- 1 week ago
Award-winning saxophonist and composer Nubya Garcia releases her new album, ‘SOURCE,’ today on Concord Jazz. Produced by Garcia herself in collaboration with celebrated producer Kwes (Bobby Womack, Solange, Nerija), the album has already generated much excitement with lead...
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00:00what's up people
00:12peace
00:16what's good
00:18what's good
00:18what's good
00:19it's your man
00:21Tim Ho-Tep
00:21in the place to be
00:24what's good
00:27how y'all feeling
00:27hello
00:29hello
00:29hello
00:30this is going to be
00:30soundcheck today
00:32Afropunk's interview series
00:34I'm waiting for
00:35this person
00:36who just joined
00:37to join
00:37Nubiah Garcia
00:40is her name
00:41let's give it a second
00:46what's up people
00:47how y'all doing
00:48let me see if this
00:50request
00:50hello
00:51how you doing
00:52I'm good
00:53how are you
00:54I'm positive
00:55I'm positive
00:56how are you feeling
00:57on this Friday
00:57in July
00:59I just want to
01:00get your vibe
01:01right now
01:01let's do a vibe check
01:02I'm feeling good
01:04I'm feeling
01:04excited
01:06for more music
01:08to come
01:09I'm feeling
01:10I'm feeling
01:10I'm feeling okay
01:11I'm good
01:12you're over there
01:14glowing
01:14are you in
01:15London right now
01:16thank you
01:17yeah
01:18I'm in
01:18sunny London
01:20it's not really
01:20sunny today
01:21but
01:21yeah
01:22I am in
01:24New York City
01:25and it's definitely
01:26not sunny here
01:27from the looks of things
01:29are you in the studio
01:29or what
01:30yeah
01:31I'm in
01:32the studio
01:33today
01:34okay
01:34okay
01:35for those who
01:36don't know
01:36I'm Tim Hotep
01:38this is Soundcheck
01:39with Afropunk
01:40and today's guest
01:42is Nubaya Garcia
01:43a very accomplished
01:45saxophonist
01:47from London
01:47who I've been a fan of
01:49at least
01:49since I've known about her
01:50maybe like the past
01:51five six years
01:52wow
01:53yeah
01:54yeah
01:55so
01:55we'll get into that
01:57but let me
01:58do the intro thing
01:59you know
02:02she has
02:02her
02:03new song
02:04Source
02:05is out
02:05for everyone
02:06who is into jazz
02:07even if you're not
02:08into jazz
02:09you need to tap in
02:09because what she's doing
02:11is
02:11I feel
02:12very much
02:12transcendent
02:13of just the genre
02:14itself
02:14and it's very
02:15reflective of
02:17I don't know
02:18how cool
02:18fucking London is
02:19I must say
02:20and she's here
02:23with us
02:24to talk about
02:24her new record
02:25coming out
02:25which is also
02:26titled Source
02:27right
02:27so yeah
02:29man
02:29great to see you
02:31exciting
02:32good to be here
02:33thank you for having me
02:34I want to start
02:36by just talking about
02:37really big
02:38kind of broad things
02:40like you know
02:40I'm a New Yorker
02:41native New Yorker
02:42lived here
02:44my entire life
02:44broadcasting from here
02:45right now
02:46and when I think
02:47about places
02:48that have culture
02:50that have tastes
02:52you know
02:53I think about
02:53New York City
02:54you know
02:54I could big up
02:55my own chest
02:56from my own city
02:56but then I was
02:57talking to some
02:58of my friends
02:58yesterday
02:59and I was like
02:59where would I move
03:00that had
03:01good taste
03:02where people
03:03were making
03:03dope shit
03:04and doing dope
03:04things
03:05and London
03:05came to mind
03:06right
03:07so tell me
03:08about London
03:09as you see it
03:10being a person
03:11who's literally
03:12from there
03:12and give people
03:15who are not
03:16from there
03:16a glimpse
03:16of all of
03:18these
03:19kind of
03:20cross pollinating
03:21cultures
03:22that make London
03:22what it is
03:23yeah sure
03:25yes I'm
03:26London
03:26born and bred
03:27I grew up
03:28in Camden
03:29town
03:29and then I
03:31moved to
03:32southeast
03:32when I was
03:33like 20
03:34for university
03:34and I think
03:37now that I've
03:39travelled around
03:39the world
03:40a little bit
03:41I'm so thankful
03:43that I grew up
03:45in London
03:46with this
03:47with such a
03:48beautiful
03:48mix of people
03:50and the diversity
03:51in London
03:51is actually
03:52something
03:52that you
03:54I haven't seen
03:55in many places
03:55around the world
03:56when I've had
03:57those times
03:58where maybe
03:58I'll move
03:59somewhere
04:00maybe I'll go
04:00and check out
04:01another city
04:02or whatever
04:02I'm constantly
04:04thinking about that
04:05but then
04:05having travelled
04:07and coming home
04:08the first thing
04:09I noticed
04:09even when I'm
04:10in the airport
04:10is that
04:11oh man
04:12London is so
04:14diverse
04:14it's full of
04:15so many different
04:15types of people
04:16the schools
04:18that I went to
04:19were like
04:19when I was a kid
04:21they were
04:21it was like
04:23kind of diverse
04:23not too diverse
04:25but
04:25the wider culture
04:28scene in London
04:29people come to
04:30London
04:30to
04:31you know
04:32feel that
04:33sense of culture
04:35feel the art
04:36go and see
04:37all kinds of things
04:38like I think
04:39Londoners actually
04:41take it for granted
04:42and so do most people
04:43who live in
04:44hot spots of culture
04:46around the world
04:47I think
04:47I have been
04:49guilty of it
04:50and I just
04:51yeah I like to
04:52recognise that
04:52it's
04:54we're lucky
