Introducing Brother Zulu

Brother Zulu give hope that British soul music is not a dwindling phenomenon, as some older readers may claim. Their description of themselves as a ‘Future Soul’ collective feels apt. They mesh different styles seamlessly, marrying an experimental approach with soulful undercurrents. After receiving an email asking me to consider reviewing their debut single, I have since been fascinated with the band.

A few weeks ago, they performed a sold-out gig at The Constitution pub in Camden, North London. Performing in the venue’s cellar-turned-music-space, they delighted the audience with coruscating instrumentals and their greasy, arresting grooves. It is no surprise that they have been selected as a BBC ‘Artist of the Week’ in the past.

A group of five young men – Lawrence (flute and keys) , Noah (bass), Max (vocals), Alex (guitar) and Youssef (drums) – their genre-bending approach is influenced by their diverse musical backgrounds.

What kind of music did you guys grow up listening to?

Lawrence: Music has always had a unique place in my life. I was reeled into the world of maths and science in school when teachers realised I kind of had a knack for understanding these subjects. At the same time, music became this other world for me that was almost like an escape. There was life outside of my bedroom, and then there was my alternate playground built upon the hours I spent immersed in my headphones. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, I was just doing my thing in FL Studio. Overtime this kind of evolved into myself as a producer. The electronic side, combined with my love for classical music, playing flute and digging into the jazz world with the help of an East London Jazz youth program where I got to spend some time with Robert Glasper all helped shape how I hear music today.

Noah: Well, maths and science definitely weren’t my thing! But similarly music has always had a special place for me. I grew up in a rural American town where Bluegrass and jam bands like the Grateful Dead was the common sound. I discovered D’Angelo when I was 18 and had just moved to London; that’s what kicked it all off for me! I got hooked on the soul music scene and that began my journey digging into all the back catalogues I could find: Marvin Gaye, James Brown, the whole Soulquarian crew…I wouldn’t be the same person today without them!

Max: When I was 14 my dad got me a Christmas present to record a song in a studio that I had written. That day turned out to be more than I bargained for, as some personnel in the studio put a management team in touch with me and this led on to writing sessions and recording work with artists like Kool G Rap and Ellie Goulding.

Lawrence: That’s actually how Max and I met, on a writing session for another artist we had been working with.

Alex: My inspiration has always been surrounded by the idea of creativity and self-expression. This is what gets me picking up the guitar at any moment, even at times when I shouldn’t. A lot of jazz gets me excited for this same reason. It’s not that I want it to be jazz for the sake of it, but about where some musicians take things in that context that gets me going.

Youssef: I was listening to a lot of 70’s rock and some funky stuff like what Zigaboo Modeliste did with The Meters growing up as a teenager in Kuwait. Not long after moving to London I met Lawrence in our physics class and we got jamming in the school’s basement. I’ve always been a pretty hands-on person as a mechanical engineer, so drumming is really just an extension of that to me.

Alex: I guess you can say that we all bring something to the table for this band.

Max: Yeah, we might not be like the average musicians, but Brother Zulu wouldn’t be what you hear today without our mixed up backgrounds.

Their debut single ‘Honey’ – one of our top ten soul tracks of last year – evokes summertime nostalgia. Sonically, it has a lazy, drunken flow. I asked them how ‘Honey’ came about.

Lawrence: ‘Honey’ was a vibe that Max kicked off not long after getting out of a long-term relationship. That hook “how you gonna make me love the most, when you don’t even want my honey” just had this really bitter-sweet tinge to it that was hard to let go of.

Noah: Max got in the studio and tracked out a demo version for us, I loved the vibe but heard something a bit different to back the vocal line so had him send the acapella over to me as well. He had this Prince thing going on with multiple tracks running at the same time to form a lead line that just sounded so good even at its rawest form! I ran with that vocal line and got this slinky kind of groove flowing with it. Lawrence then got a hold of the project and did his thing with the production, brought the whole track into this 1970’s old school vibe that just made perfect sense for what the song was.

Max: It all got a natural flow from there really and we kept honing in on it for the next 6 months or so till we felt like the track was ready to move on to the mixing stage.

A group of perfectionists and insatiable creatives, Brother Zulu already have a massive backlog of material which they are carefully planning how to release. They have a trilogy of EPs planned for 2019. Why release music in this way?

Max: We’re always getting inspired by thematic elements, a sense of purpose and meaning to why we do what we do and how these concepts string together to form a piece of creative work.

Lawrence: The EP trilogy just kind of clicked one day when we sat down to look at the BZ archive and how we wanted to share some of it with our listeners.

Noah: There’s going to be a few more singles we’re excited to drop over the next couple of months and then our first themed EP towards the end of this year.

Alex: It’s going to be a special EP, some of those tracks have been in the making for over 4 years – there’s orchestral instruments, a feature artist… We’re going all in.

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Brother Zulu have recently released their follow-up single ‘Fine!’ which adopts a more raucous approach to their debut. Drawing upon the frustration of being charged with a driving penalty, ‘Fine!’ erupts in an explosion of grime, funk, and garage. Listen below! You can follow Brother Zulu on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.