I interviewed Jay Nemor once before, for RnB Magazine, and hope to again one day—you guys are a pretty tight team—can you tell me how you guys met and started working together?

Thanks, Stephanie. Well, Jay and I we basically met on Facebook, we started chatting about music, the artists we both love, and life in general. I listened to his Just Sayin’ album, he did the same with some of my tracks, and we just found out we had many things in common, so talking about an eventual collaboration followed quite naturally. I then sent him an instrumental, and the groove inspired him to write to it: our first tune together was born. That was practically the first step in the making of our What We Leave Behind album.

 Tell me the story behind the name Soul Basement, how did it come about?

That’s a simple story, when I finally managed to put the first line-up together, I also had to come up with a band name, but had no idea where to start, I just knew I definitely wanted the word “soul” to be in it. Then one evening I was listening to Roberta Flack’s “Blue Lights in the Basement”, and while staring at the LP cover art the word “basement” caught my attention. That’s it, I thought, Soul plus Basement  equals Soul Basement. It just sounded like a cool name for our brand new group.

 I have seen a few social media posts in different places. Are you guys living in the same city? Or do you guys travel and tour a lot?

We’re based in different countries, I’m from Italy and currently reside in Croatia, Jay lives in both Sweden and Norway, Lasse is from Norway, and Matteo from Italy.
However, we’re frequently on the road as well, especially for Festivals and studio sessions.

 I love the Soul Basement “Better Days” video, was that fun to make? How long did it take to film?

Yeah, that was fun indeed. It was filmed in different locations, Italy, Sweden, Norway, and just took a few weeks. Nothing complicated, just an everyday life story, talking about friendship, love and care, being happy, and always trying to maintain a positive attitude.

I saw Soul Basement mentioned in a post with Arzuk Music Choice, can you tell me about that?

 Oh, I think that’s promoting a show on Arzuk Radio, they were playing a few of our tracks. Indeed, now that you mention it, I’d like to take this opportunity to thank them, and all of the  radios around the world, for their love and support.

What does Oneness mean to you? What was the story behind the making of that album?

Our music has always been about spreading messages, and that’s something you can do using various themes and subjects, sometimes it’s about love, others about loneliness, life or maybe about overcoming hard times….as for the Oneness album, it’s mostly about unity and, of course, about oneness with your environment and the Universe as a whole.

 What is your favorite track on Oneness and why?

Well, that’s pretty much like asking a parent if they have a favorite child! (laughs) No, seriously, let me see… mmhh… I love “Better Days” and “Count on Me”, those two tunes never fail to put me in an instant good mood.

You guys are working on a new album, what can we expect, what can you tell me?

What I can tell you for sure is that it’s gonna blow your mind… (Laughs)
Well, it’s definitely gonna sound different than most of our albums so far. I believe many will probably be surprised by the new music, nonetheless I hope everyone will enjoy it.

Do you guys have some shows coming up? Where can we check you out live?

Not at the moment, but we’re working on that as well. There’s definitely gonna be a new album tour, and will begin in Europe.

Can you tell us a little about the other bands you are involved in, as well?

I’m currently producing The Park Avenue Experience, Coolikebrothers, BlueMinor and Brooklyn Bridge. Those are the main bands I’m workin’ with right now. The Park Avenue Experience is a jazz/ hip-hop project, in the same groove as Robert Glasper’s music. Coolikebrothers is a live hip-hop band. BlueMinor is a neo-soul project, and Brooklyn Bridge a jazz-funk band with a very powerful sound and live impact. 

That is a lot! We may need to come back and revisit to check-up on your projects! How do you manage to stay involved in so many projects and everyday life? What is the secret to balancing it all?

The secret is one: being one with the Universe, and let the infinite power of God use you as an instrument for the creation of beauty in this world, through music, everyday thoughts and actions, relationships, art…..without letting your ego get in the way. Simple as that.