Artist

El Michels Affair

New York, United States · Formed 2001

El Michels Affair is a music group from New York, United States, active since 2001. Their discography on Gatefold includes 14 records.

Start your shelf →Open in app

Albums tracked

In collections

2001

Since

Biography

Leon Michels started this whole thing using a Tascam eight-track tape machine in a damp Brooklyn basement because he couldn't afford a proper studio. That cheap recorder forced him and the band to play tight, compress everything, and cut through the mud. It was the exact opposite of the slick, overproduced digital soul dominating the airwaves in the early 2000s. They weren't trying to do a retro novelty act. They were just trying to capture the heavy, imperfect groove of a real room. Then the Wu-Tang connection happened because they were backed by the same rhythm section that was touring with Raekwon. Instead of just playing backing band, Michels took those RZA samples—which were originally cut from old soul records—and played them back live. It created a weird, beautiful feedback loop. By the time they started cutting records with Black Thought and Freddie Gibbs, they had established themselves as the go-to architecture for modern crate-digging soul.

Bio from The Clerk

The Arc of El Michels Affair

The pivots — what forced El Michels Affair to reinvent.

The Brooklyn Basement Era
They started as a raw instrumental outfit pulling directly from the classic Daptone and Desco blueprint. Recording Sounding Out the City on analog gear in Bushwick, they defined a gritty, mid-tempo funk that felt like a dusty library record. There were no synthesizers or digital fixes. You hear the physical limits of the tape machine, the heavy spring reverb, and the absolute lock-step pocket of Homer Steinweiss and Nick Movshon.
The Wu-Tang Translation
The game shifted when they backed Raekwon at a gig in 2005 and realized they could reverse-engineer hip-hop production on physical instruments. They took RZA's chopped-up, off-kilter classic soul samples and played them live with horn sections and eerie organ lines on Enter the 37th Chamber. This wasn't a standard tribute record. It was a masterclass in recreating the gritty hiss and raw menace of nineties rap using brass and woodwinds.
The Cinematic Pivot
By the time they hit Adult Themes in 2020, Michels abandoned the standard verse-chorus soul structures entirely to write soundtracks for films that didn't exist. He brought in French horns, flutes, and grand arrangements to craft moody, narrative-driven instrumentals. This shift coincided with the launch of Big Crown Records, giving the band total freedom to chase weird, cinematic ideas without worrying about radio play.
The Global Psych Phase
In 2021, the band pivot again by bringing in the Turkish psych-funk sound of the 1970s on Yeti Season. Michels started using a Turkish baglama and woodwind structures inspired by Selda Bağcan and Erkin Koray. They traded their sharp Brooklyn soul punches for droning, hypnotic grooves and fuzzy, swirling keys. It was a massive departure that proved they weren't stuck in the New York soul revival box.

Influences

The RZA — They covered almost his entire early catalog on Enter the 37th Chamber. You hear it in how Michels arranges horns to mimic RZA's sharp, eerie string chops and how Homer Steinweiss plays drums with the heavy, unquantized swing of an E-mu SP-1200.
Isaac Hayes — The band paid direct tribute to him with their 2009 Walk On By EP. His influence is all over their widescreen, symphonic horn arrangements and slow-burning tempos. It is the direct blueprint for their later cinematic instrumental records.
The Funk Brothers — This Motown house band is the ultimate model for El Michels Affair's role as a studio backing unit. You hear their tight, locked-in rhythm section on every early Daptone-adjacent track. They built their entire foundation on that same discipline.
Selda Bağcan — Michels has cited her classic seventies Turkish psych records as the primary inspiration for Yeti Season. Her influence is obvious in the droning, microtonal synth lines and the Turkish baglama riffs on tracks like Ala Vida. It completely changed their harmonic language.
David Axelrod — His dark, orchestral jazz-fusion productions are the backbone of their late-period style. You hear his influence in the heavy, ominous basslines and the dramatic, sweeping string arrangements on Adult Themes. He taught them how to make instrumental music sound incredibly dangerous.