04:55you know
04:56we're fortunate
04:56I grew up with
04:57many different types
04:58of people around me
05:00cementing
05:01my own culture
05:02as well
05:03I grew up
05:03with Notting Hill
05:04Carnival
05:05and
05:06my family
05:07like it just
05:08yeah
05:09it's home
05:10I do love it
05:11where's your
05:13family originally
05:14from
05:14are they from
05:15London originally
05:16or the Caribbean
05:17or the continent
05:18or where
05:19so
05:20my mum is from
05:21Guyana
05:22which is in the
05:23Caribbean
05:23and also
05:24South America
05:26yeah
05:27yeah
05:28and
05:28my dad is from
05:30Trinidad
05:30but he was born
05:31here
05:31my mum left
05:34Guyana when she
05:34was 17
05:3518
05:35and came
05:36to London
05:37to study
05:38as her father
05:39was already over here
05:40and yeah
05:42that's kind of it
05:43in a nutshell
05:44see
05:45part of the reason
05:46I ask about that
05:47is because
05:48I was listening
05:49to Source
05:50when it dropped
05:51and what struck me
05:53about it
05:54is like the way
05:54it comes in
05:55with Caribbean rhythms
05:56and then as it
05:57progresses
05:58it becomes
05:58this kind of
05:59spiritual jazz
06:00like really
06:01expansive thing
06:02and there's a
06:03dance element to it
06:04and like
06:04it made me
06:06wonder about
06:07your origins
06:08and how
06:09all this
06:10cross
06:10cross pollination
06:11of culture
06:12is happening
06:13just literally
06:14in that
06:14song
06:15what's what
06:16seven minutes
06:16maybe a little bit
06:17over seven minutes
06:17right
06:18it's actually
06:19like 12 minutes
06:20you know what's funny
06:21it doesn't even feel
06:23that it's crazy
06:24because I zone out
06:25to that song
06:26right
06:26so it doesn't feel
06:27like it's
06:2912 minutes
06:30like the side
06:31of a record
06:31right
06:32yeah
06:33but tell me
06:34about that song
06:35tell me about
06:36Source
06:37as a song
06:39title
06:39and
06:40what the
06:41inspiration
06:41was
06:42behind
06:42combining
06:43all these
06:43different
06:44elements
06:44to make
06:44this really
06:45expansive
06:46grand song
06:48that covers
06:49all these
06:49different bases
06:50thank you
06:51so I guess
06:53the first thing
06:55about me
06:56that is
06:57I find really
06:58important
06:58is that like
06:59I
06:59yes I love
07:01jazz
07:01like so much
07:02that was
07:03you know
07:03I was into it
07:03as a teenager
07:04when no one
07:05else around
07:06me was into
07:06it
07:06and it
07:08kind of
07:08like felt
07:09at times
07:09like I was
07:10like
07:10what
07:11why am I
07:12not listening
07:12to chant
07:13music
07:13and pop
07:13music
07:14but I love
07:15jazz
07:15but alongside
07:16that
07:17I grew up
07:18with a lot
07:19of reggae
07:19and dub
07:19in the house
07:20amongst other
07:21things
07:22but like
07:22reggae and dub
07:23is my
07:24I could listen
07:26to that all
07:26day
07:26you know what I
07:27mean
07:27down for some
07:28bashment
07:28stuff
07:29yeah
07:29yeah
07:30exactly
07:31like the
07:31caribbean
07:32is a host
07:32to so many
07:33different
07:34types of
07:34music
07:35that a lot
07:35of people
07:35don't
07:36really know
07:37about
07:37you know
07:38everyone
07:38knows reggae
07:39knows dub
07:40like
07:40calypso
07:41maybe
07:41there's so
07:42much more
07:44but yeah
07:47so going
07:48back to the
07:49song
07:49I kind
07:49of
07:50it just
07:51like
07:51it wasn't
07:52actually written
07:52like that
07:53I wrote
07:53Source
07:54for my
07:54last EP
07:55a couple
07:56years ago
07:57and it
07:57had a very
07:57different
07:58kind of
07:59vibe
07:59you know
08:00definitely
08:01more
08:01like
08:02I guess
08:03jazz based
08:05you could
08:06say
08:06but still
08:08like kind
08:09of
08:10a dance
08:10element
08:11like you
08:11wanted to
08:11hear it
08:12in a club
08:12it was
08:13it could
08:13have a
08:14place
08:14there
08:14if you
08:15wanted
08:15rather than
08:16like bebop
08:17or swing
08:17or something
08:18but
08:18basically
08:21yeah
08:22it just
08:22kind of
08:22like
08:22slowly
08:23meandered
08:23I was
08:24like
08:24to the
08:25dub
08:25that
08:25now
08:26is
08:26the
08:27title
08:28track
08:28be
08:28the
08:29new
08:29album
08:29it
08:30just
08:31I
08:31think
08:32it
08:32just
08:32was
08:33meant
08:33to be
08:33do you
08:33know
08:33what I mean
08:34like
08:34I think
08:34one day
08:35I turned
08:35out to
08:36either a gig
08:37or a rehearsal
08:37and I was like
08:37oh I really
08:38want to try
08:38Source in a
08:39different way
08:40can we
08:41do like
08:42a steppers
08:42vibe
08:43like a
08:43dub
08:43vibe
08:44kind of
08:44thing
08:44and
08:45and
08:45like
08:46that was
08:47it
08:47you know
08:48it just
08:48it sat
08:49in this
08:49like
08:50you know
08:50beautiful
08:52basket
08:52of
08:52dub
08:53I guess
08:53it just
08:53there's
08:54nothing
08:54like
08:55that
08:56sort
08:57of
08:57vibe
08:58the rhythm
08:59the
08:59way
09:00it just
09:00like
09:01I don't
09:01know
09:01it feels
09:01like
09:01it
09:02gives
09:02you
09:02a hug
09:02when
09:03when
09:03I
09:03go
09:03to
09:04I
09:04mean
09:04I
09:04haven't
09:04been
09:05to
09:05it
09:05for
09:05a
09:05while
09:05but
09:06like
09:07when
09:07I
09:07go
09:08to
09:08a
09:08sound
09:08system
09:09or
09:10carnival
09:10or
09:10something
09:11like
09:11that
09:11I
09:12just
09:12it
09:12keeps
09:13you
09:13going
09:13it
