By Tilly Mason
I met electronic producer and songwriter Tony Njoku in Kentish Town’s MAP Studio Café. Hot chocolate in hand, he eagerly asked me about my degree, offering dissertation advice and discussing his own experience studying Music at Falmouth, as well as recommending venues in London (Avalon Café and Bold Tendencies!). We spent most of the discussion focusing on Njoku’s creative process, inspirations and the themes his work tackles.
Njoku perfectly encapsulates the characteristics of London’s varied music scene. His sound ranges from calming washes of synth to dark, theatrical pop, to hip-hop beats, all foregrounded by his warm vocals. I saw Njoku play at the Old Blue Last in Shoreditch supported by Cil and Gal Go Grey: two other emerging London-based talents. Njoku outlined the capital’s influence on his work through the quality it produces: “It’s a global city so [it’s] going to attract a lot of talent”, whether that be in the realm of music, art, or fashion. Njoku’s involvement with various creative communities is visible through his outlook on music and the imagery he draws from.
“You want your imagination to come out as authentically as possible”, he said on his songwriting process. Like solving a puzzle, he sees making music as a way “to realise yourself fully in the world”, which manifests itself through journaling, reading and making art simultaneously to music. This personal immersion in songwriting makes Njoku’s music so captivating: its fluidity reflects the unrestrictive nature of his creative process. Live, the seamless melding together of soft, lulling songs like his latest release ‘The Reset’ with intense, dancier songs like ‘DEATH BY DIMITRI’ in one set highlights Njoku’s range, bound together by his unique voice and his work’s emotive quality. It’s clear that Njoku writes with a “strong sense of what [he] want[s] to say”.
Further linking art with music, themes of light and colour are central to Njoku’s music. His first album, ‘In Greyscale’, focuses on light and shade, followed by ‘H.P.A.C.’, revolving around calmness and the colour pink, to his most recent album ‘YOUR PSYCHE’S RAINBOW PANORAMA’. The stage of the Old Blue Last was lit red for Njoku’s set, letting the texture and vibrancy of his sound shine through. Crafting lyrics out of dreams, poems and philosophical texts, Njoku’s conscious effort to “create a new reality” opens up the possibilities for music as a way to reimagine the mental and physical spaces we occupy.
While Njoku mentioned that he is currently listening to electronic artists like Lyra Pramuk, Loraine James and L’Rain, he mainly enjoys classical music, citing Nils Frahm, Johann Johannsson and Oliver Coates as well as Brahms and Bach as his favourites. His vocal influences range from Nina Simone to Anohni – an eclectic mix of references that reflects Njoku’s talent for blending genres so naturally.
As I paid for our drinks, Njoku reached into his bag, kindly producing various coins. His response to my comment that he had already compensated me with time was “I like to be busy!” And he’s not wrong – he’s always playing shows around London so there is no excuse not to check him out live! He is easily found on Spotify, Bandcamp and Soundcloud as well as all social media.
hello! I’m Tilly, a third year geography student. I am mostly interested in (/ obsessed with) music, films and art – my faves include big black, andrei tarkovsky and leonora carrington! If you would like to chat about an article, have any recommendations, or literally anything at all, feel free to find me on instagram (@craggyland), twitter (@tillymasonn), or I’ll probably be at whatever album society event is on!
