Soweto Kinch interviewed

16 January 2012

Soweto Kinch (History, 1996) is a MOBO award-winning jazz saxophonist, and alumnus of Hertford College. He visited the college in January 2012 to discuss his career, his time at Hertford and his planned concert in college to support the Undergraduate Bursaries Programme.

First of all, when did you start playing the saxophone?

I had just moved to Birmingham from London – I must have been nine years old – and I went to a music workshop. There were lots of instruments on display and as soon as I saw this shiny thing at the end of the room I thought this instrument was calling to me.
Although it wasn’t until I was 12 or 13 that I started to feel like there was some purpose in practising. Before that, the saxophone seemed cumbersome and a difficult-to-play lump of metal around my neck.

I caught the jazz bug when I was 13; I went to the Edinburgh Festival with my father who was a playwright and on the tour we had a jazz tap dancer called Will Gaines and a percussionist called Frank Holder who worked with Joe Harriot in the 1960s. These were living, breathing repositories of the music and just their whole manner, their demeanour really inspired me; I thought they were fun and comical, and I wanted to be like them when I grew up. I also went to one of my father’s concerts that same year and I had exactly the same kind of encounter seeing the majesty, the poise and the humour with which he approached the stage-craft, his instrument and everything: I thought I would like to be a jazz guy when I get older.

Whilst at Hertford, how did you divide your time between study and music?

Clearly I would have got a First in History had I been more regimented and meticulous about it… Although, when I was a student I held these grandiose ideas about being the next A J P Taylor – being a historian was the long-term plan.

Why did you choose to study History?

Lots of reasons. I’ve never been one for complicated technical language and jargon but I’m very interested in the polemical aspects of history and how you can debate both sides.

What was your Hertford highlight?

Oh so many highlights, too many to number. I was just recounting a very comical tutorial I had with a tutor who didn’t like me or my half-ditched essay offering very much. I actually ran for JCR President which was very funny, especially the hustings. The hustings was probably the highlight of my JCR career; we had to do all sorts of intellectually rigorous things, like hump a table to prove our aptitude for the job. With hindsight I’m glad I didn’t get it because it was far more work than I imagined.

Do you enjoy coming back to Oxford and in particular Hertford?

It’s really nice to come back and just enjoy the vibe, the beauty of the grounds and everything that kind of passes you by when you’re fretting about your next tutorial.

What made you choose music as your career path in the end?

Music very much chose me. I did what most people do when they leave University; look for applications, teacher training placements, research placements etc, none of which were yielding or particularly fruitful. Then I received a call to do a show in Singapore with a jazz reggae ensemble called Jazz Jamaica. This gave me the opportunity to go to Singapore, play music and try my hand at event organising. I received some funding to put on a jazz session which is still happening in Birmingham called the Live Box. I thought this was a perfect way to use my grey matter, play music I love and find more colourful ways to justify and present this music. I started writing as well about the type of music I wanted to make, this is good as it gave me focus. All too often I think it’s people who are non-practitioners who get to codify and explain to other people what jazz is all about and at some point in my life I would like to return to a more academic approach to explain why music and why I make what I make.

What is the best thing about playing jazz?

The great thing about jazz as an idiom, is that you don’t feel you’ve done it all – there are so many varieties of jazz. As a jazz musician you’re constantly trying to evolve and add things to the lexicon, scales, phrases – it’s really challenging as well as exciting.

What was your inspiration for The Flyover Show*, and what made you chose Birmingham as the location?

I chose the location largely because I live right next to it in Birmingham. When I started, the area only received press for negative news stories, shootings and race riots. I felt it was important to highlight that jazz musicians, poets, dancers etc lived in the area and that there is this rich vein of culture that goes un-celebrated.

*The Flyover Show is an ‘unconventional inner-city festival – lead by Soweto – which transforms the grey space beneath the Hockley Flyover into an oasis of cultural expression, celebrating generations of black British music and art’ (www.soweto-kinch.com).

Last year, your Flyover Show focused on the theme of black male identity. What made you decide on this as a topic that needs to be explored in the UK today?

The issue of black male identity again is only ever raised in the popular media in conjunction with policing crises or underachievement in schools. It was crucial to identify artists who have made a huge contribution to British identity without compromising their culture or artistic standards. Similarly in 2010, female black identity was the respective theme.

Coming from a theatrical family, did you feel that you were destined to perform?

I didn’t feel destined to perform and that’s partly the reason why I pursued an academic path at Oxford. However, my background undoubtedly set in me good stead in understanding the creative process and the energies and skills needed to perform.

You have taken part in a number of urban projects, such as The Flyover Show and the national music week initiative. Do you think it’s important to bring alternative music forms such as jazz to the masses?

It is important to evangelise more for those forms of music that don’t receive the same amounts of commercial backing as pop music. At one time jazz of course was a dominant popular genre and communicating this history as well as the power and nuances of playing an instrument is still relevant. Its also an important message to get across in music education that you can be successful in the music industry without being a star.

With your debut single, Jazz Planet, there was some issues regarding categorising your music leading to you breaking free of the commercial aspect of the industry to become an independent artist. What was it about ‘categorising creativity’ that spurred this decision?

I was never actually a commercially signed artist. I was with an independent label for a few years and have had my own label for the past four. My railings against music retailers have always been based on them hiding my music away in the specialist music section and my records not being visible to a major part of audience. The problems with ‘categorising creativity’ are huge as its always lead by financial concerns not artistic ones – how much a label has paid for racking space, or a certain form of marketing.

Your E.P, War in a Rack, came out as a response to tension you felt between artists and the commercialisation of music. Have you found that there are other artists who feel this way, and what do you think could be done to resolve it?

The War in a Rack was both a response to commercialisation but also my mission statement as it was the first thing I’d released independently. It’s never been easier for artists to own the means of production and put out their own products. Often in mainstream music the results an audience gets to hear have undergone piles of focus group research and a marketing strategy that leaves it miles away from the original vision. We now have more of an opportunity to put out our art more directly.

As an independent artist, how do you feel about today’s x factor culture? Do you think it is important to see more diversity in the acts that appear on this type of show?

It’s probably more important to let the steam run out of this peculiar brand of television entertainment and allow people themselves to request more substance in music. Much like Big Brother the formula is growing predictable and I think the audience will naturally defect unless they start programming more diversity.

You played Glastonbury in 2007, how do you find the atmosphere of the festivals compare to the smaller or more contained venues you’ve played?

I really enjoy the festival environment. The fact that there are often lots of other interesting acts in the same space gives them a unique energy. Although I’ll always enjoy intimate spaces, the shows with large crowds always bring something extra out of us as a band.

What’s next for you?

I’m currently touring less and working on a new album exploring the Seven Deadly Sins. However, the next major touring project and event is a trip to Johannesburg this March to stage a Flyover Show event there in Kliptown. I’ll also be travelling to Norway as well as a number of UK dates this spring.