Meet SuperJazzClub: The Ghanaian Collective Doing it All
So much goes into the making of a breakout star. From the right production, to high quality visuals and the art of difference -it's not easy to hit that sweet spot as an emerging artist. Artists who rely on those closest to them to build their brand is not a new concept-but Ghanaian creative collective SuperJazzClub has really taken this to the next level.
Consisting of 6 musicians and 3 others who work off the record (in their respective fields of fashion, photography, filmmaking and production) the collective has leveraged all of their individual creativity to come together in way that is unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.
“It’s always great to have more hands-on deck, we believe we go the furthest when we operate as a collective. It’s amazingly resourceful to have a 9-squad team, we tend to rely and learn from each other a lot” they share.
With a unique sound and alté aesthetic in tow, the collective's Instagram bio reads: “Please don’t tell your friends about us”. Off the back of their first hit for 2020 Bordeaux , SuperJazzClub recently followed this up with a 6 track EP titled “For All The Good Times”- and they let me know that there's more on the way.
Striking the perfect balance between underground and revered is the next goal for the talented group-more of which they unpack in our full interview below.
This interview has been lightly edited for the purpose of clarity and context.
Jade Kelly: It’s been quite difficult to prepare for this interview-the information about who you guys are is quite limited! So break it down for me- Who is SuperJazzClub and who are the people that bring it to life?
SJC: The SuperJazzClub is a creative centric collective made up of 6 artistes (@obedworld, @biqomusic, @findseyyoh, @AnsahLive, @Iam_joeyturks, @tanojackson) and 3 [working BTS] (@paaqwesiorleans, @olivernortt, @GloriiiaDenniiiss).
Our interests cut across different creative areas. From music, film making, Djing, photography, fashion to name a few. We are most likely going to try other things if we develop interests for them.
Why the decision to operate as a collective instead of individually?
It’s always great to have more hands-on deck, we believe we go the furthest when we operate as a collective. It’s amazingly resourceful to have a 9-squad team, we tend to rely and learn from each other a lot in our respective know-hows and the output is always great. We still do operate as individual entities as well.
Most importantly, all of this happened naturally. We go way back as friends and so coming together to create eventually was going to happen anyway.
How would you describe your sound?
Our music isn’t bound by any genre, we usually create in the moment, our mood determines what we make. Our mantra is to be as experimental as we can, ergo we do not plan on boxing ourselves to be a genre specific collective. However, over the last few months we’ve made electronic, folk, indie type stuff, hip hop, reggae, dance, RnB, and it keeps going.
How long have you guys been working on your latest EP, “For All The Good Times”?
Well, the thought of putting out this EP came about Summer of 2019, which caused us to hold on to an LP we were making at the time. We had just one single out and there was definitely the urge to put out new music, but we had to go to the drawing board and iron out a lot of things and that has worked out perfectly. A year later we released this project and for us, it was definitely worth the wait.
What do you hope to gain from this project?
A fleet of fast cars.…Just kidding, or maybe not (lol). Well, our ultimate goal is to reach us many people as our music can get to and to showcase our creativity to the world. Regardless of our current setting, we try to not be limited by any sort of barrier from our race, geographical borders or language, the sky is big enough to accommodate countless stars and we’re definitely hoping on the next ride to downtown ‘Galaxy Avenue’.
How much support do you have as emerging creatives in Ghana?
The creative scene is gradually growing in Ghana and people are beginning to pay attention to the different sounds coming out for the country, outside of just mainstream music (All praise to the internet). A few years ago, creating like we do would’ve been cultural appropriation but now so much has changed and so many lines are being blurred out.
What’s next for you guys?
We are about to do a few live shows in Accra, so if you’re in the city, you know what’s up!
We are already gearing up to release new music and are also working on venturing into other areas of the creative universe, a few collaborations with other artists so yeah, it’s about to be a packed next few months.
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