Josh Butler & Marshall Jefferson

With the launch of his new record label, Origins Rcrds, Josh Butler linked up with Marshall Jefferson to produce ‘In Time’, a soulful house jam with a nostalgic essence that introduces us to the vision behind his release series 'Heroes of House’.

Teaming up with a house icon like Marshall Jefferson was a natural choice for the UK producer, who is aiming to showcase the roots of the genre by collaborating with pioneering artists that helped lay its foundation.

Inspired by a track he produced called ‘Essence of House’, Butler was intrigued by the stories he heard from the vocalist on that track, Lono Brazil, who was a close friend of Frankie Knuckles. Lono told stories of the Chicago scene during the 1970s and '80s and, as Butler describes, “this just opened up a whole new fascination for me which I felt could be expanded upon”.

‘In Time’ lands on the first ‘Heroes of House’ release, Vol. 1, with two more in the series to follow, each with Butler collaborating with a different iconic house producer: “I've been lucky enough over the last few years to become friends with some of the US pioneers of this music, so I explained the idea for the 'Heroes of House' series and Kerri, Todd and Marshall were all keen to help me get things rolling. Since the recent resurgence of house music with the younger generation, it's important for them to know the history before moving forward.”

The next two EPs in the 'Heroes of House' series include collaborations with Todd Terry, Darius Syrossian, Kerri Chandler and wAFF, as Vol. 1 also includes a track with Santé. But aside from the music, Butler will be going even deeper into the history of the genre: “To help elaborate on the origins of house music, Marshall and I will also be traveling to Chicago with a film crew to chat to some of the pioneers. Not a lot of people have the chance to get a real insight into the history of house music like this, so I feel pretty blessed about having the opportunity.”

To complement the musical side of the project, Josh tapped illustrator Davi Comodo to create Superhero portraits featuring each artist on the release. These visuals will be completed for each forthcoming volume.

Listen to 'In Time' below and look for 'Heroes of House' Vol. 1 to be released October 3.

Harrison is Mixmag's East Coast Editor. Follow him on Twitter here