09:13keeps
09:14you
09:14rocking
09:14even
09:14if
09:15you're
09:15moving
09:15like
09:15a
09:16little
09:16bit
09:16or
09:16a
09:16lot
09:17it
09:17just
09:18yeah
09:19it gets
09:20me
09:20man
09:20it's
09:20it's
09:21like
09:21it's
09:22right
09:22here
09:22that hug
09:23thing
09:23is
09:24real
09:24yeah
09:25it feels
09:26like
09:26you're
09:26being
09:26like
09:26enveloped
09:27by
09:27the
09:27vibe
09:28or
09:28the
09:28bass
09:28and
09:29if
09:29you've
09:29ever
09:29been
09:29to
09:30like
09:30you
09:30know
09:30a
09:31Caribbean
09:31party
09:31and
09:31been
09:32close
09:32to
09:32the
09:32Vegas
09:32you
09:33know
09:34what
09:34it
09:34is
09:34to
09:34feel
09:35it
09:35in
09:35your
09:35chest
09:36and
09:36as
09:36you
09:37know
09:37like
09:37I'm
09:37of
09:37Caribbean
09:38descent
09:38too
09:38so
09:38like
09:39it
09:39feels
09:39home
09:40it
09:40feels
09:40like
09:41a
09:42return
09:42to
09:42source
09:42in
09:43a lot
09:43of
09:43ways
09:43so
09:43let's
09:43talk
09:44about
09:44that
09:44as
09:45the
09:45song
09:46title
09:46and
09:47the
09:47album
09:47title
09:47what
09:47are
09:48you
09:48trying
09:48to
09:48say
09:48with
09:48that
09:48sure
09:49so
09:50basically
09:50I
09:51think
09:52over
09:52the
09:52last
09:53couple
09:53years
09:53since
09:53I
09:54wrote
09:54this
09:54track
09:54I've
09:56been
09:57subconsciously
09:58thinking
09:58about
09:59you
10:01know
10:01what
10:02ignites
10:03my
10:03energy
10:04what
10:04ignites
10:05our
10:05energy
10:06as
10:06lots
10:08of
10:08different
10:08communities
10:09and
10:10also
10:11alongside
10:11that
10:12what it
10:12means
10:12to be
10:13grounded
10:13how can
10:14you
10:14be
10:14more
10:14grounded
10:15do
10:16you
10:16notice
10:17when
10:17you
10:17are
10:17feeling
10:18less
10:18grounded
10:18I
10:19think
10:19I
10:19spent
10:20quite
10:20a lot
10:21of
10:21time
10:21on
10:21the
10:21road
10:21over
10:22the
10:22last
10:22couple
10:22years
10:22like
10:23all
10:24the
10:24time
10:24I
10:26love
10:26it
10:27and
10:29I'm
10:29grateful
10:29I'm
10:30grateful
10:30but
10:30when
10:31you're
10:31away
10:31from
10:31home
10:32and
10:33your
10:33people
10:33for
10:34really
10:35long
10:36extended
10:36periods
10:37of the
10:37time
10:37you
10:38kind
10:38of
10:38just
10:38like
10:38feel
10:39a bit
10:39out
10:40of it
10:40and
10:40a bit
10:40out
10:40of
10:40sorts
10:41disconnected
10:41yeah
10:42very
10:43disconnected
10:43and
10:44that's
10:46been on
10:46my
10:46mind
10:47and
10:47this
10:47is
10:47kind
10:48of
10:48I
10:48guess
10:48the
10:49concept
10:50and
10:50the
10:50basis
10:50behind
10:51the
10:51whole
10:52story
10:52of
10:52the
10:52album
10:53you
10:53know
10:53it's
10:53about
10:54community
10:55it's
10:56about
10:56being
10:57present
10:57for
10:57yourself
10:58being
10:58grounded
10:58how
10:59what
11:00grounds
11:00you
11:00how
11:00do
11:01you
11:01get
11:01grounded
11:01is it
11:01your
11:02community
11:02and
11:04also
11:05you know
11:05learning how to be present for yourself so you can be present
11:09and look and care after others you know care for others
11:13yeah that's kind of like a short sort of version of what that tune
11:20and in turn what the whole album represents to me which is yeah it's just what's been on my mind when I was writing it and before I think most musicians and most people actually like feel feel this like they feel out of it sometimes when they do feel disconnected from society um and this is those are my thoughts behind it basically
11:42so what's your process so what's your process for reconnecting to source for me like how do you do that is it via music is it via phone call is it meditation like is it being a studio where you're at right now
11:54i think it's it's lots of things i spent quite a bit of time being like ah what is it you know i didn't i didn't know which one to kind of pursue like should i do yoga every day should i try meditation i know someone who does that and in the end i just try and do a little of
12:13a lot of a lot of those things so like is it going for an hour walk in um the nearest park is it like making sure that i see my friends is it like even if i have a little bit of time um coming back from tour like that that energizes me is it going to um nights that my friends are putting on or whoever's putting on is it going to a sound system is it getting into the studio is it just me sitting at the piano all of those things
12:42um make me feel more grounded i think definitely exercise exercise is a big one over lockdown anyway i think because i've been like rushing around so much i didn't really ever give exercise the time of day
12:58what is what is a person with like powerful lungs like i've seen you perform i've seen like shabaka perform and i'm always impressed by like your stamina like so what's the exercise like for a person who is like i'm
13:12i'm a you're a saxophonist like a tenor saxophonist and a flautist sometimes right like what is what is that like yeah so i mean i used to be super sporty when i was a kid and i really wish i just kept it up um but it was like sports and music for me and then music just you know was my concentration um in like my late teens and and so
13:35when i got back into exercise i kind of expected that i would just like
13:40snap back into it yeah just snap back into it it would be like oh yeah you know i haven't really like
