AJ Holmes & The Hackney Empire are somewhat of an enigma. An all-english 6-piece outfit with it’s leader claiming roots in Dagenham, rocking stages internationally with the sounds of Congolese Rhumba, Soukous and West African Highlife. With guitar skills imparted by legendary Sierra Leonian musician Folo Graff and cutting his teeth as part of the internationally acclaimed Rhumba crew Les Beaux Gosses de Berlin, AJ’s obsession with the good-time sounds of West-Central Africa is set on solid foundations. This tale of high musical pedigree continues to the present and an ongoing affiliation with London’s premier tropical ghetto music purveyors the Secousse Soundsystem. Appearing both as a resident selector at Notting Hill Arts Club’s Secousse sessions and also gracing the stage with the Hackney Empire as the club night’s in-house band, AJ et al have skillfully carved a niche for themselves with a sound which is undeniably african-inspired, yet quite distinct from anything else out there right now.

As you’ve probably guessed by now, we’ve invited them to take the live slot at our next session and they’ve graciously accepted. As I’ve said before in these pages, before I’d heard AJ Holmes & The Hackney Empire for the first time, I had some quite serious doubts about what to expect. Those doubts were allayed halfway through their first track as a realised the quality level I was dealing with! Since that first AJ experience, I’ve witnessed them tear up numerous dancefloors with their new, electric highlife and can quite honestly say that I’ve yet to see them disappoint.

In the lead-up to next Sunday’s big event, Cal Jader caught up with AJ & crew to break bread. Here’s how it went down…

Cal Jader: Since your brilliant turn at the Movimientos New Year’s Eve Tropical extravaganza the band has been out of the public eye of late…a little birdy tells me you’ve been working on your debut album…what’s happening in the world of the Hackney Empire?

AJ Holmes: Yes well that little birdy was right. We’ve mixed half the album and the rest will be completed very soon. We’ve also been writing new songs. Some of which will have their public debut at the Vibe Bar show next week, so that’s an exclusive!

Cal Jader: The band cut it’s teeth at a residency at the infamous Secousse night at the Notting Hill Arts Club, which has always been a champion of the freshest African and urban ghetto sounds how influential was the night in shaping the direction the band took?

AJ Holmes: Well I think it really turned us in to a hardened party / dance band. We figured out pretty quick that you need to hit a Friday night west London crowd hard and keep it banging, or your gonna flop and people will just start checking their phones while your playing. However we’ve been spoilt also because without wanting to blow the Secousse trumpet too much, the crowd there really are the best that we’ve played to, they give you a lot of love back if you play it right. We also have done some collaborations that have proved important for the bands development with artist that we met via Secousse – MC Kastro and Afrikan Boy for example. Also all the remixes that have been commissioned by for band have been by people that we found out about via Secousse: Uproot Andy, Moroka, Erick Rinco, Chief Boima all were Secousse connections. Also having our   first single ‘Fraudian Slip’ produced by Radioclit – which has had a big influence of the way we mixed the rest of the album – was of course a Secousse family thing, and the record label that released the 1st single and commissioned the rmxs: Ghetto Bassquake – the label of Vamanos (Ghetto Bassquake blog) is a Secousse family thing also.

Cal Jader: How do you see yourself in the context of the African music scene in London or would you rather not be pigeon-holed into one genre?

AJ Holmes: I would hate to think we would be pigeon holed as ‘African music’, mainly because we are not African – although we do work a lot with and do collaborations with African artists – we are first and foremost a British band, and probably more to the point a ‘London band’ so I don’t see us exclusively being in the context of ‘African music’. I see us more of a reflection of the influence of African communities in Britain on British musicians, much in the same why that the ‘two tone / British ska movement’ of the late 1970’s reflected the influence of the Caribbean communities in Britain and in that respect I’m very surprised I don’t know more bands like us. If we were to fit in at all the African music scene I would like to think it would be as a new generation of African influenced music. However I think if we were to consciously place ourselves in the ‘African music scene’ we wouldn’t stand a chance against ‘African Bands’ i.e. the bands with African musicians in them!

Cal Jader: Are you inspired by the success of Afro-influenced indie stylings of the likes of Vampire Weekend and Fools Gold amongst others? And do you see any similar bands in the UK incorporating African influences into guitar based indie music?

AJ Holmes: Well parallels to A.J. Holmes & The Hackney Empire and my solo work have been made to both bands you mentioned and yes I find their success very inspiring, I’m very happy for them and I personally think they deserve it. However now I hear some bands that are inspired by Vampire Weekend for example rather that by African music and these bands don’t really interest me.

So. In the words of Mc Dett in his infamous Sunday Roast pirate radio ads circa 1994, ‘All roads lead to’ Vibe Bar 91 Brick Lane E1 6QL this Sunday 15th May as we give to you a night of superior quality, tropically infused rhythm headlined by AJ HOLMES & THE HACKNEY EMPIRE with myself DUKE ETIENNE and Movimientos/Heads High mainstay CAL JADER setting the backdrop. AJ hasn’t done a London gig since the beginning of the year with the interim being spent working on the album and penning some fresh material. We’re expecting a busy one and looking forward to the exclusive drop of the bands new songs.

