When we found out that Ari Joshua had just released an almost twenty minute long opus called Kambo Wambo, it peaked our curiosity and we simply had to know more about the visionary artist who is one of the most active composers in music today.
We have previously featured a slew of his collaborative releases, and Kambo Wambo is yet another refined and surrealist experience. It features an Afrobeat groove and psychedelic artwork bringing to life the cohesive and expansive nature of Ari Joshua‘s artistry, whilst tapping into his South African heritage.
For the opus, guitarist Ari teamed up with drummer Russ Lawton, and keyboardist Ray Paczkowski, collectively known as the RAAR Trio, to deliver the polyrhythmic guitar-based piece.
We learn that Kambo Wambo is “a reflection on psychedelic plant medicine, where the boundaries of perception give way to the sounds of cosmic symphony. In this musical odyssey, the Afrobeat style becomes a vessel for such a journey, reaching melodically towards the sky, rooted in essences of ancient rhythms.”
As we mentioned earlier, we wanted to learn more about the composer’s mindset, and in turn to celebrate the release of Kambo Wambo, we had the chance to ask Ari Joshua some questions, to which he shared some inspirational depth.
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Hey Ari, we’ve featured a few of your compositions to date and love the dimensional nature of what you create. Please tell us more about what inspires you sonically?
Sonically, I studied all my favorite artists and after many hours of that I began to trust my own intuition, and create from the heart. I have had these transcendental moments that kind of point the way. Unfortunately I cannot share what those are like in words. But I can tell you that there is something inspiring me, it gives me real tangible sensations that give me clues. Even when it is not there, I still recall what it was saying. Sometimes I get distracted a bit along the way. I appreciate that you dig the dimensional nature of my music. You know, when one studies music, like really deeply, one finds there are a lot of the laws that govern music that overlap with a lot of the laws of nature and even spirituality. If you really love something though, it finds its way onto the canvas. I strive to connect with anything I can that resembles the source, and to create from the heart. I try to put myself in situations with players that are more experienced than I am. Regardless, the big picture is that the force of energy behind this life we are in is the greatest inspiration. I try to tap into that. The notes, they are all already there. Having said that it’s important to spend time in this world as well, I get inspired by hanging out with family, traveling, sitting on beaches, listening to rivers ramble, and walking in forests. There’s a little kid in my life right now, and that just fills the heart, investing in the youth is really rewarding.
What do you feel that your purpose in music is?
My purpose with music is constantly shifting. I think anyone that lives in the pursuit of a dream just learns an incredible amount along the way. It’s always been to echo or to carry on the works of those truly masterful artists from the past. To learn from them, and carry the conversation forward. First it was to witness, then to study, then it was to teach, now it is more about truly being, and being present and learning about life. When you serve a force like music, you kind of bend your knees, and do whatever the music seems to want you to do. I spent 15 years just teaching, and playing, and building a music school for the next generation to have a resource. At a certain point, the purpose has just become being a human who is trying to be better, learning the lessons life is giving, and embracing the challenges instead of trying to run from them. There is alot to that question, the purpose seems to be something that evolves, and shifts. I guess the purpose is to play, to listen, and to be heard, to share.
How do you manage so many collaborative projects at the same time?
I have always been good at turning the creative faucet on. Since I was 13 it’s been practicing, writing, and preparing. A collaborative project is my favorite of all the ways to serve the music, I will welcome a good collaborative project any day. I have been collaborating with some folks on putting a garden into our walkway at The Music Factory. You can learn a lot about managing projects from plants. Plants mature at their own pace, a garden evolves over years, it adapts to the seasons, and while you may have an idea of its potential, at some point one must sow the seeds, and tend to the soil. The collaborations are like that. When you collaborate, you have to work within the parameters of the other artists. With plants, certain plants like varied amounts of shade or sun, & different amounts of water, or soil types, but when it works the miracle of nature is just miraculous. I live for the opportunity to manage collaborations. I try to stay open to possibilities, and to have enough material ready so that when a collaboration comes to fruition, I can jump in and be ready to create. When the collaboration is happening you want to be present to let it have its own life. It’s a bit like raising a kid. By the time the release is done and out there, it’s like a 20 year old out in the world. Now its journey begins. Managing projects is about doing a lot of behind the scenes work, and having a lot of patience, knowing when to take a rest, when to put time into certain works, and when to start new ones. A lot of it is intuition.
What do you consider your musical superpowers?
My magical super power is the ability to really focus and lose myself in the moment. Tuning into the moment and tapping into the energy of what’s speaking to me. When an idea comes to me, it usually comes as a complete thought. I love it, but I can sort of tell this is different from most people, so I guess it is a super power. I grew up playing chess. I used to enjoy the fact that I could think several moves ahead at a time. With creativity, I can have a concept, it can come in a complete snapshot. If it was to be boiled down to a few words, foresight, instinct, sincerity.
We love your Grateful Dead covers, what inspires you about the band to reimagine their work?
I’ve been a deadhead for a long long time. It was a bit easier to jump into Jerry’s shows then some of the material I was aiming for. After trying to sound like John Coltrane, Charlie Christian, Joe Pass, or Miles Davis, Jimi Hendrix, or John Mcloughlin, Jerry was an easier target. I also saw that playing Dead was more efficient then playing be-bop when it came to making a tribe.
