“Just having a perspective – that’s certainly the only reason you’d ever want to create any sort of art in the first place.”
The philosophy of Jinja Safari’s Marcus Azon, summed up in a single sentence.
After beginning his musical endeavours in the church in a predominantly Christian society, Azon wanted nothing more than to escape that lifestyle and tread his own path in life.
“I wanted nothing to do with the church, nothing to do with music, and so I kind of went off on my own little trip for a while,’ he admits, before revealing that he got back into music on a road trip with his old friend and percussionist for Jinja Safari, Alister Roach. ‘That was on the east coast of Tassie – the Bay Of Fires.”
‘Bay Of Fires’, as well as being the name of their current tour, is also one of Azon’s favourite tracks from their debut album to perform live. “Every time that we play that song, for me it feels like a complete release, just letting go of the control of things,” he ponders.
“It isn’t an album that nudged us over into commercial radio,” he muses of their self-titled debut. “We don’t have four banging singles like MGMT, Vampire Weekend or Grizzly Bear, like any of those really fantastic first albums.
“But I don’t think that’s what we need right now, that kind of ‘quick fix’, because then people are going to get their quick fix somewhere else.”
“If I could have my choice of any career, it would be in a band that’s progressive and is constantly evolving,” he says decisively, believing that it’s better not to come out with big singles early on and subsequently having to live up to huge expectations.
In the creation of their long awaited debut album, the band decided to focus more on writing songs that were more enjoyable for them to play live, “without the need for a whole bunch of hula-hoops and electronic triggers and backing tracks” to connect with the audience and provide a memorable live show.
If you’re lucky enough to catch one of their shows on this tour, you’ll be treated to a spectacle of psychedelic, mesmerising images projected onto the stage behind the self-defined ‘forest rock’ group.
“It’s given the show an extra bit of life”, adds Azon enthusiastically.
“It isn’t an album that nudged us over into commercial radio…but I don’t think that’s what we need right now, that kind of ‘quick fix’.”“When you think of the image that’s attached to Jinja Safari, you think of birds and weird forest kind of shit,” states the vocalist.
“So I think it’s really nice to have projections that are as far away from the forest as possible. It means that you reinterpret the music – everybody should interpret it how they want.”
Aside from a three-year streak of sell-out shows in some major cities, this tour is carrying Jinja Safari to some more rural areas.
“It’s nice to see what songs people react to, organically, and not the songs that get chosen as our singles,” explains Azon of performing to smaller, unknown crowds.
Surprisingly, the charismatic singer discloses that all ages shows can be some of the most exciting, yet daunting. When there are so many young, impressionable minds staring up from the crowded mosh pit with starry eyes, You just want to say: “We’re all having fun, keep things in perspective guys, it’s all real. Just remember that we’re just five dudes living around the corner!’”
And although the country’s musically infatuated youth are a large part of their target audience, “Facebook says that our target audience is 20 to 24 year old males” Azon chuckles.
This somewhat unexpected audience may well be one of the reasons that Jinja Safari’s cover of ‘Ignition’ by R. Kelly, originally performed on Triple J’s ‘Like a Version’, is such a massive hit.
“Once you crack it out, it’s the song which everyone goes for each night – the incredible thing about that song is that everybody knows the lyrics of the whole song, pretty much!”
The live version of the decade-old RnB hit does wonders to the vibes in the room. “It’s sort of become this big party thing,” says Azon, describing it in terms of distorted guitar, bass thud pedals, and Cam ‘Pepa’ Knight’s sitar riffs.
“We’re pretty happy, and it seems like the fans are pretty happy with the songs, so I think that’s all you could want.”Even after years of being in the public eye, the frontman still struggles to comprehend how disconnected reality and normal life are for him. “For the most part, my life is completely the same as it was before, but then you’ve got all of these surreal situations – when you go out and try and sign merch, people treat you like you’re somebody else completely.”
“I get to have a real connection with one of my childhood heroes, though,” Azon pipes up excitedly, revealing how music had helped him become close to one of his original inspirations, artist and musician Reg Mombassa.
“He likes the music, and he’s designed one of the t-shirts – it was very surreal to see the classic Mambo drawing, saying ‘ ‘Mombassa On The Line, Jinja Safari’.”
‘Mombassa On The Line’, one of the tracks the group’s 2013 eponymous debut, is currently getting a significant amount of airplay on Triple J, promoting the competition for the production of its music video.
“It’s just about finding new ways to engage with an audience” says Azon of the competition for young creatives.
“All I know is that our fan base seems to be as strong as ever, if not a little bit stronger, and the support is all there.” the singer concludes.
“We’re pretty happy, and it seems like the fans are pretty happy with the songs, so I think that’s all you could want.”
Hoping for a repeat of the ‘shenanigans’ of previous gigs, Jinja Safari are eagerly anticipating their final few shows for the Bay Of Fires tour, in venues such as Melbourne’s ‘perfect party place’ The Forum this Friday night.
With only a handful of shows left on the agenda, including a couple of all ages gigs, you’d be insane to miss out on their infectiously energetic, feel-good performance, never lacking in a healthy dose of crowd surfing from Pepa.
Jinja Safari is out now through Universal. Check out our review of the record here.
Jinja Safari 2013 Australian Tour Dates & Tickets
with CUB SCOUTS and OKENYO
Tickets on sale now at www.jinjasafari.com/shows
Thursday 26 September: Barwon Club, Geelong
Tickets available from Oztix: 1300 762 545, www.oztix.com.au
Friday 27 September: Forum, Melbourne
Tickets available from Ticketmaster: www.ticketmaster.com.au / 136 100
Saturday 28 September: Karova, Ballarat
Tickets available from Oztix: 1300 762 545, www.oztix.com.au
Thursday 3 October: Adelaide Uni Bar, Adelaide
Tickets available from Moshtix: 1300 438 849 / www.moshtix.com.au
Friday 4 October: Settlers Tavern, Margaret River
Tickets available from Oztix: 1300 762 545, www.oztix.com.au
Saturday 5 October: The Astor, Perth [ALL AGES]
Tickets available from www.showticketing.com.au | 08 9370 5888 | From Astor Theatre Box Office direct
Sunday 6 October: Prince Of Wales, Bunbury
Tickets available from Oztix: 1300 762 545, www.oztix.com.au
