Talking To: Injijo
Injijo is Head of Operations at Echo World, and one of the musicians performing at our launch party. Ahead of his performance we asked him a few questions to get to know him better.
Listen to some tunes whilst you read.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I'm Saul, aka Injijo, and I'm a musician and audio engineer from the UK.
What can we expect from your set at the launch party?
Lots of things that you love to dance to and some things that you didn't realise that you loved to dance to!
What do you think of Bristol’s music scene?
Bristol's music scene is pretty special. You can chat to anyone who's passionate about music, ask them who their favourite DJ / producer / musician is, and the answer is different every time.
This means you hear so much music from all over the world that you wouldn't usually hear in other towns and cities, which is probably why Bristol is so famous across the world for moving music forwards. The artists that we know and work with are really supportive too and are always looking to help everyone else - it's like a big family!
You’re heavily involved in the lofi beat community, which is, to a lot of people, an internet-based genre. How do you think internet music culture (specifically lofi) has impacted “real world” music events and culture?
For me, what's most important in gauging longevity is whether youth culture has embraced the genre, and youth cultures across the world have undoubtedly embraced lofi. Kids of all ages listen to lofi whilst doing their homework or gaming with their friends - there's even stories about teachers putting on the 'lofi beats to study to' 24/7 stream whilst their classes are revising for exams! Sometimes older people forget, especially young professionals who don't have kids and are still mainly listening to house & techno, that kids spend so much time on Youtube and Twitch nowadays and what do 99% of the biggest streamers on both platforms use as background / intro music? Lofi hip hop.
As well as this it's definitely worth mentioning that this is a really peaceful community. We don't see headlines about violence or drugs that usually arise when a genre becomes a global phenomenon. If you look for it, you find it, but it's not something that necessarily wants to force itself on the mainstream and I think that's one of the things a lot of people love about it.
What can we expect from you in 2020?
In 2019 I spent a lot of time helping others with their projects and working collaboratively, so this year is definitely going to be focused on me! I've got a new track 'afterglow' coming out on the 'Echo World - Vol. 1' compilation tape on 7th February and 15-track a beat tape set for release in Spring, which is full of features from other signers, lyricisits and MC's.
Saaaz and I have also finished a collaborative album which we're really proud of and are so excited for everyone to hear! Plus there's an ambient split in the works, lots of live performances and maybe a VR installation on the way...
You can catch Injijo at our launch party on February 1st, get your tickets here.