We’re in the upper bar again this month so jon us atop the stairwell for a blast of the new electric highlife…

This Friday 11th June, fans of real black music are going to feel nice. The OKRA project has teamed up with Adesose Wallace’s Ibile and Dalston’s Passing Clouds venue to bring the people a night of tone, taste and texture spanning Africa, the Caribbean and South America.

Representing Africa, 11-strong outfit Ibile hit the stage with a serious blend of Afrobeat, Highlife and raw West African drums. For better or worse, there has been an exponential rise in the number of Afrobeat/Afro-Funk/Highlife bands in the capital over the last few years but be warned, Ibile is the real deal. If you read the excerpt from our interview with him, you’ll know that Adesose Wallace is as authentic as they come. He’s played with Geraldo Pino, the James Brown of Afro-funk, and the inspiration for Fela Kuti to transform his Hi-Life Jazz sound into Afrobeat. Ade has also worked with Hugh Masekela, Miriam Makeba and a host of other African music legends and to this day, teaches West African rhythm and song to students countrywide – basically, he’s real.

Representing the Caribbean, OKRA presents Ras Happa and the Harambe Drummers throwing down a live set of pounding Jamaican roots drums and dance. Long before reggae music warmed its first amplifier and rumbled it’s first speaker cone, the island of Jamaica danced to the beat of Nyabinghi, Kumina and Revival drums. Rhythms and dances which are so powerful, they still emerge in the beats and sequenced movements of the freshest bashment dancehalls. Unfortunately, the dancehall didn’t assimilate the spirit of the culture with quite the same vigour…..that’s where we come in. To compliment proceedings Duke Etienne and Suga Kan’n keep it raw, roots and occasionally, savage with a DJ selection linking the past with the buzz of the afro-future.

Representing South America, Otto Nascarella takes a pause from the rootical, tropical funk of his Saravah Soul project to throw down a scorching selection infused with his Brazillian roots.

The flyer is here. We hope you can join us…

It’s not often I get impressed with bands. When I read the blurb for AJ Holmes & The Hackney Empire before I saw them for the first time I was ready to be disappointed. A decidedly camp looking white guy with an electro-pop background learns how to play Highlife guitar, fuses it with his pop stylings and sets out to conquer the world with his new brand of electric Highlife…..hmmm, no thanks. When I actually witnessed AJ & the Empire perform, I had to eat my words, my hat and a fat slice of humble pie. The band smashed it, and did so with such unpretentious integrity that barely anyone in the room could avoid becoming a part of the performance. How a motley crew from Hackney can manipulate Palm-Wine Highlife so well is beyond me, but they can.

For those who don’t know, Palm-Wine Highlife is a guitar based music which has it’s origins in the Palm Wine shacks of 1950s Ghana. In the years leading up to the Second World War, Highlife was a term used to describe the upper-class entertainment of Ghana’s more exclusive nightclubs. Characterized by huge ensembles and stiff, european dance-steps, the Highlife scene was not welcoming of the lower strata of Ghanaian society. After the war, the music of the poor man’s Palm Wine bar, synonymous with drunkenness and fusing the blues with local folk tales, tunes and elements of Calypso and Jazz somehow also earned the tag Highlife. This is the Palm-Wine Highlife AJ Holmes has mastered, and ratings to him for pulling it off; the last time I checked, Hackney and Accra didn’t have that much in common….

Anyway, point is, AJ Holmes & The Hackney Empire are headlining this Saturday 20th at Passing Clouds and I honestly (not in a promoterish type way, cos i’m not even promoting it) think they’re well worth checking out. To seal the deal, I’m spinning alongside community soldier KMT and the afrobeat vibrations of Koichi Sakai. We’re all digging deep for our tropical treats….but don’t expect a night of music that was made 50 years ago….nah, it’s about making the old work with the new. AJ’s influences range from Highlife to Grime and he’s resident at West London’s biggest Tropical session Secousse alongside the Radioclit duo. You dun know my style already and i’ve heard KMT cut & paste everything from Soca and Bashment to African Lutes and large slabs of Hip Hop….trust me, it’ll be worth the trip….Flyer below.

If you didn’t already know, London is currently being shaken by a new-wave afro explosion. Dele Sosimi, Afrospot, The Soothsayers, Eric Soul….the list goes on.

Not afraid to step beyond the borders of Afro-Funk, Yaaba Funk are one of the more interesting shards of the aforementioned afro bomb. If you know Heads High, you should know Yaaba Funk from a heavy NYE basement session we collaborated on in East’ London’s ‘Life‘ venue (word to Kato!). if you don’t yet know Yaaba, you’re in for a treat. Peep the sample stream below, check the video and if you like what you hear, head over to SHOOK to investigate the interview I recently did with them…

….and the event? Deep South runnings courtesy of Jamie Renton and his Chilli Fried machine…