Ahead of their performance at Park Acoustics, we interview Bantu Continua Uhuru Conciousness to find out what the modern freedom fighters cause is, their indigenous roots and what can be expected of their highly energetic performances.
Bantu Continua Uhuru Conciousness, What does this mean? And what do you hope to make your listeners conscious of?
Bantu means human so we are human beings continuing the freedom of consciousness (concsciousness: being aware and responsive to one’s surroundings). Our consciousness is from an African perspective but we carry a world view. We hope that anyone who is listening to us can be open minded and find themselves in the message that we carry. We hope that with our music we can slowly change ourselves and the audience so that we can all be empathetic to each others shortcomings and challenges.
You have said that you see yourselves as “modern freedom fighters”. What is your cause and what do you hope to achieve through the music that you create?
Our cause is to highlight the human race in all it’s complexities. We would like to achieve the fall of all these inter-govermental chains. We are living in the internet age and our governments that we have created as a modern society doesn’t have borders, doesn’t fall under any geographical zone. Through our music we appeal to our kind.
Our kind is anyone and everyone who speaks their truth, who listens to other peoples truths and strives for coherence and co-existence especially in these times of racial segregation across the world.
Lastly we do not sugar coat, we do not patronise, we are not condescending, it is just hard truths. Yet we hope we are sensitive enough.
Your music sounds like what The Doors may have sounded like had Jim Morrison been a South African. Psychedelic influenced heavily by the indigenous Khoi-San as opposed to Native American’s. What are the varied influences that your music draws from?
Our music draws from previously uncaptured indeginous spitritual music. We draw from rituals, we draw from struggle songs, we draw from the blues that come from the dark days of the South in America. Generally our inspiration comes from discomfort, heartaches and an attitude that reminds one of before, during and after an epic battle that changes the civilisation forever.
Talk us through your creative process. Is it all organic improvisation or how do your songs come to life?
We are stilll discovering our creative process.
The exchange between the audience and the band is extremely important for your band as you thrive on live performance. What has been your most memorable experience between crowd and band?
Alcala la Real, Spain 2013, Festival Etnosur, 02:30am, 40 thousand strangers. We were the headlining act. We were supposed to play an earlier slot but because while we were on tour we were killing every stage on sight, we ended up being made the headlining act and we killed it dead for two and a half hours non-stop. We made people who don’t know us sing to every song we were singing, chant to very chant we were chanting, sweat as much as we were sweating.
The eye could not see where the audience ends but we could feel the power and the numbers that were going through the journey with us. The ground was shaking, the souls were shaking and everthing was just right.
Nothing can beat that. As a band you are lucky you get to experience that once in your life. We have experienced that before in a number of different shows but the numbers we had on that night made that night what it was.
How do you find a balance between entertaining the crowd and challenging their ideals or teaching them something new?
We never plan how our set is going to be received. We never pre-determine what our attitude will be. For us we live by the motto: WHAT IT IS, IS WHAT IT IS. We always leave all that we have on stage.
What can those who’ll be witnessing you for their first time at Park Acoustics expect from your performance? Some of your songs are over 30 minutes, how many have you put on your setlist?
First timers can expect to see something that they have not seen before. To the ones that know us, do not come with preconceived (we know them) attitude. For our setlist we have 3 trimmed down songs including a skit.
You find yourselves on line-ups with artists that are quite different from your group. Who are some of the artists you hope to collaborate with in the future?
We are going to forever play with artists who are different from us. That difference is only but a choice of instruments. We would like to collaborate with anyone and everyone who is interested in working with us.
Your last album, Healer was released in late into 2014. Are there any plans to release any further material?
Next year we wish to MAYBE release an EP. Our expectations from ourselves are too high and the pressure to sound like we want to sound is still delaying us.
Check out BCUC’s live performance of “Insimbi” on Balcony TV above and purchase your Park Acoustics below.
BCUC | Facebook | Twitter | Soundcloud
