words: Duke Etienne / headshighmusic.com

London’s clubs are getting hotter. Maybe it’s got something to do with climate change or the battering down of geographical boundaries by the internet but there is definitely an unquestionable interest in all things tropical. The Soca soaked sound of UK Funky and the sweaty heat of Sofrito’s tropical warehouse bashes have the DJ realm covered while events like Dele Sosimi’s ‘ Afrobeat Vibration’ and venues like Dalston’s Passing Clouds fly the flag for live tropical funk in LDN.

Hailing from deepest South-East London, Yaaba Funk have been leading this charge for some time now, exposing the masses to their genetically modified fusion of Ghanain Highlife, Afrobeat and low down, dirty funk. From humble beginnings in the dark recesses of South London’s live music venues, the 12 piece funk fire of the Yaaba has made them the go to band on the Uk’s expanding Afro scene. Their debut LP offering Afrobeast is ready to serve, so we caught up with Paul, Helen and chief commander Richmond Kessie to talk West Africa, drum machines and Adam Ant!?

SHOOK: Ok. Lets start at the beginning. Apart from Richmond who hails from Ghana, you guys come from everywhere but Africa. What made you decide to play West African music?

Paul: Most of us played West African music in some form or another before Yaaba Funk. Our drummer Lou studied music in Ghana for some time and a lot of us used to be involved in various West African drum and dance groups here in London. For me, as far as rhythm, West African music is addictive. When I was learning the drums as a kid, I used to try and copy Tony Allen’s drumming on my Dad’s Fela albums when I practiced. I actually thought that Tony Allen was English back then! I would read the credits on the back of the albums and see this really English name in amongst all these really long African ones!

Richmond: One of the main reasons we initially formed the band was for a guy named Nana Tsiboe . He’s a fantastic Ghanaian singer and I loved him so much I thought ‘lets just form this band and get him to be the leader’. For the first two gigs, he was the main singer and a lot of the songs we did were his. He didn’t make one of the gigs and we just went on without him. The West African connection was through the drums, and the connection with Nana. Also, we love Afrobeat.

SHOOK: What does Yaaba actually mean?

Richmond: Well ‘Yaba Funk Roots’ is an album by Captain Yaba recorded in Northern Ghana in the 80s. He played a Gunji (traditional guitar) and sang. When I came to London in the 80s I completely left African music alone in favour of more modern sounds. I wanted to listen to Kool & The Gang and Adam Ant, Highlife was my parents music. One day I walked into Sterns and saw this Captain Yaaba album and one of Nanatsiboes. That kind of brought me back and got me going through my parent’s old records again. I really liked the name Yaaba Funk. Yaa means go and Ba means come. There’s a part of Lagos called Yaaba too.

SHOOK: How has your sound changed over the years? I think I first heard you guys perform about four years ago and your vibe has altered quite a bit since then.

Richmond: Initially, there were literally 15 drummers and Paul on the bass. Most of the stuff was written around drums with a bit of vocals. It was very improvised. The first gig we did was at the Albany. Myself, Paul and Clive were DJing, and in between that, this 15 piece band would take to the stage and play a ten minute set until the DJ started mixing in and taking over again. We did two gigs like that and Yaaba Funk rose out of it when we played at The Eye (RIP) in Stoke Newington. We’d rehearsed, but without horns, and when a sax player turned up on the night it completely changed the sound. That’s how the whole idea of Yaaba Funk came about. Highlife holds the sound together. We started off wanting to be a Highlife band but the fact that we’ve all been exposed to so many different types of music, live and electronic, comes through in our sound too.

Paul: Different musicians joining has really defined the progression of our sound. When Helen first joined we were doing songs mainly in Akan and from then we tried do more songs in English. When Christian, one of our guitarists joined the band, his Rock background and influences had an effect on our sound too.

SHOOK: Tell us about the ‘Afrobeast’. What was the concept for the album?

Paul: We didn’t have a pre-planned concept for the album. We’ve had a couple of covers like Oscar Sulley and the Uhuru Dance Band’s ‘Bukom Mashie’, classic 70s things, but when we started writing our own music, we realized we were coming up with all this really varied stuff. Richmond brought in a couple of traditional Ghanaian songs which we’ve completely re-arranged. There’s dancefloor tracks, some more home listening type material. The album is a bit of a journey. It’s not just Highlife, it’s not just Afrobeat, there’s a lot more going on than just that. You couldn’t call it an Afrobeat record. There are also some remixes too on a more Afro House-Broken Beat tip.

SHOOK: What are your thoughts on the resurgence of Afrobeat and tropical music in general over the last decade?

Richmond: It’s been a symbiotic relationship really. The increasing popularity of the scene has definitely helped us, but I do believe we’ve also helped it grow. When Eric Soul started Components, we opened it. We were the first band to play. There is a good scene but at the moment, it’s a little disjointed. For example, when we had our launch party for the album, the Soothsayers were playing somewhere and Dele Sosemi had his night on too, the movement just isn’t big enough to support that right now. We want to use Yaaba Funk as a vehicle to help unite things a bit. Put on an event where we can invite all the afro guys down to perform. If we present a united front, we’ve got a much better chance of taking things to the next level collectively.

Paul: I think it’s popular because it’s live music. It’s not technological music, it’s all based around live bands. There’s been great African musicians in London for at least 100 years, its always been here, its music that people want to listen to, its just that a lot of the time, they haven’t been exposed to it….but that’s changing now. It’s very difficult to hear those rhythms and stand still. You can go see a DJ and they can play some great stuff, but it’s not quite the same. We DJ as well, but the energy is never the same as when we perform live.

SHOOK: Long-term, what do you want to achieve with Yaaba Funk?

Richmond: I think for me, this is a bit of a personal crusade. Traditional Highlife music isn’t really appreciated in its homeland. Africans tend to look to the West and our MTV culture and they want to have that. I’d like to get Yaaba to a point where people in Ghana can look at us and think ‘Ok, people in Europe actually like this kind of music. Maybe it’s not all about Rap, R&B and Reggae. We’ve got this rich heritage here, why are we just ignoring it?’. Ultimately, I want to see more fresh bands coming out of Africa.

SHOOK: Any final words?

Richmond: Yaaba Funk is all about evolution…moving on. Afrobeat came about because Fela was originally playing Highlife. He went to the US, went to the UK and came back with ideas about Soul, Funk, Jazz and how they could combine with his native music. We’re taking something which is traditional, and blending it with all of our other influences too. The definition of world music needs to move on. We’re fuelling that movement…

Yaaba Funk’s album “Afrobeast” (Yaabaphone records) launches on 24th April at Brixton’s The Rest is Noise with the Sambalanco crew on DJ duties. You can cop an unreleased exclusive track here (right-click, save as).

Omanfoa remixes by DJD (Defected, Here and Now) and Nyash! (E go bite you) remix by Olatunde (Tony Allen, Wunmi) will be released digitally by Here and Now recordings on 12 April.

Yaaba Funk
(www.myspace.com/yaabafunk)

Facebook
(www.facbook.com/yaaba.funk)

Here and Now Recordings (http://www.myspace.com/hereandnowrecordings)