New Zealand’s Muroki apologises as soon as he joins our Friday afternoon Zoom call. Having just returned from Europe, the 21-year-old is fighting a heavy bout of jetlag. Was it worth it though? “Oh yeah! It was a nice balance of making and writing music and just chilling out, eating croissants, and drinking wine and beer,” he laughs. It definitely sounds like the perfect trip, especially for an artist about to release his second EP, ‘Heading East’.
A blend of musical influences, including pop, indie, reggae and world music, the project is a collection of experiences the Kenyan-New Zealand artist has had over the past three years. “I think about it like snapshots; every project is just a snapshot of what you’re up to at that time,” he muses. I mention that creating a follow-up is often a tougher task for artists than a debut project, and Muroki agrees. “It’s been a mission. Trying to put everything into the EP was quite tough, just because it is such a broad range of different genres and influences,” he says. “Making it a cohesive project was quite hard.”
As many artists find, it can also be a challenge to make older tracks fit with newer ones, as songwriting and production styles develop. “Working with the different development in my writing was kind of interesting, but overall it was great. I had such a fun time making it, it was awesome,” he assures me. As a listener, any struggle in making a cohesive EP isn’t evident. Even the piano-led slow jam “Nairobi” moves into the upbeat “Up In The Air” seamlessly. The tracks flow smoothly into one another, despite canvassing many genres.
This genre-hopping is one of Muroki’s many strengths and one that he seems to enjoy honing. Having travelled around the world after writing ‘Heading East’, he’s been able to notice the different influences that play into his tracks. “When I was writing in Australia, that sound is an Australian sound. I went to America and I was doing some sessions over there, and it’s all American RnB/soul kind of sounds. And then I went to Berlin, and I was working with a British producer, and I was like, this just sounds almost kind of garage-like,” he explains.
“Now I’ve just given up a little on planning for that. I’m going to make whatever I want.”
Muroki’s work is a cultural melting pot, inevitably inspired by who he’s in the studio with. “Different people have different kinds of ways of producing, and when you’re working together, their influences get mixed up into it as well.” When asked if he considers how he will translate the mix styles and genres into a live setting, he says: “I used to think like that. Now I’ve just given up a little on planning for that. I’m going to make whatever I want.” He believes his band is good enough to go with it, and views it as a bit of a challenge for them. “I’m going to make it as hard as possible, and you’re just going to have to figure it out,” he laughs. “They’re all crazy good musos though, good jazz musicians!”
He also tries to keep the audience on their toes, by making every show different from the last. Most recently, he’s begun venturing into the world of backing tracks: “It’s been really interesting to me because I’ve always played just straight, just guitars.” With new production has come the need to introduce new instrumentation, as some of it is quite hard to replicate. “These interesting sounds, they’re quite important in the songs,” he says.
There’s also a need to keep fans engaged. “Growing up as an artist in New Zealand, it’s quite small. You might do maximum eight shows across the whole country,” he says. “If you’re doing that consistently, every year, you don’t want people to just be like, ‘I’ve seen that’” he continues. Muroki sees this as an opportunity for constant improvement, and a reason to keep making the shows bigger and better.
He’s also got his sights set on more overseas stages. “We did a show in LA, which was really cool, and I really want to do more,” he says. “I’d love to get over to Europe as well, and then play some more in Australia — just pushing it further than New Zealand a little bit.” Despite the jetlag, he’s picked up the travel bug, in part thanks to a European fan. “I was in Berlin, and I was walking down the street and I got recognised, which was pretty cool for me! I’m like, Alright, I gotta get over there and play”. I know now that there are people listening over there!”
Check out “Heading East” by Muroki below:
Images by James Simpson.