It seemed like the side projects most of the group enjoyed during Bloc Party’s hiatus gave them a renewed purpose. Bass player Gordon Moakes formed post-hardcore outfit Young Legionnaire, guitarist Russel Lissack signed up for a tour as part of Ash’s live band and put out an album with Pin Me Down, and Okereke had his solo album, The Boxer, and then its follow-up EP, The Hunter. He also became a DJ, which is what brings him back to Australia this time – he’ll be doing a DJ set at the Prince Bandroom. Okereke’s described these sideline activities as being like affairs, but he means it in a good way – they make him appreciate what he’s got waiting for him back home.
It hasn’t been that long since Okereke was in Australia with Bloc Party; it was for Future Music Festival in 2013 that took in all of Australia’s major cities. He now recounts a humorous anecdote from the tour – well, humorous for everyone except Bloc Party drummer, Matt Tong. “I remember our drummer got mistaken for PSY at a nightclub in Adelaide and he got really offended.”
However, it is not just being a touring artist that consumes Okereke’s time; a few years ago he got to write an ‘Indie Sex Doctor’ column for TheGuardian. He now talks about his time as a sex guru, “I like telling people what to do in sticky situations – I’m a real busy body. I’d totally love to do it again.”
When listening to Okereke’s creative output, whether it be via Bloc Party or Kele, one gets the impression that he is very much a creature of zeitgeist, continually ingesting his environment and then spitting back as an intelligent yet stark interpretation of ‘life’ via the microphone. A song that offers another string to his many bows is Release Me from Kele’s The Hunter EP (2011). This track fuses post-dubstep with the Manchester calypso of Happy Mondays, and casts Okereke vocally in an indiscernible realm of emotional ambiguity that challenges the listener to ask, ‘Is he happy, is he sad, is he angry, is he in love?’
Okereke’s most recent studio output has been with Bloc Party, and it was the The Nextwave Sessions that came out in August with many a pundit stating that his foray into electronic production has resulted it a new direction for the band. Okereke talks about this release and discusses its relevance to the Marvel Comic series that influenced one of the songs. “The Nextwave Sessions was just an image I had whilst we were recording. The only track with any Marvel affiliation is the ‘X-Cutioner’s Song’ which was a crossover storyline that ran in early ’90s.”
Finally Okereke discusses what goes into one of his much praised DJ sets. “You have a basic outline, but that always goes out the window when you start to play. A good performance is a two-way thing; you feed off the energy you are given and then you funnel it back into the crowd.” He goes onto explain that the motivation that goes into each of his sets is quite selfish, “I get a kick out of keeping myself interested. That’s the only thing I really care about.”
BY JODY MACGREGOR & DENVER MAXX
