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October 8, 2019 Category: Interviews, Music, upfront Region: South Wales
London's Ibibio Sound Machine began in 2010 as a production trio, lead singer Eno Williams subsequently joining and penning lyrics. Even now, the octet maximise creative input, with all members essentially songwriters. "We tend to jam on ideas rather than write individually," Williams says. "Every element that makes up a song has its role to play."
Being an eight-piece, multicultural band alternating between Ibibio and English lyrics has inevitably proved challenging, exemplified in the song Tell Me – a translation, form Ibibio, of their latest album Doko Mein. "Tell Me began as a playful reference to certain band members telling me what to do on a particular day when we were writing a song. A lot of the songs are about female empowerment, so that moment seemed a fitting reference point for the album."
Ibibio Sound Machine's influences span far and wide, Williams says. "Some of the obvious ones might be people like Victor Uwaifo, Fela, William Onyeabor and other west African artists, as well as bands like LCD Soundsystem and Talking Heads. We have many that we sound nothing in common with – Betty Davis, Isao Tomita, Shuggie Otis." While listening to American R&B and soul while growing up in Nigeria, the young Williams absorbed other influences. "My grandad was also into country, and a lot of the local highlife and juju music. I feel like you can hear all that in what we do as a band now."
Pondering the 'live music v recorded music' conundrum, Williams weighs their different impacts and concludes every musician's goal should be to channel both. "There's nothing like the live energy you get, with interplay between band and audience. However, making records that really communicate something to the listener is equally important."
Despite using electronic elements in their recordings, when playing live the band tried not to "dilute" their live instruments. "We wouldn't really be happy being the type of band that plays along with backing tracks for example. With that in mind, it's not easy fitting in all the sounds we might create in the studio if they're all being played live."
words Megan Frost
Y Plas, Cardiff University Students Union, Tue 15 Oct. tickets: £14. Info: 029 2078 1458 / www.cardiffstudents.com
Tag: Cardiff University Students' Union, concert, eno williams, Ibibio Sound Machine, Live, R&B, Y Plas
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