Mood II Swing

Last Night a DJ Saved My Life

 

Mood II Swing is John Ciafone and Lem Springsteen, a duo of American producers from New York, who produce house, deep house and garage and have done for as long as I can recall. Infact, one of their tunes is my all time favourite - All Night Long - on Groove On. Despite their justified place in history and shaping deep house as we know it along the way the duo are often overlooked.

 

They were behind a huge crossover hit, Ultra Nate's ‘Free’ but were only credited as remixers. While fellow New York artists like Masters At Work and Armand Van Helden became household names, Mood II Swing remained cult favourites to this day.

 

According to RA… “John Ciafone and Lem Springsteen are strikingly different characters. Springsteen is outgoing, charismatic, talkative; Ciafone is younger and introverted. Both grew up in or around New York City. Springsteen came from a family with ties to soul and disco. His father was an accountant for The Commodores. His mother was friends with the mother of Vaughan Mason, the man behind the proto-house classic "Break For Love." Springsteen was a promising young pianist and, after his mother set up a meeting, Vaughan took the youngster under his wing to teach him music production. With Mason's help, Springsteen released two R&B-influenced singles, but by 1988, when he was barely out of his teens, his solo career had fizzled out.

 

Ciafone had been exposed to early hip-hop while living in Manhattan. A few years later, he began making beats for local rappers, honing the drum machine skills that would later anchor Mood II Swing's sound. Both Springsteen and Ciafone started exploring the city's nightlife, seeing DJs like David Morales at Red Zone and Junior Vasquez at Sound Factory. These legendary clubs mixed house, hip-hop and disco with harder techno and rave. When Springsteen and Ciafone met in 1990, their experiences at these parties were a major talking point.”

 

Close friends and frequent collaborators with Louie Vega and Masters At Work, Vega became like a mentor. Mood II Swing soon had a reputation on par with their mentors'. Between 1994 and 1996, they released close to 100 tracks, including remixes and collaborative works. Free from the the touring schedules of many of their contemporaries, Mood II Swing could dedicate 100% of their time to the studio.

 

Their website states,”Currently, in the post millennium, with a resurgence of early 90’s House music, John Ciafone and Lem Springsteen have rejoined as a production team to showcase their music in DJ sets.  Mood II Swing are now working with UK Agency, Constellate Talent, and they intend to showcase their music to new generations of House music lovers through the release of their classic tracks and new productions.”

 

The duo have feature on the finest labels, as you’d expect… Yoshitoshi, King Street, Nitegrooves, Defected, Reel People, Papa and of course Groove On.