Gavin Herlihy - Culprit favorites

With the release of his debut EP on Culprit we asked Leed's Gavin Herlihy to pick five of his favorite Culprit releases.

A year or two ago I became obsessed with the idea of releasing on Culprit. From its initial release in 2009 it beamed style and musical progressiveness and I became an instant fan. Its artwork is always a tantalising suggestive snapshot of LA life, a girl wading in the waters on a beach at sunset here, an electric urban night skyline there. And when I say progressiveness I don’t mean John Digweed. Culprit’s music isn’t really made for soulless festival stages or vast, vacuous echoey clubs. It’s always forward thinking music best enjoyed as the sun sets at a sunkissed outdoor party with sand between your toes, round a pool at a villa crack on in the hills or in a dark sweaty basement with two hundred of your extended friends. It’s futuristic and sexy. It means something in the moment as well as on your iPod on the way to work on a Monday morning. Bagging an EP amongst the prestigious line up of artists who release on the label invoked a quite impressive Cheshire Cat sized grin on my face earlier this year. Here are my top five Culprit moments so far that have made me such an inspired fan of the label. - Gavin Herlihy

TOP 5 Culprit Releases

Tanner Ross Soul Clap Sergio Santos: SECT EP

One of Culprit’s great skills has been to pull in pretty much a who’s who of underground house’s hottest new talent. From the Frenchies (Shonky, Dyed, etc), the Brits (Matt Tolfrey, Sub Ann, etc) to the Americans (Lee Foss, Ryan Crosson, etc) and everywhere else in between. SECT is a Boston all stars collaboration and features typically low slung grooves and mysterious “hey why doncha come back to my hotel room [said in a Boston accent of course]” melodies.

Subb-An: What I Do

Ash’s attitude to house and life is as infectious as the lead track on this EP so I was chuffed to see him release on Culprit. Although released at the end of 2010, I think it’s fair to say ‘What I DO’ kicked off his big break through year (Spectral Sound, Crosstown EPs and more followed in 2011).

Shonky: Oasis EP



Oasis and the excellent remix by yet another up and coming star of low slung house, Jozif were really big for a lot of DJs in the Summer. Shonky’s style of combining organ style basses in a modern way has conjured up a string of big club tracks for him and this was quite fittingly filed away in my ‘get out of jail card’ playlist for playing out.

VA Above the City

Culprit’s first VA compilation oozes style. There’s not one track on here that I don’t love. From the electro pop of Lula Circus ‘She Loves Me,’ Nico’s expertly sampled ‘Lost In My Soul’ that sounds like it was made for a sunset to the sublime ‘Jean Seberg Special’ by Clovis it’s all musical gold.

Hot Natured: Equilibrium EP

Jamie Jones and Lee Foss’s hook ups on Culprit have been integral to the label’s success. From their first Hot Natured EP together to Lee’s ‘Your Turn Girl’ which I think really broke him around the world as a solo artist with his own unique vision of marrying synth pop with underground house. THe naggingly hooky Wintertime was the one that worked best for me as a DJ. The bassline is out of order in the best way possible and screams ‘afterparty.’

Gavin Herlihy’s ‘Endless Feeling’ EP  is out now on Culprit - Purchase here

(And look out for the forthcoming remix Ep featuring Inxec & Shaun Reeves, Geddes and Larse)

Listen to Gavin Herlihy on Pulse Radio