Truancy Volume 162: Space Afrika

Comprised of Josh Inyang and Josh Reidy, Space Afrika first cropped up a few years back on Where To Now? (the label responsible for our 113th Truancy Volume) with their tape release Above The Concrete/Below The Concrete. It was The Manchester duo’s Primrose Avenue EP from late last year on the same label that especially caught our attention; A fare of gloriously subtle dub techno and house that took cues from Rod Modell and Kassem Mosse, the record felt like a considered appreciation of the strange comfort a rainy inner city journey might invoke. We’re incredibly pleased to have the pair put together our 162nd edition of our Truancy Volume series. They also spoke to us about the mix, their music and their influences. Sink in.

How did Space Afrika come about? How long have you been making music as a duo and what brought you together? “Space Afrika came out of the blue as a duo project inspired by very deep and thorough listening over winter months. We both had an ear for a similar sound which is great in terms of bouncing off each other’s ideas. We’ve been friends for over eighteen years so the collaboration came naturally.”

The music you’ve selected for the mix as well as your own productions seem to incorporate elements that sound like things you would hear just walking around a city. How important are your daily surroundings in Manchester to your music? “Very. Everything we do and are is a product of our experience, and so our surroundings are of maximal importance. That goes for anyone and everyone. It’s no surprise that Manchester surroundings seep through in all aspects of life, hence the grey moodiness which is a familiar theme in our productions. Day to day commuting and hanging out in the city, you catch the natural sounds and dynamics from the most simple of things, like transportation, and it becomes second nature. Manchester is the place that made us, we were born and raised here, we learned the ropes here. It would hard, maybe even ignorant not to translate that into the sounds we create.

If I had to use a word to describe your Primrose Avenue EP on Where To Now? it would be ‘intimate’. How would you describe your own music and what do you try to evoke through it? “Thank you. I think “intimate” is an accurate description. In terms of describing the sound, it’s something that we like to leave open as it will constantly be developing, and in the attempt to escape borders. We would describe it as a textural and soundscape-driven offering inspired by dub and techno elements, organic rhythms, field recordings etc. There is less of an effort to evoke a particular feeling. I think it comes with the honest delivery. It’s how we feel at the moment of conception.”

What other influences, concepts and sounds do you feel are important to what you do? “Minimal art, philosophy, literature and most definitely architecture.”

What have you been up to lately and what do you have coming up? So we’ve recently completed a remix for a friend who’s started a label under the name ‘Sferic’ which will be dropping some time in the new year. It’s been a busy yet productive year with several shows, and running Reform Radio which we host fortnightly on Monday, and we’re also residents for NTS Manchester. The productions are beginning to materialise as we generally make music over the winter period so expect a few surprises for 2017. You can catch our next Reform Radio show on the 7th November with our collective and a special guest. We’ll be playing an intimate live set at Eastern Bloc Record’s Instore on the 25th November alongside some other homegrown talent, and back on the waves for NTS Manchester [INT] on the 26th.”

Tracklist:
Matthew Burton and Kate Rathod – Raw Moves
Mark Ambrose – Signs
Martin Schulte – Trip
Vester Koza – The Way of The Dub
Isherwood – Hammond’s Scapes
Driftwood – Melodie
Ion Ludwig – Alpha Changes
AHU – Roya
Star Dub – Back to Basics
Space Afrika – Tape Signal
AHU – Nebel In Sancsouri
Frank & Tony – Resistance
Mike Dehnert – Track Providing Home
Ivano Telepta – Flowers
P.Laoss – Dubshapes (Martin Schulte)
Quantec Hym to Ra
Federson – Alpha
Nu Zau – Din Desciere
CV313 – Seconds to Forever
Caldera – Touch
Deadbeat – Jaffa Dub