Corduroy’s Richard Searle Talks About Influences, New Material, and Funky Music

London acid-jazz quartet Corduroy appear at Brooklyn Bowl London’s Turn It Loose!: Funk & Soul Night at on 5 March alongside local eight-piece funk outfit Crowd Company. Much of Corduroy’s sound comes from bassist Richard Searle’s fast and fluid playing, and he spoke to Knockdown Alley about Quincy Jones, new music, and what to expect in seeing Corduroy live. Your music has always been rooted in ’70s TV and films. But more specifically, what are some of the shows and movies that have influenced your work? Quincy Jones is an influence. We do a version of his theme to the film The Heist, “Money Runner.” TV shows like The Streets of San Francisco, Man from U.N.C.L.E., and Quiller. Many of your songs are instrumentals. What fascinates you about them rather than crafting tunes with vocals? Our first two albums were largely instrumental. This was partly because the band formed as an instrumental band for a one-off gig at a New Year’s Eve party, and partly because we love instrumental TV and film themes. More vocals featured in albums three, four, and five. We only play tracks from the first three albums, mainly because that is what people want to hear, partly because our first reunion gig was to promote the box set, which contained the first three albums. Your last studio album, Clik!, came out at the turn of the century, but you’ve reunited and performed several times since then. Is there any new music in the pipeline? There is talk of recording a sixth Corduroy album, yes. And what’s driven you to get back to playing shows together in 2016? We enjoy playing again — so long as we don’t stop that, we’ll do more shows. (If they are offered.) Corduroy are known as an acid-jazz band, although your Brooklyn Bowl London appearance on 5 March is an ode to funk and soul. So what can we expect of your performance that night? We play funky music, and people can expect to dance.