13:46regularly exercised for 10 years but you know it's fine like it's cool occasionally run or whatever but
13:52um i started running and then i mashed up my knee like a month ago so now i've started roller skating
13:59which is okay i'm really really enjoying it um skipping just anything that like i really like
14:07to do cardio and i've only just started doing like the in the tiny tiniest bit of like weight training but
14:13that's it that's that's me for now i'm just gonna i'm so amazed at musicians who are on instruments like
14:21trumpet and the saxophone for their ability to have that not just dexterity but stamina on stage i'm
14:27always wondering where it comes from obviously it's practice but i'm always like do they have
14:32some regimen do they not smoke weed like what is like what is it that gets them to this point that
14:37they can just blow like that um you know it's definitely like um it's practice you know most
14:45musicians you see have been practicing since they started their instrument like hours um and then
14:51it's also if you're on the road like you're gigging every night you're waking up at i don't even know
14:58what time um to make it to the next gig you adrenaline is great that works
15:06adrenaline is a good one to get you through but it's it's um it's all the hours that you put in
15:13practicing i guess to get to it in a state of focus so that you're just there's you're there to play
15:20that's it okay you know um you talk about community as a thing that brings you back to
15:26source a lot and one of the things i think is extraordinary is how you've established uh part
15:32of this international community like you know um when i saw you the first time i ever saw you perform
15:38it was with makai mcraven at uh le poisson rouge in new york city and i'm talking to a friend of mine
15:45shout out to peter orloff and he's like these are the people who are moving jazz forward around the
15:51world like this is what you're looking at on stage it's like i feel like it was 12 people on stage
15:56he's like this is that community so tell me about being a part of that community coming from a place
16:02where you know in your youth being a jazz musician being into jazz was kind of a rare thing but then
16:09finding your tribe right and having your tribe be like global people in chicago know about you you
16:16know people in la they want to see you you're at winter jazz fest like talk about that it's um
16:23yeah hearing you say all that i just it's i feel really grateful i'm really lucky to
16:29um be doing what i'm doing like obviously we're in a weird time at the moment but
16:34if i'm looking forward to the future and i'm looking back at last year um some amazing things
16:41are getting booked in and also like we had an incredible year i think what's mad for me is that
16:47there's so many musicians that i look up to um that i also grew up with you know that sense of
16:54community um i met a bunch of musicians through tomorrow's warriors um that everyone i'm sure knows
17:00like moses and femi and joe and most of the people i play with sheila and cassie and everyone
17:05so and that was a collective you were part of when you were young like young right when you were like
17:10a teenager i was like 17 and um that was yeah it was so important to have uh a place that we could go
17:20and play and listen to bebop and swing and all the things that you know we were like getting into
17:25and we're like sharing albums that really set a precedence of like you know we have to support
17:32each other we have each other you know we've known each other for so long you know for so long
17:38yeah um that that it's so it's important it's important like we'll always be there for each other
17:44um i hope we always play together and all i want to do is see them do incredibly well i want to see them
17:51um i can't wait for all the music that they write forever do you know i mean i'm excited about that
17:58and to extend that to the international community is like it's it's still crazy to me like i i look
18:04up to makaya i've looked up to makaya for a long time um his records i think i love the way that he
18:11plays i love the way that he produces um his records so to get that call was like mad that was
18:19that was it was a it was a beautiful natural organic way of us kind of working um together
18:28more closely you know we i was on the universal beings record um and that led i think i was i was
18:36literally we had one studio session in the day and it was at trc and um yeah and there was a venue
18:42downstairs and he was like hey man do you want to do you want to come and sit on the gig and i was like
18:47huh me oh yeah sure i'd love to and then the joe was on that gig theon was on that gig like it just
18:54it was like with my people and also this like external like amazing musical force it just
19:02those situations that one situation we've we've been lucky enough to like kind of transport that
19:08around different places and and you know maybe it's like my band is someone else's band
19:13uh at the same festival and we get to hang and we get to like cross kind of you know yeah do whatever
19:20we feel like doing if we want to sit in on each other's sets and stuff like to extend that that's
