Singer-Songwriter.
I am a singer/songwriter/events curator who has been performing in the UK, Europe & globally for over the last 12 years. Collaborations are a key foundation of my work.
I sing with/direct projects & bands within diverse themes & music genres. Creating unique performances which take us on a journey into the landscapes of emotion and imagination. Throughout my practice I explore ways of interacting through held spaces that explore the unknown, using music/sound making as the vehicle to strengthen human connections. I work with multidisciplinary artists & collaborate with other practitioners as a part of publicly funded projects.
Being on stage is being vulnerable. Effective singing for me is about the unpredictable and uncontrollable art of connection and being brave enough to share from my depths and merge with that place called home within us all.
My Origin Story
We left Kenya when i was 8 years old. My father was very sick so we moved to Oxford for treatment. The world was strange and i struggled to cope.
Although we spoke the same language within both cultures, there were barriers to understanding. Without realising it then, this would be the beginning of seeking to find a way to communicate with all without language barriers.
In school it became evident that visual art may be the tool i was looking for though after an Art and Design diploma and Illustration degree and swiftly realised how isolating an art career seemed to be. I needed more of a social environment. I began working on creative teams, community events, creating meeting to meet other artists and businesses. Then one day i was challenged to get on stage and sing with a live band. My life changed forever.
After the experience i found i was not only energised but so were the audience and i felt a connection to everybody who had shared in the experience with me, like we had created an invisible circuit that bound our experiences together in those moments. Shortly after i found myself at a jam session. I felt a strong pull that moved me to the microphone. I took it, closed my eyes, trusted something would happen, opened my mouth and sounds and shapes that i had never heard before came through me. This happened for over an hour and when i opened my eyes, again i felt a strong clearity that we were all connected through the journey we had all decided to partake in in that room right there….with a different kind of language! I knew i had found it!
Now this technique of creating the space of letting go has become a frequent practice for me on stage and many others seem moved to try it too. I’d love to always be able to share it for others to find the language without words.
I joined a band shortly after and a whole new level of understanding what it meant to take this path began. I gained a strength in discipline, practice, dedication and experience with recording studios. It wasn’t all about improvisation at all! Now i understand the value to making an art as well as improvising and how fulling trusting the process in the moment truly is.
