XMUNASHE
Anthony Philip | Music Editor
XMUNASHE
Anthony Philip | Music Editor
XMUNASHE
Love Want Radio x XMUNASHE
OK FANS // TURN THE AUDIO ON THE IMAGE BELOW // LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW // INDULGE // GET HEDONISTIC WITH IT // BE BEWITCHED // LISTENING IS GOOD FOR YOUR SOUL
“Home is friends and family, home is connecting with humans .. like minded or not.
Certain music can speak to the feelings of being human that haven’t been
articulated yet”
Is how the Last Sonic Bender aka as XMUNASHE responded to the idea of how
home and music connect in ones feelings. For musicians especially those always
around the globe, I feel that the sense of home can be lost which can be crucial to
music. A sense of home can become a slippery thing, but perhaps when you can
make a new world every time you play, home becomes a little more fluid. And well
sonically bending is exactly what Munashe does; a brilliant mind; a Picasso of
sound; rejects the majority of conventional music in modern times. Soley relying on
spontaneity and his band of sonic benders; Munashe is a once in a generation
artist. At helm is le capitaine Munashe with one goal in mind; taking you somewhere
you didn’t realise you needed to go, but one you will remember and chase forever.
Each set live improvised on the spot; literally just jamming in real time. From then till
forever this is the only way into Munashe’s world. Rather than prescribing to the trad
music routes releasing music, chasing streams, building an audience and that whole
blueprint he built a following through word of mouth. You had to hear about the
show, get yourself there and experience whatever happened that night. The only
constant to expect was change but the premise remains the same. You can’t arrive
expecting an exact repeat of something you’ve already seen.
I would do some crazy things to have been in the studio watching artists like
Coltrane stretch an idea in real time or seeing out Thievery Corporation unveil some
sort of futuristic alchemy because that is where the real magic happens; no fuckery,
no perfectionism just real time music. And well for us luckily; that is the only way
Munashe would like us to see him.
Just remember what Miles Davis professed “I’ll play it and tell you what it is later”; a
fitting resemblance for one like Munashe who has taken this gospel and deleted the
follow up; forging a new identity of what music can be; without giving you the
manifesto. You may try to analyse it or intellectualise it but you can only truly
experience it full scope, therein lies the magic of XMUNASHE < THE SONIC
BENDER
AP
A lot of your music seems to exist in the space between knowing what you’re going to do and discovering it while you’re doing it. What does instinct know that planning doesn’t?
XMUNASHE
Everyroom you play has a different energy, every crowd that comes to experience the show has a different mood and feeling. Instinctual playing allows you to cater an experience that’s unique and makes sense for whatever situation you’re in! If we busk in the middle of Sydney city we’re going to play a way different set to our own headline show where the environment and everything has been catered for a “deeper experience”. The goal is always to provoke thoughts/feelings in people through the music .. we have to be flexible to get that done in different scenarios. Instinctual playing keeps us in the moment with nothing to rely on as well. We’re good enough musicians that there should be a risk every time we play if that makes sense.. how boring for world class musicians to have a safety net of a rehearsed show. Instinct allows you to play to the context of wherever you are. Playing instinctively means the music we make is also new to us and we’re experiencing it at the same time as the audience.. no muscle memory to rely on this creates a genuine exciting energy!
AP
There’s a huge volume of physicality about improvisation. You’re responding to the room, the people, the other musicians, your own body. Can you feel a room changing the music while you’re inside it; how does that further build into they way you improvise
XMUNASHE
I answered 2 in question 1 as wells
AP
What’s the difference between chaos and freedom when you’re making music?
XMUNASHE
I don’t know.. chaos is noise, playing for the sake of playing, a lack of chemistry between the musicians. Freedom is unbound by any rules yet still sounds excellent, can still have a harmony amongst everyone involved in making the sound.. freedom is unpredictable. Chaos is noise for the sake of noise I guess. Even though we improvise and it seems loose.. the people I pang with are genuinely the best musicians in the world hence why it’s work and doesn’t even seem improvised most of the time. Not everyone can do this.
AP
There’s a recurring idea in your work of making yourself at home wherever you are. What actually makes a place feel like home to you, and can music create that feeling?
XMUNASHE
Home is friends and family, home is connecting with humans .. like minded or not. Certain music can speak to the feelings of being human that haven’t been articulated yet
AP
Your shows have happened in studios, warehouses, festivals, the Opera House and all kinds of unconventional spaces. How much does the architecture of a room become part of the composition?
XMUNASHE
The architecture of a room is so important. The size of it.. the speakers of the venue everything effect how you play. Are the drums mic’s properly? Is there a subwoofer? We’ve played in tiny rooms that were rigged out and sounded like a stadium so we played a crazy high energy show.. we’ve also played on some shitty speakers in an intimate room and perhaps played a more chill deeper show. You gotta read the room, you gotta have an understand of how the people in the room feel too,, then you have to trust your ability as the captain to take people on an experience they need and haven’t been yet.