19:25community yeah like that's that's true true community and like sharing resources and digging
19:31together and collaborating um i feel like a lot of people could learn from what this you know kind of
19:38international jazz community is doing in terms of being a true community and supporting one another
19:44um you know i think about like jazz going from a thing where people are like oh jazz is niche and
19:52blah blah blah and you know jazz like you know people of color don't play jazz anymore they don't care
19:56about anymore to understanding what it's been especially in the past like decade um
20:02um maybe maybe past 15 years i'd say jazz has had this resurgence and this new attention toward
20:11right um and i'm trying to correlate that with the times so i wonder like from your perspective
20:17what do you attribute this interest in jazz like is it something that's going on in the zeitgeist is it
20:23that you know like people you know like like what do you attribute it to basically so many things i think um
20:31first of all it's amazing um i think when i was coming up i was like i had very different uh
20:38i guess um goals and i didn't you know i was just like oh i want to play in this club uh maybe you
20:46know once or twice a month that would be amazing yeah um and to have that changed and expanded is
20:52really really incredible i think space has become a really important um commodity like
20:59these gigs happening in places that aren't just jazz clubs um that are charging you know like 50
21:05quid on the door or whatever that's you know got its place um but yeah warehouses are also having
21:13their place like pub corners are where where i started where i came up playing um standards as well as
21:21covers of stuff or like trying out my own things i think having as many grassroots venues as possible
21:31is so imperative to encourage younger people that have just started out uh with their own groups or
21:39they're experimenting with whatever you know genre like um i think it's imperative that they have a
21:45place to go and it makes it accessible now because i think you know there was there was this idea that
21:50like you said like jazz only happened in certain clubs where like young people couldn't go because
21:54they couldn't afford to do it and they had a five drink minimum and you know to another point you're
21:59making about it becoming more democratic and accessible yeah i find that the music like you make
22:07the music that micaiah makes there's this groove there's this danceability to it that makes it even
22:14if you're not like a jazz head you don't know feral sanders is what i write you could walk in and be
22:18like yo this is fire like you know like i can move to it i think that's a big part of of it pulling
22:23people in too is that intentional on you guys part i think i think so i mean i think what's important
22:30to mention is that we this generation has grown up with so many different styles of music like
22:37always around like absorbing into us you know there's stuff in the charts that people are digging
22:44there's you know your parents music um especially if uh they've moved from another country they've
22:50got your traditional culture music all of that um and then you have uh like electronic music in the
22:58clubs if you're going out raving um so you've got this like eclectic mix of everything and naturally
23:03what you create is what you've absorbed you know that's what i think anyway the way that i create is
23:09like yes i want to have the opportunity to have my tune um or even play live in a club that is
23:17like purely for djs i want that yeah yeah i want people to have uh the option to stand i want people
23:27to have the option to like be like i can't i can't stay still um you know like even if it's a little
23:33bop like movement is so important you know music and movement brings people together um you know to
23:41share the space like that from within the crowd or from this from the stage or hearing uh my one of
23:50my tunes or one of my mates tunes on you know he's being played out like that's that's kind of i envision
23:58that do you know what i mean yeah kind of i don't see it like i don't see my music doesn't i don't
24:03it's not separate it doesn't happen yeah it doesn't it's not separate it has a place in multiple
24:08places and i think historically what's happened with jazz is like it's such a huge genre like i will
24:16play a ferrous anders tune in a dj set if i want to you know from that because i've grown up listening to
24:23everything you know i might go from dub to uh garage to jungle to whatever and then land back
24:32at some modal jazz i'm i'm okay with that because i do that in my like normal listening so i think
24:38i think that's just happened like slowly but surely i think we've got a more varied listening palette
24:45especially yeah djs musicians musicians who are djs now um and also the the audience
24:52also listening to more music um playlist culture has taken over mixtapes all of this like can i
25:00shout you out for having a dope playlist um for those who don't know she has a playlist called sounds
25:04on spotify that is fire that speaks to her eclectic tastes um uh you'll find everything on
25:12there's like ari lennox on there there's just it's just a dope mix of stuff and i think you're 100%
