Interview: RAZ & AFLA
What got you into music, and if you had not gotten into music what would you be doing today?
I started music since childhood as I came from a music family,I will be a doctor by now if I am not doing music
What do you like to do when you are not playing music and how does that influence your creativity?
I am also a dancer ,so when I am doing music I am doing movement and that influences my creativity because I create rhythm out of movement and that's one of the starting point of my composition.
How long has your band been around?
The band had been around for 3 years now.
Where are you based out of and how did that influence your music?
We are based in London and London is a Melting pot of different musical cultures and different music genres and so we are in the middle of a wide musical culture from different countries and we derive our inspiration from all these cultures.
How did you come up with the name of your band and what does it mean to you?
The name of the band is simply our first names put together
Tell me about your most memorable shows.
That was our first show in Mayfair at a venue called the Conduit, we were very nervous because we didn't know how the audience are going to react to our music as its new but to our surprise the audience went crazy about the music and that really meant everything to us
What is your favorite venue to play at, and do you have any places you want to play that you have not already?
Conduit was actually the favorite place we have played and will love to play all the big festivals, Royal Albert Hall, Hexagon, The Dome, Electric Ballroom etc
What is some advice that you would give to someone who is just getting into playing in a band and some advice that you would give to your younger self?
Work hard on your craft and be a master of it. Learn to work with people,be straight forward and be business minded .
If you could go back in time and give yourselves advice, what would it be?
Learn more about the business side of the music especially the marketing side
Of your songs which one means the most to you and why?
Survive is my favorite as that Consoles me from all the dark situations that happened recently,it gives me hope that the sun will shine on us again.
Which songs are your favorite to play and which get requested the most?
Survive, Asokpo as well as Kye Kya Kule
What is the creative process for the band, and what inspires you to write your music?
We have different process we go by,sometimes we start with creating percussive Rhythms and the come up with a synth bass line or a synth melody and sometimes its the other way round
What kinds of messages do you like to get across in your music?
Mostly political messages,calling out on the leaders to do right by the people.
We also send love messages for people to unite and love one another as humans and also messages of hope.
Do you ever have disagreements in your band, and how do you get past them?
Yeah we agree to disagree,we always meet halve way with decision making.
What are your plans for the future, and do you have anything that you want to spotlight that is coming up?
Yeah we releasing our debut album very soon this year after the release of our EP and looking forward to release more banging albums in the future.