With The Bunker Sessions, having John Kimock on the session made it a quick decision to track these two songs Help On the Way, and Eyes Of the World. In talking to Bassist Andy Hess and Drummer John Kimock about what material we may track, initially we planned some rehearsal time, but in NY it’s just a jungle in there, but I felt a lot of my originals would need more work to capture. Andy mentioned he would be comfortable with these songs, and John has been playing them since high school as well. If you don’t know them, you should check out all the folks I collaborate with. But John (Kimock), is a part of why I chose to re-imagine these. He plays with Mike Gordon from Phish and Otiel Burbridge from Dead and Co.Those are like dream gigs for me, but I also love John’s own productions and his playing is just incredible, he’s got the magic, I just knew I was gonna work with him, and he was really wonderful to play with. I had a few songs of my own, and we jammed a bunch, but these tunes are a great way to lock in right away. I really want to work with all these cats from the jam scene. I’d love to play with Burbrige and Gordon, and there are alot of great musicians in the Jam scene. I would love to collaborate or tour with a lot of those players.. If they are listening to this, hit me up, and in general if you are looking to collaborate, offer me a plane ticket and some parameters, I am down. Andy Hess, and Eden Ladin also just did it for me on this session – it was a total treat to make this music.
I write alot, there’s a lot of music we have released via Music Factory Records that is original music. Maybe 95% of the music I put out is my own music. I think up to 20% covers is ok for me if it is in the spirit of connecting. I emulated a lot of great players though, I would rather reimagine than out right copy. I learned a lot from the masters note for note, but I aim to be my own voice when I play. I have taught a lot of people how to emulate the greats. In fact my lessons often consist of asking students what they love, what speaks to them. In my sessions, we listen to stuff they like, and I break it down. If you asked any of my students you would hear that theme as being a common thread. I think just as is the case with all evolution, we have inherited all that has come before. It’s just amazing to think about being alive right now, how much there is to draw from. When I do cover an artist, The Dead is high up on that list. Outside of The Bunker Sessions, I see deadheads as a particular breed of listeners, there’s a healthy intersection between a respect for great musicianship, and a desire to be taken on a journey with the music .There’s a lot of deeper reasons, but it’s like playing a card game everyone knows, when everyone speaks the language, the table is leveled, and you can just play. If you like a certain sport, fans of that sport can watch and enjoy anyone playing it if it’s played well.
How do you feel about the current climate for music artists?
On the bright side, it’s relatively easy to get distribution, and it’s relatively easy for those that want to get in on the ground floor. The information you need is all out there and searchable, and there seems to be a changing of the guard starting to come into effect. I see a lot of young artists making a lot of headway and there are opportunities now that were hard to get 10 years ago. There’s a lot to be optimistic about, there is a lot of room to improve things. I really try to stay positive and focus on one thing at a time. I own a music school, which means I have the absolute honor of giving music artists paychecks each month. The whole thing started with me in one room in a building and it just grew organically. What I wish for, I really hope that ALL artists as dedicated as myself, full time hard working artists, could qualify and afford to buy a house and put our families in there and put our kids through college with the support of a fan base, or a better climate, and functioning system. I would love to be able to tell young aspiring artists that as long as they put in a full week’s work, 50 weeks a year, they could have a great life not just by doing something meaningful, but by financial standards as well. All in all though, to be able to wake up with a clear conscience, and contribute something as beautiful as music to the world, that’s invaluable. You are asking me to speak to the climate of the music world, when I compare it to that of say tech workers, service industry workers, and folks with jobs that account for inflation. Aspects of the climate for music artists in some ways is still similar to what it was 30-50 years ago, and while there is a lot of promise and evolution, there is a lot that needs to be re-imagined.. From experience I can tell you a serious musician in 2023 needs to be a CEO and be willing to work for intern pay. On the local level, I am expected to be a promoter, a copywriter, a communications expert, a marketer, a project manager, a mixing engineer, a video editor, a composer, a performer, a publicist, a product developer and more. The labels had these systems in place. I am really grateful there are areas that are increasingly sustainable, teaching for example has been a great equalizer, I know folks that have landed in great places with licensing, & publishing. I can’t get started though, I may never stop, next question.
What is next for Ari Joshua?
What is next for me is more music. I want to shift focus into making better use of my time, and doing more of the things I really love about music. I hope to grow my music school, The Music Factory. If you are reading this, consider signing up for music lessons! We have a ton of great teachers available at our location, and we are online for anyone anywhere. We just purchased the building we are in with the help of two people you may know who believe in what we do. I want to give thanks to the community, keep building on that, teaching kids, and improving what we offer them. Always.
I also will keep growing the label, Music Factory Records and building a catalog. I hope to do more licensing/publishing. I would love to write for adult swim, or netflix, or for an orchestra. I also have some ideas for developing surround sound, & audio visual elements. I hope to also write a book, I have been through so much, so much stuff no one knows about. My life has taught me many lessons, and I aim to help others by sharing my truth. I have about 40 or so songs that need mixing and mastering, there’s a lot of work to do, I am really proud of the work I do. I wanna keep improving the way I communicate and work with others. I wanna be the best I can be. I really hope I can connect with people. I hope I can stay in good health and keep building. I would love to tour, and play in all the different areas of these 50 states. I wanna realize my potential, and share it with others.
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We are honoured to have had such an in depth chat with Ari Joshua, and naturally, we have added Kambo Wambo to our playlist. You can also sign up to The Music Factory by clicking here.