Smoove & Turrell

Gateshead's Smoove & Turrell describe their music as Northern Funk, a fusion of funk, soul, northern soul, hip-hop and electronica. The partnership at its centre is Jonathan Scott Watson, known as Smoove, and singer and songwriter John Turrell. The studio and touring line-up adds keyboardist Mike Porter, a founder member, with guitarist Lloyd Wright, bassist Neil Harland and drummer Oscar Cassidy.

Their story began with a chance discovery: Smoove met Porter through the Newcastle scene, and the pair heard John Turrell singing in a neighbour's garage. Their first single, "I Can't Give You Up", came out in 2007 on the German label Club Tikka in a run of 500 that sold out, and the debut album Antique Soul followed in 2009 on Jalapeno Records. The band has since released Eccentric Audio, Broken Toys, Crown Posada, Mount Pleasant, Stratos Bleu and Red Ellen, the most recent in 2023.