For the last couple of years The Busy Twist have put original releases on hold and set about crafting new projects with a new label to match. With past releases on Soundway Records and The People’s Ear, their authentic imprint Busy Life reflects a restless pursuit to carve out more beats and rhythms to add to their collection of West African, South American, Caribbean and UK bass inspired fusion music. Last month they re-announced themselves on the scene with the label’s debut EP Sunny Side. It features long-time collaborator Zongo Abongo and is inspired by their ongoing trips to Ghana and the relationships they’ve built with local musicians. We talked to the minds behind the project, Ollie Twist and Oli Cole, about the evolution of their sound, their experiences crafting music overseas in Ghana and Colombia, which of their tracks have been truly popping, and some of the thinking behind their vision for borderless music intended for D-floors worldwide. What’s more the pair add a cherry on top with a beautiful mix of some of their favourite cuts and grooves from the sunny side of their travels. Read and listen below!
How did the Busy Twist come about? Tell us the story behind the collective…
Before we had established the the Busy Twist, myself (Ollie Twist) and Gabriel Benn (Tuesday Born) first went to Ghana in 2011 to produce a reggae project for an artist called Yaga Yo and also Malikia (Zongo Abongo). During the time there being exposed to so much afrobeat music and traditional highlife we were instantly hooked on the sounds and it wasn’t until Zongo Abongo suggested we try to mix their styles with our electronic uk style that it became the motive of our musical direction along with carrying this idea to bridge the gap between our cultures through music. On our second trip back we established ourselves as The Busy Twist.
Gabriel then stepped away from the project in 2015 to pursue other things but the mission continued with Zongo and I working together and taking frequent trips to Colombia and the Caribbean to broaden our sound. Recently Oli Cole [Bagheera] joined as the new member of the collective. He is behind one of the first afro bass nights in London called Kartel where we’ve been residents from the beginning.
Your tracks draw parallels to a variety of styles – from grime and uk funky to highlife to baile funk and champeta to garage. What is the concept behind this blend of soundscapes?
There is a vague concept to the mix, we try to utilise influences of folklore from whichever culture we are emerged in and fuse with our own contemporary influences, and being from the UK naturally our influences are focused around electronic music and all of those sub-genres mentioned. With all the different soundscapes and understanding of how they can fit together, when it comes to the production process we aim to create something for everyone to appreciate so we can connect people on dance floors across the world but to the same beat.
What are you guys doing day-to-day when you’re chilling in Accra?
When we come to Ghana its never really a chill haha – we try to do as much as possible with the time we have, we usually stay with our friends and set up a small home studio to create and vibe ideas then when we are ready to do something proper we will go to one of the proper studios – usually Francis Oseis’ who is a legendary drummer from Ghana!
How instrumental has Ghanaian and West-African music been in shaping some of the underground movements we see in UK’s music scene?
Over the last 5 years it has changed a lot and we are seeing a lot more of the African instrumentals and vibes be represented in the UK with artists such as Mr, Eazi, Fuse ODG, Kojo Funds, and even Ed Sheeran going to Ghana and singing in Twi so this is pretty significant in the development and growing popularity of the underground movements in the uk.
The Friday Night video captures the passion for dance in Ghana… how important is dancing not only in Ghana but it’s influence and craze-culture beyond in multicultural cities like London?
Dance is so important, it makes you feel good and it can be an honest expression of someones true self. When you look across the room and see someone cutting the most ridiculous shapes in a way they would never normally or have never done before its only the music thats brings them to this point of free expression.
Your recent Thornato remix was forged in Colombia. Tell us about how you came to build this remix?
We didn’t actually build these remixes in Colombia although we were there in spirit haha….. Thornato recorded his original track out there and asked us to do a remix for him which we were super excited about cuz we rate him as producer and artist and always play his music in our sets.
The club remix we did was the first one, then when playing back the track whilst on a Skype call to Zongo Abongo he felt similarities of the beat close to the traditional Degomba rhythms from the northern region of Ghana where he grew up and he started free-styling some ideas which sounded so crazy we had to have him voice on it! So we ended up with 2 remixes which they were happy about!
The club mix gets real ominous and takes on a different form at the end with a drop in tempo and injection of bass giving it a darker edge… what did you guys intend to do with this change of shape?
We had two ideas for the Club mix, one the more ominous and slower tempo, and the other a more uptempo dance floor ready track. We liked both versions so much we didn’t want to pick one over the other so decided to just meld them together. It’s a good track to transition between tempos during sets and also we kind of like the idea of other DJ’s playing it out getting super confused when it dips in tempo
Colombia is bubbling with musical diversity… did you find a similar vibrancy in music culture out in Bogotá and did you DJ some gigs while you were there?
