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peace places: kenyan memories

by Nyokabi Kariũki

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    *A limited edition run of 300
    *Coloured Vinyl
    *Paintings: Naila Aroni
    * Painting Photography: Nala Ayieta
    *Design by Aspa Founti

    Includes unlimited streaming of peace places: kenyan memories via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
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1.
Equator song 02:43
You’ll find my soul On someone’s tongue [Kiswahili] Waulize, niliachwa kando ya ziwa? [Kiswahili] Na waliona jina langu hapo? Oh, a lucid dream A loss, a line [Maa] Nabo, are, uni Is it back to one? [Maa] Nabo, are A name, a name.
2.
Wananifundisha pole pole Lakini mimi pia, najifunza Leo, tulizunguka shamba ya Cũcũ Jua ilikua kali, lakini tuliona mahindi, miwa, maparachichi Lakini mimi pia, najifunza Jua ilikua kali, lakini tuliona mahindi, miwa, maparachichi Pole pole tu. Ndio, ninapenda hii lugha yangu ya Swahili Leo, tulizunguka shamba ya Cũcũ Lakini mimi pia, najifunza Ndio, ninapenda hii lugha yangu ya Swahili Wananifundisha pole pole Jua ilikua kali, lakini tuliona mahindi, miwa, maparachichi Leo, tulizunguka shamba ya Cũcũ Tuliona mahindi, miwa, maparachichi Pole pole Maparachichi pole pole, pole pole, pole pole Wananifundisha pole pole.
3.
Galu 06:58
I go down I go down, at six AM I go down I go down, at six AM I go down I go down at six AM I go down I go down at six AM To swim I go down I go down at six AM To swim I go down I go down at six AM I go down at six AM To swim in the Indian Ocean I go down, to swim To swim (to swim) To swim (to swim, to swim) I go down (I go down) to swim (to swim) I go down to swim. I go down I go down at six AM To swim. (To swim).
4.
home piano 02:47
5.
Nikumbushe siku tulivu Nikumbushe siku tulivu Siku za mlima Siku za bahari Siku za Siku za uumbaji Nirudishe siku za utulivu Siku za mashariki Za mashariki Siku za uumbaji Siku za mlima Siku za bahari Nikumbushe siku tulivu Nikumbushe siku tulivu Utulivu, utulivu Nirudishe siku za utulivu Siku za utulivu, utulivu Siku za utulivu
6.
Naila, how happy are you? This is like — it doesn’t even feel — it’s surreal It doesn’t feel real this place, it just doesn’t. It just doesn't feel real.

about

Nyokabi Kariũki (b. 1998) is a Kenyan composer and performer based between Maryland, New York, and Nairobi. Her sonic imagination is ever-evolving, with compositions ranging from classical contemporary & experimental music, to film, choral, pop, and explorations into sound art, electronics, and (East) African musical traditions. Her new EP peace places: kenyan memories, takes you on a journey through memories formed throughout her upbringing in Kenya, transporting us to places around the country using field recordings, keyboards, kalimbas, experimental electronics, and languages including English, Kiswahili, Kikuyu, and Maa.

Each track on the EP is based on a specific place in Kenya that had emotional significance in her growing up, with the musical creations stemming from visual cues of the places she reminisced on: “When I see a colour, I hear a certain sound”. This is why art plays such a pivotal part in the creation of this project. The EP’s closing track, “Naila’s Peace Place”, is the peace place of Kenyan artist and childhood friend of Nyokabi, Naila Aroni, who painted the artwork on the EP cover. On this, Nyokabi mentioned, “I love her art so much, so I asked her to paint 3 pieces based on some places the EP tracks featured for the cover art. I would send her photos and colour schemes as references. Then, I wanted to give back to Naila in a similar way: by asking her to send videos of her own ‘peace place’, and I created the final track around it. Her peace place was in Lamu on the Kenyan coast. It was fun because I had never been there before and it wasn’t my peace place at all. I was using the audio she gave me of her and her best friend walking down the beach. It felt very beautiful using that exchange between two friends, making the sound of joy a very tangible and visceral sonic experience. I think it was a perfect way of acknowledging the symbiosis between visual art and music in this EP”.

