In a sense this is a departure for Bass, Mids, Tops and the Rest. So far our subjects have been not only pretty well established, but wired deeply into scenes, genres, traditions. Maria Uzor, on the other hand, is only just about to release her debut solo album – and she is culturally, geographically and creatively removed from the main flows of music culture in the UK.
Which is precisely why she’s perfect to include now…. well, that and the facts that a) her music is fantastic, and b) she’s a great interviewee. If we want to map out the contours of subculture from all angles, that must include from places like Norfolk as well as Ibiza, Glasgow, London and so on – and it must include people who separate themselves creatively from the big genre and scene streams. And Uzor really is independent, in many senses of the word and in ways which are perhaps all too rare nowadays.
Her previous band Sink Ya Teeth – a duo with bassist Gemma Cullingford – did at least fit some recognisable categories: broadly, mixing classic house, electropop and postpunk, and playing mainly on the indie circuit. But her solo work is something else altogether. It’s got bits that kind of resemble heavyweight techno, footworking, trap, industrial, funk but aren’t quite any of those things. It’s certainly very trippy and very goth in its moods, but it’s fiercely funny too (the forthcoming album has a song called “Prophylactics for Peterodactyls” ffs), and everything is put to work in the service of ambitous songwriting structures. It’s got instant impact but it presents you with a LOT to unpick.
Uzor is very direct in person though. We met her in Dalston the same day we did the Sherelle photoshoot and interview, Brian got these pics – then I did the interview later, remotely, Uzor speaking from her home in Norwich, in a room full of neatly hung and stacked clothes and musical instruments. She was a lucid and charming conversationalist, very happy – as you’ll see – to say a flat “no” to a question, but when she had something to say delivering it in wonderfully formed paragraphs with some neat rhetorical flourishes (it’s notable how she delivers descriptions or examples in threes, for example).
The interview – much like the Hifi Sean one from the other week – really picked up at the points it became a discussion about creative process. Uzor is all about self-interrogation and avoiding lazy assumptions, so she comes at things afresh all the time, and her refusal to take on ready made creative forms is absolutely reflected in her music. It was a fascinating hour, and really threw new light on her music. This is someone who builds her own creative worlds from scratch again and again, and does not toe any creative or critical line – a value to be treasured.
Hi Maria – what are you working on currently?
I'm working on my second single release – videos and stuff for it. Because I'm a DIY artist – well, you have to do everything yourself. Music is like 10% of what you do. At the moment I'm editing footage and it'll be out in a couple of weeks.
And you're in Norwich.. Can you describe Norwich's character? Because it doesn't get talked about much, right?
No it doesn't, apart from Alan Partridge – but he's Mancunian of course, Steve Coogan. It has got a good creative scene actually, and it's a Labour and Green stronghold in a sea of Norfolk which is mostly blue. Part of that is probably due to the fact there's an art school that's been here for hundreds of years1, and there is a creative vibe that runs through Norwich. And it's nice being here. It's like a small town, really – it is a city, but it's got a village feel to it.
I've found the East Anglian character in general is generally pretty low key – do you think that partly explains why Norwich doesn't get much attention, or is it more because it's cut off?
I think it's because it's cut off actually. It's right there in the arse end of England, that little lump in the corner, and people don't come to Norwich unless they've got reason to – it's not a through road to go anywhere... unless you're going to... umm, no I was going to say something dark there – need to stop myself... censor yourself, Maria!
No need for censorship here!
No, no, you're good. I don't want to give people the wrong idea, or the right idea2...
Well OK. Is there a particular musical character to the local scene?
I don't know actually a great deal about what's what, I just know it's there and happening – but I don't tend to play many gigs here myself. Maybe because it's quite small, I don't want to overdo it and oversaturate my presence on the scene, so I'll only play once or twice a year, and normally I'll play round the UK a bit more – just starting to play in Europe solo too – so I can't really comment greatly on the Norwich scene!
But you grew up there, right?
Yeah, born here, bred here, even went to the art school here... which is kind of sad? Never left. Norwich is definitely the kind of place you never leave. Like Royston Vasey or something!
What were the first cultural things you remember around you growing up? Was there much music at home?
Yeah. My mum is from Barbados, my dad is from Nigeria – but they got divorced when I was really young, about two, so I grew up with my mum and her Bajan culture; I don't know much about the Nigerian side at all. But nobody in my family played musical instruments, wrote music or anything, but my mum was constantly playing records. She'd have parties too, like old proper blues parties where you'd clear out the carpet, cook loads of Caribbean food and play Trojan records and lovers' rock and highlife and dancehall, and invite all the neighbours and random people she'd met on the street. At that time when I was growing up there weren't many Black people in Norwich, so if she ever met one on the street there'd be the connection straight away, “Hi, where are you from, what are you doing,” blah blah blah – and immediately she'd go “I have a party, come on over”. So I've always grown up with music and my mum singing along to all that kind of stuff.
And how did your own tastes start to differentiate as you got exposed to more music?
I loved a lot of hip hop early on. But I liked everything, I had such broad tastes, there was never one thing. Odd little things would jump out – I remember being four or five and seeing what I now know what the opening sequence for The Beatles's Hard Day's Night, where they're running down a street, in black and white, being chased, and I remember seeing that on the TV screen and being transfixed by the visual elements, the sound, and for some reason that really grabbed me and stuck with me. So yeah odd things from TV, then early hip hop, pop music, then later Bowie I really loved, a lot of 90s stuff like Björk, Tricky, Massive Attack – that whole Bristol scene in fact, Smith & Mighty...
That Beatles thing is interesting, I think it's not talked about enough how quirky things on TV can set people's tastes in motion early – for me, hearing the Radiophonic Workshop sounds via Dr Who and things like that definitely primed me for weird electronic music...
Yeah absolutely. Yeah I'd say that Hard Day's Night scene was formative for me.
How about music that you bonded with peers over? Was there anything that gave you a sense of belonging?
Yeah, kind of general alternative culture. Getting into The Smiths when I was 14, that was emblematic of that move from childhood to trying to find your own identity separate from your parents. The rite of passage of exploring alternatives to what you were previously presented with, or alternatives to the mainstream that's offered up. That was the first thing I really got into, all that self-reflective, self-loathing staring at your shoes. [Mopey teenage voice] “I'm a poetic genius”, all that kind of shit. [laughs]
Did you get into poetry too then? Did Morrissey get you onto the Philip Larkin or whatever?
No I didn't actually. There was a library round the corner from where we lived, and I did got there most days after school and just sit there on the floor and read books – but that was a bit younger, pre-Smiths. I don't think I did delve into the literary aspects of The Smiths – I just loved the music, it is great, even if Morrissey is quite problematic – well, racist is another word, heh.
Was being alternative oppositional? As in revelling in being different to the townies, the metallers or whatever?
No...? [she ponders for a second] No. Short answer.
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