There is a lot of similar vibrancy in music to Ghana, people don’t realise there are so many cultures within Colombia; from the Caribbean coast to the Pacific coast and also a really big Afro Colombian scene in an area in the middle called Palenque. And in places such as Barainquilla, champeta music is heavily influenced by Congolese Soukous and Rumba.
We have played in Bogota a few times and I have just played for Estereo Beach Festival in Cartagena on the Caribbean coast. The people are very receptive to new music, they love to dance and can salsa to anything!
Did you get to meet Lucas Silva and the legendary Palenque Records crew.. what was that like?
Yehhh Lucas is a good friend of ours and such a cool, humble guy. We met during our first trip to Colombia in 2013 and have a project with him coming later this year.
Back to some of your tunes… It’s hard to know which version of Floor Excitement is more of a D-floor banger… both must send the dancehall crazy! Which one have you had more joy including in your sets?
Haha thanks so much ! Floor Excitement is always a winner, we like to start sets off with that at the moment because the lyrics get the crowd involved and sets a nice tone. The VIP is more for special occasions, for the true connoisseur…
For the more recent Afro Carnival, it must have been cool to be involved with Beating Heart South Africa project (Using sample field recordings from the Hugh Tracy Sub-Sahara archive to build tracks in support of community projects across South Africa). How did you go about selecting your sample? And how has this late-night number gone down in the clubs?
We actually had a template idea of an instrumental already which we wanted to develop so thought could be cool to adapt that to the remix so we went through the pack to find the samples that we liked and could work in context with the basic idea we had already.
It goes down nicely, we’ve seen other DJs play it and show support like Branko recently at Jazz Café but he slowed it way down to mix with reggaeton and I was like damn maybe we should’ve have done that! It’s always the best feeling to know DJ’s we respect and look up too are also feeling our tunes.
You’re releasing your new EP Sunny Side on your own label Busy Life. What’s it like to run a record label and what’s the concept behind the name?
This is the first release from our label so we are learning as we are going but we want to build a platform for ourselves and others whose music we support and play out without the constraints of typical labels – we want to build a collection of dope music and collective of musicians. The name Busy Life came from The Busy Twist – being that what we do is not just a job but a lifestyle and the work never stops when your working for yourself but we love what we do so it’s a blessing to be busy in life for what you love.
What else is in store for the Busy Twist in 2018?
Many projects on the horizon that we’re not announcing just yet. But a hint is Labadi We’re also excited to be debuting our live show this year which has been a long time in the making so keep an eye out for that. It’s gonna be a lot of fun!
Is there any other talent toeing a similar line to you guys that you’re particularly excited about?
Yeah definitely! we have a lot of friends in the scene that are all working on exciting projects including Mina, Tony Quattro, Pedro, Hagan, Gaffaci, Tash LC to name a few.
Finally, can you tell us a bit about this mix you’ve put together for us?
This mix is definitely one to put on a Sunday afternoon or when you’re trying to go to a sunnier place. Full of the original songs we’ve sampled in our tunes over the years and ones we want to sample. Generally it’s a tribute to great African guitar music as well, which was a huge influence on our recent Sunny Side EP.
Tracklist:
1. Lord Ganda & Rupert Nurse’s Calypso Band – Ghana, Forward Forever
2. Kyeremateng Atwede & the Kyeremateng Stars – Okwantuni
3. Kalambya Boys – Kivelenge
4. Ikenga Super Stars of Africa – Shakara School Girl
5. Issa Juma – Ma Eliza (Mama Elizabeth)
6. C.K. Mann & His Carousel 7 – Asafo Beesuon / Obaa Yaa Aye Me Bone (Medley Edit)
7. Tabu Ley Rochereau – Kaful Mayay
8. Sir Victor Uwaifo – Guitar Boy
9. A. B. Crentsil – Ehurisi
10. Tchico Tchicaya & Le Groupe Kilimandjaro – Soukous Machine
11. Urbano de Castro – Kia Lomingo
12. Dina Bell – Mbelba iyo
13. Marehamu George Mukabi – Bibi mama Ngani Mzuri
14. Jairos Jiri Sunrise Kwela Band – Take Cover
15. Kyeremateng – I Go Die For You
16. Bhundu Boys – Kachembere
17. Pearson Kapeni – Akazi
18. Paulson Kalu Afrikhanah & His Stars 25 – Ochea Special
Order your copy of Sunny Side EP (+ the grooviest cushions and towels!!) here.
Follow the new label Busy Life here.
And if you’d like to dive deeper into their key inspirations, check out this wikid Busy Twist – Journey Through Sound feature on Hyponik.
Many thanks to The Busy Twist.