Golden Gate is a new disco and house project from Leeds, UK who are releasing ‘Enter The Golden Gate’ EP on London’s Disco Express Feb 9. United by a love for their favourite LP, Masters at Work’s classic Nuyorican Soul project, DJ/producer Tee Cooper and songwriter/vocalist Harper Lake wanted to make music that sounded like classic house and disco, played live but produced for the club.

“Nuyorican Soul is definitely where the spark of inspiration came from,” Tee says, “we both absolutely love that LP. We usually write the songs as a duo and then bring in musicians to build them out with us, so our other main influences are two of the best songwriting duos Nile Rogers and Bernie Edwards from Chic and Ashford and Simpson. They both made music with depth and emotion in the lyrics but it always managed to have dancefloor energy and movement in the production. That’s the music we want to make.”

They assembled a cast of their favourite vocalists and musicians from across the UK and the world and started Golden Gate. The EP has two tracks plus remixes for each. For ‘Shine Like the Sun’ they’ve enlisted Adeleye Omotayo, a powerhouse London soul vocalist known for their work with Gorillaz and Amy Winehouse. Ade and Harper duet on the track, a song about unexpected love and lust on the dancefloor. It’s a feel-good blend of disco instrumentation and the spirit of 90s NYC house and debuted live at last year’s Wilderness festival to great acclaim. The Remix comes from man of the moment The Reflex, known for seminal recent mixes of Cerrone, Duran Duran and more he shows his commitment to supporting new artists and turns in a scorching rework that loops up a keyboard part and teases all the live instruments in across 8 tantalising minutes.

‘So High’ skews towards more classic disco with a beautiful intro showcasing the powerful strings, flute and keys. Again the main rhythm section balances live drums and percussion with a classic 707 drum machine and snaking live electric bass. Harper sings solo this time, straight from the heart about looking for love in the wrong places. The remix comes from Disco Express main man Bustin Loose, who strips things back soulfully and adds a classic breakbeat feel to the drums to round off the EP.

Both tracks feature a truly international cast of musicians: underneath it all bass is played by Daniel Dubsworth recorded in LA, horns and flutes are played by rising star of Blue Note Records Parthenope and keys come from another London jazz up and comer Tom O’Brien. Guitars are Gary Haguenauer in Paris. Everything was either recorded in the studio in Leeds or remotely with live online sessions.

The band’s mission is to make disco and house music with real instruments and real people, inspired by the old but sounding new. 2024 is the year to enter the Golden Gate.

Support from: Skream, Francois K, Danny Krivit, Mousse T, BBC Radio, Soho Radio, Hedkandi, Horse Meat Disco, Birdee, Ken@Work, Discoholics Anonymous, Norman Doray, Javi Frias, Young Pulse, Da Lukas, Reach Up Disco Wonderland and Sophie Lloyd.