Kokoroko creates a storm at South London festivals this summer

Afrobeat inspired band Kokoroko are set to shake up a storm at two South London festivals this summer.

The eight-piece band will take the stage at an all-day concert at the Crystal Palace Bowl on August 15, alongside Kruder and Dorfmeister and veteran DJ Giles Petterson, as part of the month-long South Facing Festival.

The band will head to Brockwell Park for Wide Awake Festival on September 3. Percussionist Onome Edgeworth said: “It’s nice to be playing again and playing in London.

“It’s always a different energy when we play here. It definitely feels like home.”

The band formed around five years ago and have established a reputation for shaking up London’s live music scene with their speciality horn-and-drum-driven jams and polyrhythms.

Although taking inspiration from afrobeat king Fela Kuti and funk musician William Onyeabor, the band don’t like to define their genre.

Sheila Maurice-Grey, who provides trumpet and vocals for the band said: “The sound is something that we’re still on a journey with. I don’t think we necessarily fit into one genre.

“It’s more about the ethos of the band rather than the style of music.” The ethos of the band is one of celebration and togetherness.

Mr Edgeworth said: “Because it’s such a big band, the main thing that we try and get in is conversation and collaboration.

“It’s like a sense of celebration and of remembering. It’s celebrating what has been and trying to create something new at the same time.” The writing process is very collaborative.

Mr Edgeworth said: “It often starts with someone bringing an idea or a song and everyone expands or adds their bits or creates based on what’s done.

“Obviously every song is different, so some songs by the time we get them are far more developed and some songs are just a very simple idea that the whole band will play around and build upon.”

As well as looking forward to the festivals, Kokoroko have been working on their debut album.

Working between lockdowns, the band members brought their shared creative process to the studio.

Ms Maurice-Grey said: “There was a lot of writing that we did before but there was a lot of writing and creating that we did on the spot which made it really special and really magical.

“I’m really excited to share that with everyone when it’s out.” Mr Edgeworth said: “I think we’re just kind of stepping into ourselves.

We’ve got to the stage of just trying to create and create something that feels natural and honest to us.

“I think the sound is far more wide ranging than maybe we expected but we wanted it to feel like that and we just explored.

“We’ve played with a lot of different sounds and a lot of different ideas in there.”

For tickets for South Facing Festival visit
 https://southfacingfestival.com/
and
for Wide Awake Festival visit
 https://wideawakelondon.co.uk