EXCLUSIVELY at mikecthemaitred.bandcamp.com A special 7″ vinyl single featuring 2 selections from the project will be coming soon. SpottieOttieDopaliscious (Changes Edit)?
If you like what you heard come celebrate the official album release Sunday June 29 @ Legacy Bar in North Beach. See you there.
Howdy! My name is Katy Atchison and I'm an Associate Editor for Broke-Ass Stuart.
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