Joel Sarakula [70s Inspired Funk/disco]

“I love this actually. It’s like modern Northern Soul, it’s what it should sound like: gets under the skin, refuses to budge” – Craig Charles, BBC 6 Music 

Imagine if Ray Manzarek was the frontman for the Bee Gees…

It’s a neat visual introduction to Joel Sarakula, a UK-based Australian artist who writes, produces and sings Soulful Pop, gazing out at a contemporary world through vintage glasses, vintage threads and long blond hair. His music is informed by a rich, 1970s-inspired palette, drawing on soft-rock, funk and disco influences: sunny, uptempo jams for darker times. Self-aware that he looks and occasionally sounds like the love child of Ray Manzarek and the Gibb brothers, his self-deprecating sense of humour is always there just below the fringe.

Born in Sydney, based in UK and international in outlook Sarakula is a songwriter who has travelled the world in search of his muse, experiencing everything from being a victim of Caribbean carjackings to performing in the remote fishing villages of Norway before finally establishing his career in the UK and Europe. Since then he has released albums such as Island Time (2023), Companionship (2020), Love Club (2018) and The Imposter (2015) that have racked up plays on rotation across national UK and European radio and got him noticed in The New York Times, The Independent (UK), The Irish Times, Rolling Stone Germany, El Pais (Spain) and Sydney Morning Herald. He has been favourably compared to his peers and fellow Aussies Parcels and Donny Benet as well as Prep, Benny Sings and Young Gun Silver Fox. 

It’s been a long road finding his current cult status starting out at the piano from a young age in suburban Sydney, writing and singing songs by the time he was a teenager and onstage by sixteen years old playing jazz standards in his local golf club. “I came from humble beginnings, it’s best not to mention” as he sings in his 70s boogie influenced song ‘I’m Still Winning’ with echoes of formative musical influences such as Steely Dan, Boz Scaggs, Todd Rundgren and Sly Stone. 

Joel Sarakula is a fixture on the festival and club circuit having previously performed at SXSW,  Primavera Sound and Glastonbury festivals. Ever the internationalist, he tours with pickup bands sourced from each territory he plays in: a Barcelona band for Spain, a Berlin band for Germany and so forth. This cross-cultural exchange is another echo of the 1970s when world travelling soul and pop artists from the US did the same and guarantees that his live shows remain fresh, exciting and absolutely contemporary. 

“Northern Soul is that rare thing: a pop song that would sound equally at home on Radios 1, 2 and 6” – Independent on Sunday

“The album The Imposter is dreamy and Bowie-esque. It’s a really engaging and adventurous record” – Lauren Laverne, BBC 6 Music