Born Giles Kwakeulati King-Ashong, south London musician Kwake Bass started playing drums aged five. Fusing live drumming with electronic sounds, he has worked with artists including Mica Levi, MF Doom, and Joey BadA$$. He also acted as musical director on both Sampha and Kate Tempest’s most recent tours. Kwake Bass now performs as a solo artist and as part of the experimental jazz/hip-hop group Speakers Corner Quartet. His DEM1NS #2 EP and clothing range are out at the end of the month.
1. Book
Marcus Garvey, Ultimate Collection of Speeches and Poems
I saw this in the ICA bookshop, and it was a joyful shock – I had no idea Marcus Garvey [leader of the Pan-Africanism movement] wrote poetry. The opening bit from [the speech] I Am a Negro really gripped me: “We did not come here of our own free will. We were brought here, and so the question of birth does not enter into the question.” I just like the fact that it’s so blunt and straight to the point, kind of like a Miles Davis solo. It’s pretty heavy, obviously, but I think right now having a bit of heavy writing can make us question things.
2. Radio
For a while I was trying to replace coffee with smoothies, and nothing worked except turning on LBC in the mornings and getting riled up. I know it’s crazy but I love waking up to people arguing – it could be about something really mundane or a subject like the war in Syria – it gets my brain into fifth gear to attack the tasks of the day. I’ve never rung in, but if I listen long enough someone always says what I’m thinking. The presenter never does, he’s always on the other side. You’re just like: “This guy really thinks he’s right, but he’s bloody wrong.”
3. Food
If, like me, you’re trying to stop eating meat, this is the spot. Esme, the owner, is absolutely killing it. She does really good vegan food, all freshly cooked, in a nice little quaint caff. Everything’s great, but the fried jackfruit nuggets are better than any fried chicken you will ever taste in your life – I couldn’t believe it was not chicken. I 100% need to come off the meat, and I also need to stop drinking dairy. I love cream in my coffee, so my girl got me into oat cream, which is a great alternative.
4. Record shop
Whenever I’m on tour, I always go record shopping. On my last European tour I stumbled upon this place and instantly had a really good vibe with this guy who worked there, Sebastian. Sometimes you go into record shops and the staff don’t want to talk to you unless you’re into what they’re into. Whereas here I just went in, like, have you got any Brazilian synthesizer vibes? Any German avant-garde stuff? And he was like, yeah. I just ended up spending the majority of my day there, listening to music, hanging out, and buying loads of cool stuff.
5. Film
I recently became a dad, so films are few and far between now. This is the last film I really enjoyed – I liked its slightly surreal, out-of-this-world feel. I’ve got a bit of a thing about how language feeds into this taboo notion of things we can and can’t talk about when it comes to race, so I liked the fact that in this mixed-race relationship there were moments where he’d say something and she’d respond in a way you’d consider to be a black response on paper. They dealt with it all very well – it just scratched on the surface without getting too heavy.
6. Music
Jah Shaka in Tottenham last year was the best gig I’ve been to ever, period. It was the traditional way to listen to dub music: loads of speakers in a big circle, loads of people in a room, really dimly lit, getting seriously stoned. It was a proper spiritual alignment experience, like a meditation, with all the bass and endorphins that get released in your mind and through your spine as these melodic repetitive moments happen. And also, Shaka’s getting old, man. He’s in his late 60s and is a walking beacon of inspiration. Everyone should go to Jah Shaka once in their life and experience proper roots.
