Eno Williams, lead singer of the electrifying Afrofuturist group Ibibio Sound Machine, recently joined Marcus Rosario on KALW for a lively conversation. They explored the band’s unique fusion of African rhythms, electronic beats, and the Ibibio language. Eno shared insights about the band’s origins, their decade-long journey, and their latest releases.
For more information about Ibibio Sound Machine, check out their website and their Instagram.
TRANSCRIPT
MARCUS: And today is a special show. I'm joined by Eno Williams of Ibibio Sound Machine, a band that I've played on this show a number of times. They just performed yesterday at Hardly Strictly, and they're performing tomorrow night. At the Chapel in San Francisco. How are you doing, Eno?
ENO: Hi Marcus. Thanks for having me. It's so lovely to be here.
MARCUS: Yes. Yes. Thank you for coming through. I know it was a bit last minute, but the beauty of public radio is that we always try to connect and just do it ourselves. And we want to, you know, try to let the world know about the Ibibio Sound Machine and just try to connect with artists that are awesome that are in town, especially because you guys all live in London.
ENO: Yes.
Marcus: All eight of you.
ENO: That's right.
MARCUS: Can you explain a little bit about the band and its origins and the beginnings for those that are tuning in for the first time and might not know?
ENO: So Ibibio Sound Machine kind of formed in London back in 2013. And it was started by myself, uh, Max, who's a producer, uh, also, and the saxophone player. And two friends of ours, Leon and Benji, who are no longer with the project. And we were just sort of, kind of, experimenting with this Ibibio language and electronic sounds. And I was sort of telling him about the songs that, um, stories that I got told growing up as a child in Nigeria. I was born in London, but I spent a lot of my childhood in Nigeria. And so one song led to two songs. And it was always like, oh my God, the, the, the, the language sounds quite rhythmic, very musical. And so we started piecing that together, um, with the other band mates, Alfredo, who's a Ghanian guitarist, who's got like high, highlife background. And at the time we had, um, Anselmo, who's a Brazilian percussionist, he came along with some vibes as well. And of course we had like the three horn section, Max, Tony and. Scott, who like the jazz background together. We kind of just, you know, mule things around, trying to experiment with the Ibibio language and electronic sounds. And that's how that came about. So that was back in 2013. And, you know, we've just been going since then, just, you know, touring extensively and just playing our music to everywhere all over the world. And now we're here in San Francisco.
MARCUS: Wow. Yeah. And you guys played yesterday at Harley Strictly. How was that by the way?
ENO: Oh my God. It was great. At first. When we turned up, I thought, well hang on, this is kind of music that I'm not used to anyway, bluegrass music, a bit like country and everything. But it was quite interesting because I do like the sound anyway.
ENO: So I wasn't sure, we weren't quite sure how we were going to fit in that, you know. Whoa, but everybody's just like got down with it and, you know, everyone got up and dancing and singing along and just, you know, bringing the energy and vibes. It was quite cool. That's awesome. Yeah. The sun was out as well in October, which was quite weird.
MARCUS: Yeah. We're in that Indian summer right now in the Bay Area. Yeah. Going back, you guys have been making music for over 10 years now, and it always sounds so fresh. It's so incredibly fresh. Like, how is the collaboration? How do you guys keep it fresh? And how do you keep your creative process going? There's eight band members. So it's like, there's probably a lot of ideas.
ENO: There's always a lot of ideas. Initially, we used to just get in the room and just jam, just come up with tracks. Max will sometimes come up with tracks or beats and then I'll probably mill around with melodies and then something will catch my ear and I'll maybe bust a line or phrase out and then we'll kind of develop around that. And sometimes it happens when we're on the road even, we kind of like during the soundcheck, I'd start off with an idea, Max would have his phone record it and then go back and then build it. But I mean, like on our last record, for example, we worked through with Hot Chip. And it was just like a case of mutual admiration for the work that we both do. We've worked with them, you know, we've played at various festivals with them as well. And, and it was just a great opportunity. When the opportunity came up to work with them, it was just great to like, just do something together because, you know, we kind of loved the fact that they're really heavy on the synths and these Moog sounds and all that electronic vibes. It was great to collaborate, collaborate with them on our last record. And we've just been like pushing that whole electronic futuristic, I feel, futuristic sound just to see what, you know, what Afro electronic music could be like in the future, just the constant mixing of elements of African beats, rhythms, lyrics, and electronic sounds and synths as well.
