That’s Jinja Safari’s Marcus Azon, ruminating on life in the band as they await the launch of their self-titled debut album on Friday May 17. The lead single, Plagiarist, is out now, and the band is about to launch a national tour in support of the album. As for how the single is travelling, “I’m not sure,” says Azon. “I had no idea. Obviously it’s not the next Somebody That I Used To Know but originally it was meant to be a B-side for the album. When it came back as a recording it was pretty clear. It’s got drums, vocals, a keyboard and a harp, that’s it. Some people we work with suggested it might be a good one to be our single and who am I to question that. I assume we’re not in the Top 40 otherwise we’d be receiving some of those cheques by now.”
The band is somewhat in limbo, a weird space in-between having completed their biggest piece of work to date and having it actually heard by old and potential new fans alike. “It’s very quiet in some ways,” says Azon. “We’re quite removed from a lot of the industry really. We have a fair number of contacts and that sort of thing but for the most part we stay a bit removed.”
And how is he feeling about the release? “It’s all pretty strategic in the way it’s been released and planned. I’m not worried because at the end of the day we’ve got a band we’re a part of, we’re very grateful, and we’re all having a lot of fun doing it. We’ve all got our individual ambitions and we’ve travelled the world twice with this band and that’s been great.
“At times there’s so much conflict,” says Azon. “That’s true in any band I’m sure; it’s just like life in general. You’ve got to accept that conflict is going to be there and it’s not as stress free as you might like. I think the friendships amongst the five of us in the band suffer at times. It’s the biggest crime of all. Alister [Roach] and I grew up wanting to do this, but this is our first real kind of shot at it although we’ve played in other bands.
“It becomes work and it isn’t very glamorous. An hour of adrenaline here and there but a lot of the time you’re sitting around in cars just talking to each other. You start to get really bored of each other’s opinions – it becomes like any work environment. The live shows are a saving grace in a way.”
Azon expects this next run of live shows will include a blend of older tracks as well as a smattering of music from the new album. “That’s one thing that separates this from other tours – we’ve got so many new songs,” says Azon. “We can’t play them all live for fear of losing the audience. We tried to play a few new songs live at the last show and even though they were getting into it, they were complaining a little bit – they wanted more songs they could sing along with. That’s a battle that every band faces I think. We’ve got a lot of music we’re excited about playing, but it’s not all going to make the live show at once. We’re wondering if we can even play it live, if we can pull it off.
“I mean we’re not a very cool band, that’s an important thing to remember. We’re happy with that, we’ve kind of not got a lot to prove. It’s not an environment where you feel you’ve got to get your cool on, our live shows, it’s not like that.”
The band, named after the town of Jinja, Uganda, where Azon’s grandmother lives, have always seemed like they have somewhat of a world music connection. “I’m not sure exactly where it stems from but it may be to do with our individual personal experiences. I grew up in rural Tasmania. We’ve got a really multicultural society here in Australia, but I grew up in a situation where I was quite confined. When I came to Sydney I learned a lot to open up to some of the difference in the world.”
BY JOSH FERGEUS
