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?UESTIONS: K15

K15's musical catalogue is an eclectic journey of jazz, broken beat, hip hop, soul and dance. His thematic beats and soulful melodies exemplify a raw and full-hearted production. Known for dance-floor, chill out and thought provoking music, each track embodies sincerity, warmth and light.  




How long have you been making music and what is your inspiration?

Been making music for 20 years and then some. My inspiration? Life, music, frustration, fear, limitations - all the things that come from being alive I guess but the toughest experiences and the harshest feelings always  leave a greater impact.

Are you musically trained or self-taught? Do you think it makes a difference? 

Pretty much self-taught. It can make a difference for sure, you have gaps in your knowledge and there can be a lack of self-belief, like you are just bluffing your way through it all.


What equipment do you use, does this help enhance the mood and atmosphere of your music?

MPC 2000xl, Nord Electro 3, Reason software and lots of records. Software is limitless but any external sounds always come with their own character. 


What era of music do you draw your inspiration from?

I try to listen to a lot of different music from different times, so no one era is my main inspiration.

Has technology and the internet influenced music in a good or bad way? 

Music has been influenced for sure. There is greater access for us to make music, to express ourselves if we feel inclined to. We can find such an array of music now, we have the majority of all recorded music at our fingertips - so much to learn and appreciate but because we have access to so much for little to no cost, the intrinsic value of music often goes unrecognised or discarded.

What is the message in your music?

Less of a message and more of a reminder to myself perhaps.

Is there any wisdom you can share for up and coming producers?

No wisdom but things that serve me well are to learn your tools/instruments/machines, create when you can but above all, ENJOY IT!




C*LTURE: Umoja



The village of Umoja which means ‘unity’ in Swahili - is a guarded sanctuary for women only.  First founded in 1990 for 15 women who were raped by British soldiers. Now the village has grown and flourished into a safe community for women who are trying to escape an abusive situation. Genital mutilation, sexual assault, domestic violence or child marriage.

 

Located in Samburu, northern Kenya, the Samburu people are closely related to the Maasai Tribe. There are around 50 women, along with roughly 200 children. Once the male children reach the age of 18 they must leave the village. 


The elders educate the women and girls from surrounding Samburu villages on issues such as early marriage and female genital mutilation. Under the ‘tree of speech’, women gather to make decisions. The community live a humble and safe life under the protection of each other.





ART!ST: Wayne Snooze

Illustrator Wayne Snooze has an impressive way of exhibiting culture, people and places in his body of work. His raw talent, attentive eye and artistic way produces captivating, 'real-life' 'real-people'.

Wayne Snooze's art is refreshing, shining a bright light on people who are not portrayed in the media, or celebrated for their beauty. Culturally, Wayne breaks down social norms and stereotypical ideology.


He has wonderfully created a series of images that questions perception, which asks us to think about the judgements we make on someone before taking the time to understand them or the situation.



What inspires you to create?

That’s difficult, I think it’s a control thing, it’s something I like to do, I used to read a lot of comics when I was very young and I wanted to draw like those guys so I started drawing and haven’t stopped, I want to get better.


As far as themes go, I want to create pictures that are relatable, there’s a lot of stereotypes around which can be helpful when communicating an idea but generally they’re lazy.



What role does the artist have in society?

This is a big question, I think that’s up to the individual, for me it’s to offer a different narrative than what the mainstream is offering. Mainstream culture is often a watered down version of a section of reality, I don’t want to perpetuate that if possible.




If your artwork were music, what would it sound like?

That’s easy, Jazz fusion, some Funk laced with Jazz, like a late 70’s Sesame Street cartoon, or Fritz the cat, Ed Bogas, Roy Ayers, Vince Guaraldi. I suppose I grew up with that stuff.


What is your process to creating a piece of art/project?

I suppose it depends on the projects but generally I use photos’ as reference, I go out and take pics, sometimes I’ll use a magazine image for inspiration and jump off from there. I’ll do rough sketches from the photo and create a composition which is all done on paper, people forget that stuff exists. I scan it into my computer and sharpen it with Photoshop, then take it over to an illustrator to colour it. That's how I do the digital work, other times I may get an idea or an inspiration from a real life situation, observation, or maybe have a discussion that explores the idea further and decide on a medium that will get that idea across. Sometimes it’s a gag comic strip or a highly rendered pencil or Biro drawing.



Do you have a favourite medium?

Yeah, I like pencil and Indian ink on paper, that’s it.



What does your art represent? What are the messages you would like to express?

My Art represents regular people, our experiences have value but we spend so much time trying to align with celebrities which make us feel insecure and our lives seem inferior but what we do is enough, celebrities use the toilet, get sick, watch TV, like we do and if there is any message it’s a simple one, be yourself.





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