25:16right i think you know the era that we're in especially in like the 2000s we became mp3 people and
25:22then playlist people and then now being eclectic is a valuable thing right like people are a bit
25:27more open-minded at once experiment kind of like that's what afropunk itself is predicated on like
25:33that idea that black music is not one thing it's not two things it's maybe millions of things it's all
25:40the things right um and there's room for us in all of it and what i really like about what you and
25:47your community of folks are doing is that it almost feels like you're reclaiming jazz because i feel
25:53like jazz has been kind of abstracted from uh communities have been been abstracted from like
25:58you know like even like black listenership or whatever um being danceable accessible in that way
26:03because you know like uh as people of african descent we connect with stuff through dance a lot
26:07right um and i really feel like you guys brought it back and just made it open again like come
26:13through like listen to this jazz have a good time yeah yeah yeah absolutely i think at the end like at
26:20the the at the source of it basically is uh it's enjoyment you know like jazz is seeped in so many
26:31different feelings and um expression that's it improvised music jazz if you want to call it that
26:38whatever you think about it like it's it's improvised music it's um a form of expression
26:46the same that the same way dance is a form of expression you know they've always been interlinked
26:52jazz is and was dance music from the beginning it's um you have to move to it even if like it's not
27:01just shin stroking music yeah yeah it's yes even you have to be open to it rather than like okay i'm
27:11here to watch it's different you know i'm really excited about your uh album the upcoming album it
27:19comes out august 21st yeah yeah right so source august 21st i want to talk about like you know i've
27:28i've heard pace um i've heard the title track tell us a little bit more about the record okay so
27:35there it's nine tracks it's an hour long um and there's there's so many different styles in it to
27:44be honest i think it's primarily definitely falls into the idiom and under the idiom of jazz but i had
27:53an amazing opportunity to collaborate with um a band from columbia called la perla um so
28:00that was an amazing experience um so that's that track is cumbia inspired um being music from uh
28:10solid music from columbia and then who else is on the album um so kenya from chicago i met her a couple
28:18of years ago and from the second i heard her saying honestly like a couple of years ago i was like
28:24we gotta i want to do something one day and obviously i was still like kind of a bit shy even when i'd
28:32written this track i was like i really i know i want a kenya on it i wonder if she'd be up for it um
28:38and yeah i spoke to her and i was like hey how you doing like we've met before and we you know
28:44in chicago and in london and stuff so we we had that connection and i was like look at we've been
28:52in the studio and i've written this track i was wondering if you would you'd be up for singing on
28:58it and maybe writing lyrics and i was like no pressure if you don't want to do it i totally get
29:02it's cool um and she said yes and then and i was like ecstatic um yes she's phenomenal please go and
29:11check out her stuff um kenya uh based in chicago and yeah basically she came back with
29:17i'm excited to hear it i just i'm excited i'm excited i told her what the kind of the album
29:27was about to me which i mentioned earlier um and she just she's like i'm i'm shit at writing lyrics
29:35like terrible and she just came back with she just summed everything up so beautifully like i don't
29:44think i could have put it into words um the way she has so yeah i'm excited about that uh no that's
29:51that's fine nah give her her flowers i'm with that i'm with that absolutely um what else is in there
29:59there's like there's like some niabingi there's a beautiful jazz ballad um okay yeah yeah it started
30:06out with just me and sam who plays drums i was like sam we're gonna do just we're gonna do a
30:12duo track today um and then it just it just happened and then when i did the vocal session
30:18with cassie richie and sheila um i was like oh yeah we just we just laid down the vocals for source
30:25and i was like oh yeah i really want you guys to sing on this niabingi track um with just sax
30:30and drums um and we yeah i just we harmonized out the melody and everything and and they just like
30:38again i'm really excited what's the name of that song because i need to look out for that
30:42specific one yeah that track um that's a good point yeah the kenya track is called boundless
30:49beings and the the niabingi track um is called stand with each other stand with each other okay
31:02see it now i got a whole like months away for the album but now i'm i'm like hearing you describe it
31:07i'm very excited to hear it um hmm you know what i wanted to ask you about because like all right
31:13i know time is short our interview is almost done being that you balance writing with improvisation
31:21so much and improvisation is so key to jazz how the hell do your songs come about like i don't
31:27from a perspective of a person who's a non-musician i'll hear a track and i'm like how did this even
