Eno Williams is the lead singer of Ibibio Sound Machine who, along with other acts including Young Fathers will be creating original scores for a series of Basquiat inspired short films for a special one-off night in 2018. The event, called ‘Video Jam x Basquiat’, coincides with the first large-scale exhibition of Jean Michel Basquiat’s work in the UK currently on at the Barbican in London - Basquiat: Boom For Real. In an wide ranging interview Eno covers Basquiat, what Ibibio is and spirituality plus much, much more. Read on and enjoy!

Jayson Mansaray: You're scoring a short film for ‘Video Jam x Basquiat’ – what can you tell us about your score and the film it goes with?

Eno Williams: We are trying to bring the African tone of Basquiat's work to our interpretation of the film. It feels from the visuals that the film-maker is leading us towards that and we're trying to respond by picking up on the Afro-centric current that runs through his shots and interpreting that musically.

Video Jam x Basquiat - New York Residency from Video Jam on Vimeo.

Jayson: I feel like Jean-Michel Basquiat should have been my lifelong friend and mentor, what does he mean to you?

Eno: His work embodies a sense of freedom and also captured a moment in time that artistically we feel very inspired by and connected to.

Jayson: I loved seeing Basquiat at the Mud Club, all his source material and intimate videos with Andy Warhol - what did you think of the ‘Basquiat: Boom For Real’ exhibition?

Eno: It was a great exhibition. It felt quite surreal being in a room full of his work. It felt like being transported to the future even though a lot of his work was created so long ago. He was really ahead of his time and such a genius.

Jayson: Basquiat rose to the pantheons of the arts world when it was still very white dominated - do you think the arts have become more democratic regarding class and race?

Eno: I think creativity is open to everyone regardless of colour or race. It might not have always been evenly represented, but when you do something that no one else is doing it makes you stand out and it takes someone to pave the way for others, which I think is what happened in Basquiat's case. Perhaps he was a watershed artist.

Jayson: For somebody who might not know of you and 'Ibibio Sound Machine' - what is ‘Ibibio’ and how is it used in your music?

Eno: Ibibio is a Nigerian tribe and a dialect which is my mother tongue. It's the language I've chosen to write my music in as I find it best expresses what I want to say musically.

Jayson: Who/what are the different parts of the ‘Ibibio Sound Machine’?

Eno: We're a band made up of 8 people, Alfred Bannerman (guitar), Anselmo Neto (percussion), Jose Joyette (drums), Derrick McIntyre (bass), Tony Hayden (trombone/synth), Scott Baylis (trumpet/synth), Max Grunhard (saxophone) and myself on vocals.

Jayson: Is the creative process difficult or fraught with contributions coming from lots of different parts of the ‘Machine’?

Eno: I wouldn't say it's difficult – we have fun – and when we do get the chance to sit around being creative, if anything we suffer from having too many ideas and generally need to get rid of loads of them to come up with something coherent!

Jayson: How has religion and spirituality informed your music and what you do?

Eno: Spirituality and faith are elements of life I've grown up around, being able to have faith and be hopeful is a conscious mindset that I choose. These feature in what I write, I believe in positive messages of hope. It's incredible how an uplifting song can transform a situation. I hope we can continue to make music that is both inspiring and uplifting.

Jayson: You are a women who straddles two cultures - do you feel people have misconceptions about what ‘African’ music is or can be?

Eno: I think African music has been around for awhile and is doing fine regardless of conceptions... if anything, I'd say a lot that has been forgotten is slowly beginning to be re-understood.

Jayson: Looking at artists of African origin could you give me: an influence, an idol and a dream collaborator?

Eno: There are a few but I must say Angelique Kidjo was probably one of the first African artists I listened to and she paved the way for bridging the music of Africa and the West. Grace Jones is another idol. Dream collaborator? There are different ones all the time depending on what we've been listening to. This week I've been listening to A Certain Ratio thinking they sound pretty amazing.

Jayson: What else do you have coming up that we should be putting in the diary? 

Eno: Well, we have a bunch of festival spots coming in for next year and we're particularly excited that it looks like we'll be returning to do some touring in the US in April.

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‘Video Jam x Basquiat’ 

Sunday 28 January 2018 / 20:00

Tickets £17.50 – £22.50 plus booking fee

Barbican Hall