MARCUS: Yeah, I know. It's always so, so fresh. I mean, I just, I always like to play it on the radio, but also at my DJ gigs and things like that. So it's always a party starter.
Photography: Simon Webb
ENO: Yeah, thanks. I mean on this record on Pull The Rope. I mean, we kind of made more of a conscious effort to like probably just really tailor the songs to more like actual songs and lyrics as opposed to just tracks because we found that over the years, a lot of our audiences when we go to do the shows, they're always keen to sing along and then I always sometimes teach lyrics to them in Ibibio and it’s just, people go away and learn the lyrics and just come and sing along. So we, we felt like to be a bit more inclusive this time and put a little bit more English lyrics as well.
MARCUS: And you have a, the new, the newest EP out because I played a cut earlier today from Pull The Rope, but the, the newest EP, can you talk a little bit about it in terms of, the four song EP that you have out.
ENO: Yeah. So we had, um, uh, Black Notes, which was kind of just, again, it started just tinkering away on the piano. And it's just this thing about just the playfulness of just playing, you know, on the piano. And it was like nothing too serious about it, but it's just still the same electronics, house beats, and just that kind of sunshine element of just, you know, just giving people the positive vibes and spreading love, positive energy, and empowerment as well, yeah.
MARCUS: Yeah, that's great. I love that EP too, and I know you put out the Pull the Rope in the EP. Is there any other music on the horizon you guys have coming out or you're working on? I know you've been touring a lot, but I think it's like an EP on the horizon.
ENO: We've been touring. I mean, we're always making music, even as we go along. We just, vibe, you know, constantly making music to uplift people, empower people, and just push the notion of freedom and coming together and, you know, you know, everybody pulling together rather than fighting each other. So yeah, we always keep making me. So watch this place.
MARCUS: Yes. Yes. I love it. I love it. You keep making music. I'm a big fan. I think you mentioned that you're still keeping in line with Afrofuturism, all the different influences, but are there any new directions you consider taking or anything you're willing to experiment with as you continue?
ENO: Oh, we're, we're always experimenting with sound since, you know, the whole electronic, I mean, lately we're trying something out with the talk, even, you know, we use a lot of precaution, um, you know, And lately I've been trying out like using the talking drum and more electronics kind of like like infuse the use of the talking drum but maybe with like just more electronics and trust trying to fuse that into what we probably do in the future.
MARCUS: Yeah, that's great.
MARCUS: Just to keep keep doing it and keep playing around with it
ENO: Yeah, exactly. I mean to be honest, we started it as an experiment and we always, I guess that's the way we make our music. Just always happy to just delve into stuff and try out new things.
MARCUS: Is there anyone out there that you're willing, that you want to like on a wish list of future collaborators and musicians, I'm sure this, this is probably asked, or, it's a bit of a loaded question.
ENO: I mean, we do get it all the time. Yeah. I mean, Angelique Kidjo has been one of my favorite role models of all time anyway. And we did open for her at Lincoln Center a while back. Yeah. For maybe, maybe in the future, maybe. I mean, there's always, we're always open to working with everybody.
ENO: Awesome. And so, um, tomorrow night. At the Chapel. Yes. So tomorrow night we're at the Chapel in San Francisco.
MARCUS: And then what other shows do you have coming up or any others?
ENO: Then we've got, uh, Lagunitas Brew at Petaluma. Okay. And then we fly back to the UK and it'll be doing a UK tour if anyone wants to come out to the UK. Well, I told you’re welcome there.
MARCUS: We've got some international listeners.
MARCUS: Any other new projects on the horizon or anything else?
ENO: I always say watch the space because yeah, we're always working anyway.
MARCUS: Cool. Um, and anything else you want to share? Where can people find your information?
ENO: On the website, ibibiosoundmachine.com or Instagram, at Ibibio Sound Machine and Instagram and Twitter as well, um, TikTok. So it's go follow us and yeah, spread the love.
MARCUS: Awesome. Thank you so much.
ENO: I hope to see you all at the Chapel.
MARCUS: Yes. Tomorrow night at the Chapel in San Francisco, I think Mild Universe is opening up, but with Ibibio Sound Machine, and it's going to be an awesome show. If you saw them yesterday, if you've seen them, and I know I’ve played a lot of the music. So thank you again for coming by today.
ENO: Thank you Marcus for having me.
MARCUS: I'm going to get into a song from your latest EP right here on KALW. Thank you again.
ENO: Thank you.