31:33come together so could you give us a little glimpse don't you have to give us all a sauce right but a
31:38little a little bit of a glimpse into what your creative process is to make these songs um i mean
31:46it does vary but usually um when i'm when i'm out and about and stuff and and whatever it takes me
31:54i'm just like i make notes so um i just like sing into my phone and i'm like this would be uh a great
32:04bass line over this type of groove uh mental note um this is a great melody and sometimes that's me
32:12singing into it that's you know i'm practicing and i'm like oh this is really cool i like it i'm
32:16gonna develop it later um and then sometimes i'll just be at the piano and i'm like i really love these
32:22chords get that down all of that stuff and then when when time takes me i develop them i work on them
32:32i think you know someone once told me something very important that was you know composition is
32:38a muscle that you have to keep um kind of stocked up i guess you have to work it you know yeah you
32:44have to exercise it you have to i think it helps some people have creative inspiration like whenever
32:50they want i think sometimes i don't have that sometimes i do um but yeah part of writing this album
33:00was developing some of the ideas that i had been recording over the last the six months or a year
33:06before we kind of like fleshing out sketches right yeah exactly and it's more just so that like you have
33:13a starting place you know that you're not just like i guess it's kind of like writer's block when
33:18you're just staring at a blank page you know but in this case it's just like i used to find it quite
33:25difficult to just be like okay be creative write a tune and and i've got better at that now because
33:33i guess it's it's more practice at the end of the day it's just like an instrument it's just a
33:38different way maybe i listen to um you know pieces of pieces of music and i'm like oh i really like that
33:46bit i'm really inspired by that i wonder what that would sound like that it's just
33:50yeah i think also what helped me was being able to daydream because i had a little bit of breathing
33:59space in touring um yeah yeah it's wondering it's imagining it's thinking it's daydreaming it's
34:07someone else told me that it's really important to have time to daydream to let those creative things
34:13just flow you know um and also collaboration um that's true yeah yeah yeah that's another way
34:21bouncing ideas off of people yeah exactly um but for this album yeah i think it was just developing
34:28ideas i've been thinking about for a long time um getting them ready for the band to just so that we
34:33could go into the studio and just lay it down um and i have to say looking back on it i really enjoy
34:39it you know i really loved writing the tunes changing a few bits like it's the first time i've
34:47worked with vocals so being in the studio and being like you know just like feeling a little bit of
34:53pressure because like i can't sing but i also know what i know what it sounds like yeah so i was like okay
35:00and then learning how to like explain everything um with my voice as well as the way that i would do it
35:07in with my instrument with the band and stuff so yeah i i was a massive learning curve for me i think
35:14um and also working with quez we co-produced the album um it's such a beautiful experience like i knew
35:22very much what i wanted in terms of like the sound world and the textures and all of this like i'm a
35:28lover of like we just like make the sound as thick as possible as possible like the low end has to like
35:35i want it to rumble your car you know you're listening to source in your car or wherever you
35:40are i actually want the car to shake
35:46um so you should do that if you haven't so far i think i think that's the caribbean in you for
35:51real for real it's like yeah we gotta we gotta feel this yeah yeah exactly i want it to like carry you
35:57you know i really do um all right one very last one it might be difficult but how do you know when
36:05the composition is finished oh that is a really good question i guess
36:14oh man i what a curveball i don't know sometimes you're like sometimes it feels complete like the
36:20melody is like okay it's it feels like circular to me there's no like weird bit hanging off the end
36:29but that doesn't mean like it's no loose ends like traditional as such it just means that the melody
36:35makes sense to me which means usually the the structure makes sense the chords everything is in
36:45where it needs to be um but i also try not to be like too authoritarian about it because when we do
36:51when i when it comes when it comes with me from the piano to the studio or the session we're doing
36:58i think i'm i've definitely changed like so many things can we try that like for which tune was it
37:06i can't remember um maybe it was in a game uh uh one of the tracks on the album we did like two versions
37:15and i was like i can't decide like one was a bit slower and like you know a bit more um chilled in
37:22a way but like very forward driving and then the next version we did was like you know where we're going
37:29and in the end i couldn't choose so i was like right we're going to do a take and we're going to do both
