imagination, ‘cause I’ve yet to meet these choirs, so it’s an interesting process really.
I know you have your own studio, don’t you Dave? Is that THE place that’s most conducive to creativity for you, or do you have to pick your spark up in other places, then take it back into the studio? Yeah, I try and construct this thing, when being creative, that’s kind of like a figure of 8, where everything feeds into everything else. It’s really important to have a flow going, ‘cause I find when things get static, then things can feel a little difficult. I’ve found it’s really important to have my own space that feels like a creative home where all my stuff is. It’s a space I love to work in, but it’s also really important to go to other places. I still work in my kitchen. A lot of great things have happened in my kitchen!
Yes, the kitchen is the epicentre of activity always, isn’t it? Yeah, there’s a reason people always gravitate towards the kitchen at parties!
Just as the song says! I’ve heard actually that you guys are real foodies, in Te Invisible… Yeah, the band revolves around food. Music is the secondary thing! Our primary reason for our existence is really to get Leo to go on Masterchef. I think that’s essential!
You’re so heavily in demand Dave, and I’m sure even remixing a track, like you did recently for Maximo Park takes a lot of your time. Does each of these experiences invigorate you, rather than drain you? Yeah, it’s a real balancing act, you know, ‘cause you have to keep a keen eye on what your priorities are, and you have to accept the fact that you can’t always do everything you want to do, which can be hard. But again, I come back to that figure of 8 analogy; if I start to think of things in a way that’s compartmentalised, or seen as fragments, then it drives me slightly crazy! It can be quite overwhelming, working on four or five albums at the same time, but actually, if you see it as
OUR PRIMARY REASON FOR [THE
REALLY TO GET LEO TO GO ON MASTERCHEF!
INVISIBLE’S] EXISTENCE IS
one thing, which is music, and making music with very special people, then it’s really wonderful. It’s like feeding yourself again, to come back to food analogies [laughs]!
I was chuffed to read that you’re working on a new Invisible album, and that it’ll have a hallmark of optimism. Now I know some events of 2013 were the impetus [Dave’s mother sadly passed away, and he, himself, had a near-death electrocution]. Is music always your way to channel, or digest these experiences? Yeah, it’s a big part of it for me, for sure. I see it as an extension of what’s happening mentally with me, and it’s about expressing something and being present. Tat’s really important for me, and always has been, that music is a way of doing that. It becomes a way of understanding the world, and my place in it. Making records is about documenting those moments in time. Tose moments in time might span six months, two years, two weeks, but I always have the ambition of getting to the end of a record and feeling like, ‘yes, we’ve documented something truthfully here.’ It’s been a remarkable time, so optimism was definitely a strong theme, ‘cause I feel like the luckiest man alive really.
So you reckon that when we hear this new material, we’ll be able to hear a well-fed, and very happy man? Yeah, I think so; you’ll get a sense of someone who is nourished, in lots of ways.
Emma R. Garwood MORE INFORMATION
Dave Okumu and Shingai Shoniwa bring their collaboration, ‘Stars Align’ to Open for the Norfolk & Norwich Festival 2014, on Sunday May 11th. For tickets, go to
www.nnfestival.org.uk. Read the full interview at
Outlineonline.co.uk
outlineonline.co.uk / May 2014 / 17
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