Written during the pandemic, whilst in the United States, unable to visit her home of 18 years, Nyokabi took solace in imaging Kenya in the early stages of the EP, when she couldn’t have been further away. She was finally able to return in the December of 2020, realising the pandemic had shone a new light on the home that she had known for so long: “It felt very symbolic being there that December. I felt like I was watching everything through this lens, looking in from the outside, everything felt so precious in a way it had never felt before. It felt like I was walking through a metaphor”. For instance, “A Walk Through My Cũcũ’s Farm” (with Cũcũ meaning ‘Grandmother’ in her language of Kikuyu) came from Nyokabi visiting her Grandmother on Christmas Day 2020: “It felt like a really precious moment, with the pandemic spotlighting the vulnerability of our grandparents. I am seeing the same things but not in the same way anymore”.

Nyokabi’s connection to Kenya and her cultural heritage is an important aspect to her work including exploring the disconnect to it caused by colonialism and its aftereffects. This is why language plays such an important part in peace places: “I think a lot about colonisation, living in post colonial Kenya and how it has impacted my connection to my culture. One of the most visible ways it impacted me was through the loss of my languages.” The EP features up to four languages, including Kiswahili, the national language of Kenya; Kikuyu, her ethnic group’s language, as well as Maa, as an ode to her Maasai lineage. Talking about her use of Kiswahili on the EP: “I am not fluent in this language and there’s a discomfort I am having to deal with, in choosing to express in it as heavily as I do in this music — but that is a part of it. It’s ‘peace places’, but there’s still always going to be some disharmony within peace”.

As a classically trained pianist of 17+ years, Nyokabi had found herself in environments that were not recognising her culture within formal institutions, she had to make a conscious effort to rediscover the African music traditions she had lost. Reconnecting through music, books, with artists from the continent and traditional instruments like the mbira, kalimba, and gyil, which can be heard on the EP. Nyokabi utilises her music as a launch pad to look back into her culture and represent it on a platform that is not usually presented on. “My family members started to find themselves in my music, from the field recordings, or even when I would ask about their experiences — they had all these stories that I had no idea about. That began to inspire the work. I was using my music to look back into my culture and represent it in the work I was writing, and that feels very fulfilling”.

credits

released February 25, 2022

Featured artists
Nyokabi Kariuki


Non-featured artists
Chris O’Leary (“Naila’s Peace Place”)


Musicians - their instrumentation
Nyokabi Kariuki- Vocals (Tracks 1, 2, 3, 5), Kalimbas (Track 2, 3, 4), Mbira (Track 5), Piano and Gyil (Track 4)

Chris O’Leary - drumset (“Galu”), vibraphone (“Naila’s Peace Place”)


Recording Studio/Studio Team
Recorded in Potomac, Maryland, with additional recordings in Fair Lawn, NJ for “home piano” and “Naila’s Peace Place”

Field recordings in all tracks taken in various places around Kenya, with additional field recording from SOUND OF NAIROBI archive in “home piano”, and Field recording from Potomac, Maryland in “Naila’s Peace Place”.

Thank Yous
This record would not exist without the time, efforts, kindness and love of: Naila Aroni, Chris O’Leary, Madeleine Flieger, Emmanuel Undie, Will DiNola, Marundu Muturi, Alev Lenz, Aspa, Enyang Ha, Harriet & Lois at SA Recordings, Auntie Karungs & the Muriras; Dad, Mum, Cũcũ, and Ngari.

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Nyokabi Kariũki New York, New York

Nyokabi Kariũki (b. 1998, she/her) is a Kenyan composer and performer based between New York,
Maryland and Nairobi.

Her sonic imagination is ever-evolving, with compositions ranging from
classical contemporary to choral music, film, experimental pop; and further includes explorations into
sound art, electronics, and (East) African musical traditions.
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