Track By Track: Ribongia – ESCAPISMS EP

For Sydney boy Ribongia, his new EP ESCAPISMS definitely lives up to its name. All the way from the EP’s track title, to the use of worldly chants and tribal marimbas, Ribongia is certainly channeling future-interpretive electro vibes. Already backed by the likes of Skrillex’s Nest HQ and Nina Las Vegas, this distinctly unique diamond in the rough is definitely one to watch for 2016. Known for his endearing elaborate live shows (which he's currently performing overseas in support of Hermitude), we can only wait in anticipation about what Ribongia has in store for us this year, and he's given us a generous insight into the new EP below:

Journeys

This tune came about almost two years ago now. It started as a spontaneous jam but at the time I didn't think it wasn't anything special. To try it out I used it to open my sets with last year. It always was received super well (to my surprise), so I was inspired to keep working on it. At first I was worried that it didn't follow a recognisable structure but then I released that it was in theme with what I was trying to do with this EP. I felt it took you on a ride with a few unexpected turns while exploring a different combination of styles.

Downstream

Downstream was the easiest and most spontaneous song on the record. While at my day job (sorry boss) I was researching music from Mali. I came across some field recordings that a French radio/label called Ocora had done. Ocora was documenting sounds of the French colonies in the African continent. Once I heard the chanting I melted. There was something extremely positive and magical about the village kids song. I sampled it instantly and chucked it in a loop. The track pretty much wrote itself that same afternoon.

My Word feat. Hancoq

What a trip this was. I was copping a bit of pressure to include vocalist on the record. I was fine with that but I was really struggling to hear any vocalists over the 'Africaness' stuff that I was working on. I had made a hand full of demos to pitch to singers. My pal and booking agent at the time James Bradfield had sent me a list of upcoming artists that he thought were doing interesting things. On that list I came across Melbourne's ESESE and rapper Hancoq. I got in touch and sent the demos. A few days later I got a demo sent back to me. I still remember sitting in my bed room and playing the rough take and saying out loud to an empty room "holy shit". I knew instantly that we had stumbled on some gold. We started chatting over emails and bouncing a few ideas backwards and forward. After a few unsuccessful takes and communication breakdowns I decided to fly Hancoq up to Sydney so we could hang out in the studio for the weekend. He nailed it and that was that.

Oyo

After a trip back home to Italy in 2014 me and Clap! Clap! exchanged a lot of samples. The vocals in this tune came from that exchange (thanks homie!). This tune went through a few transformations till it ended up what’s its like today. I gotta admit, I went through some frustration when I was stuck with so many versions but I'm glad I stuck to it. Today the tune stands tall in the set, and so far on this European tour peeps have been really vibing on it.

Holler feat. Elsz

This one was a bit of accident.. I was trying to work out a transition for my live set. I was looking to have a beat to link the remix I had done for Ngaiire a while back and the next song. If you listen carefully, you can probably still hear the backing vocals that Ngaiire had put down. As per usual I got a bit carried away and ended up with this beat. At the same time my friend Elsz had come back from Sri Lanka. I jumped at the opportunity and got to come in. She really translated my vision into words.

Nomad Du Niger

Ok, don't judge me but I originally had called this project ISIS. This is was at a time where we were just starting to hear about the terrorist group. I personally felt that the media was inflating this story and basically fear mongering. Of course, I ended up realizing it was in bad taste and changed my mind. What’s all this gotta do with the song? Well, when I first started I was inspired by this sense of fear and how it was affecting everybody. I thought I explore this theme and cross bread these eastern sounds with some footwork and trap. Its been lighting up dance floors so I guess the experiment was successful.

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