37:33we're going to do the chilled version then we're going to have uh like a break hard stop and then
37:41stamp i want you to do a fill at this faster tempo and then we're going to go back into it so
37:47i like to keep things open so that it doesn't kind of make me enter the studio in a closed way to be
37:53like right we're doing this and that's too rigid yeah it shouldn't be too rigid it should be flowing
37:57just the way exactly i think yeah i don't know that was i think that just kind of happens over
38:03time the more you record the more you go to other people's sessions like you just pick up things you
38:09know i think um i i like to write everything out you know to save time because time is money um
38:18you know like i i don't have time sometimes to to teach everyone by ear the tunes if it's easy enough
38:26and it's a simple melody but some of these tunes are like odd structures odd forms like
38:32violence or just like uh and you have to you know it's practice and you have to hear it and you have
38:37to know how it fits together and it's just easier to start from a place where okay here's the map
38:43um you don't have to use it but here it is so that if you need it it's there and then when we start
38:51touring it this happened with the last two eps when we start touring it it's just repetition it gets in
38:57there um at least the structure and that leaves more space for us to go to other places in the in the
39:03improvising it sounds like a a sensibility only developed through a lot of practice and a lot of
39:11writing and a lot of working with people like then you start to understand i feel like it's it's it's
39:16like you can convey it through words but it's almost like a sixth sense that you get yeah from all this
39:21experience that you have it tells you all right i can close the loop on this or this goes this way
39:25or let's try it this way yeah yeah yeah exactly and it's like you said it's just it's trying things
39:31out some things you know wait maybe it's harmonies um a couple tracks she was playing trumpet on
39:37you know some of them didn't work in practice um and i changed them for the better but like obviously
39:45on the piano it was fine to me but like putting those two instruments together in that way just
39:51like sometimes things need to be shifted and um i have i like it it means it means it's improving you
39:58know i think hopefully yeah hey um you know i one of the reasons i'm i'm asking all these questions
40:06because i always like to listen to stuff with new context that comes from the artist who created it
40:12because then you can hear the various textures and all the things they intended you know um like your
40:16music i feel like is very very layered it's very rich you know what i'm saying so like i can i can be
40:22engulfed by it or i can taste the different elements in it you know i'm saying it's almost like
40:27yeah not to mix metaphors but like say you're having a drink or you're eating something and
40:31you taste all the flavors now you know what the recipe is kind of you know exactly yeah that's it
40:36that's that's what i intend i think um at the end of the day it's music is music and and if you know
40:45sometimes you study it and sometimes it's it's purely there to be felt by you and listened and whatever
40:52um to engulf you you know so i think i yeah i really enjoy the the design of it i guess like the
41:03composition but when i'm in the studio when i'm when we're going for it when we're soloing like
41:10that's it that's all that's happening i'm not really actually thinking about you're present you're
41:15very present in that moment of creation yeah it's the same with like on stage when you're doing a gig like
41:20people often ask me you know are you thinking about what you're going to play and it's like
41:26uh i actually don't know sometimes maybe i'm like oh i'd really like to do that and does that ever
41:32happen no because you're present in like another kind of sphere another kind of plane i guess of
41:42you know immediate connection um and i think i've stripped like that's what i've um i strive for
41:51that i strive for that but in practice it's practice it's very different it's thinking it's
41:58i want to achieve this today i want to learn how to do this or like i'm working on this at the moment
42:04and have been for years or six months or a week or whatever so those are two different spaces for me
42:11yeah the words present in the plane of immediate connection is echoing in my head that's some
42:18deep shit that sounds like being connected to source um there you go there you go
42:26august 21st nubai garcia's damn this is you put out two eps this is the first album this is the debut
42:34album yeah this is the first album from nubai garcia yeah august 21st source everybody tap in
42:43right now you can hear the lead single source well the second single the title track source and pace
42:49is out right now from the record right yes yo thank you so much for this conversation thank you so much
42:55for the insight and what you into what you do um appreciate you and yo everybody supporting nubai garcia
43:01thank you thank you so much it's been beautiful thanks for having me all right peace peace london see you soon bye
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