IOMix019 // Sheldon Agwu
The London-based jazz guitarist invites us into a mesmerising blend of ambient, trip-hop and jazz pulled from the deeply-dug selections that informed his incredible debut album.
Take a deep breath and attune yourself to Sheldon Agwu’s frequency. The London-based guitarist has been moving around his city’s thriving jazz scene for some time, cropping up on albums from Jordan Rakei amongst others, but he’s now quietly striking out on his own with Kintsugi, an understated masterpiece that finds power in stillness. There’s a fascinating emotional zone that opens up where jazz and ambience intersect, and Agwu has tapped into it to create a warm, soporific record with moody nuance that should satisfy the latent trip hop heads as well as the new age dreamers. The dusty, laconic beatdowns and beatless reveries are on a level pegging on the album, and honestly it’s been on constant rotation more than a lot of Bandcampient gets these days.
We were drawn in by the sound, but the listed reference points also grabbed our attention. There aren’t lots of artists name checking niche acts like Andrew Pekler, so we were intrigued to learn more about the influences that guided Agwu to this spectacular debut record. As it turns out, the creative process leading to Kintsugi was hugely influenced by some prolific years spent digging across the vibrant, varied landscape of London record shops, and Agwu was kind enough to lay down a mixtape for us that outlines some of the treasures he gathered on his quest, which fed into the sound of his album.
While a lot of IO mixes are upfront by design, this time around you can rely on the mellow balm of Agwu’s selection, lovingly laid down and plotting an elegant arc from smoky outsider electronics through to gorgeous, seminal jazz totems. The full track listing runs at the bottom of the page, but before that hit play if you haven’t already and check in with a Q&A to get to know a little more about a low-key talent we’re keen to hear more from.
Be sure to keep tabs on the release of Kintsugi, scheduled for April 11 via Agwu’s Bandcamp, and keep an eye on his socials for gig dates.
Enjoy, IO x.
So first off, hi Sheldon and thanks a lot for putting together the mix for us! Where were you when you put it together? Were there particular ideas you had in mind as you made it?
Hey man, thank you it was a real pleasure! I was at home going through my record collection, and there was no particular idea in mind regarding the mix, just music that has connected with me for all kinds of reasons. I’ve been fortunate enough to start to doing a few low-key DJ sets from the beginning of last year which has been the result of me really getting in to record collecting and wanting to know more about music.
How does it feel to be getting your first solo record out into the world? What was the process like working on it through 2023?
It feels really great to get my first solo record out for sure, and very fulfilling. I believe if one has a burning desire to create then you’ll find ways to bring it to life.
In regards to the process, I started making ideas at home – going back to just after the pandemic, and kept compiling them, and every so often I would keep developing them more and more.
The album feels very consistent and intentional – were there guiding principles in your head that were leading you during the process?
Thank you. I purchased a copy of Rick Rubin’s book The Creative Act: A way of Being and that really influenced me during the process, I started to ask myself questions like ‘what does it mean to be creative?’ ‘How would I go about doing this’ and ‘what is my process?’ Perhaps creativity is taking known elements and putting them back together in unique ways? I don’t think there really is an answer for it. To me creativity is as vast as the universe, you’ll never really arrive at it. The process can come about it many ways, and the thing that you work on can always be developed further, and the more life you live and the more open your mind becomes the more your creativity and those guiding principles will expand.
You’ve been working with the likes of Jordan Rakei for a while now – how do you view what you’ve made on Kintsugi in comparison to that past collaborative work?
Working with him was an amazing experience for me, and at that time I didn’t really see myself as an ‘artist’ though I was writing little sketches at home with my electric guitar and pedalboard – that’s always been at the centre of my process before I started learning more about music production, microphones and studio recording techniques. I was just happy to play guitar as a session musician.
How much of the album process was a live, played out thing and how much was careful composition and refinement?
The album has elements of live playing. I’m playing electric guitar, electric bass, synth bass, drums, and this old vintage transistor organ from the 70s that I bought a few years ago. I also incorporated some hip-hop recording techniques along with some experimental ideas that I was curious about.
Were there moments where the album could have headed in a different direction? Are there other musical / sonic approaches you’re keen to explore in the future?
To be honest with you it’s hard for me to say what direction it could have headed towards if I was to keep working on it. I think at some point when creating you have to say to yourself ‘Ok I think this is as far as I can take it,’ especially when working on music by yourself. Quite naturally it becomes more and more introspective, which I am anyway. As for explorations in the future, I’m definitely up for more experimenting, collaboration and writing music with interesting combinations of musical instruments, like ‘what kind of music could be created with, let’s say a kora, upright bass, modular synth and African drums?’ Just an idea…
Going back to the mix, tell us about some of these selections – there’s a mixture of older and newer music in there. Has some of that music been with you a long time?
The music in the mix is from records I’ve bought over the last couple of years. They’re songs from albums I find really interesting, sonically, musically, and with noteworthy instrumentation also.
The press release for Kintsugi mentions that digging in London was part of the process of drawing inspiration – were there particular record shops you enjoyed digging in especially?
Absolutely, shout out to Atlantis, Alan’s Record & CD Shop, Idle Moments, Stranger Than Paradise, The Little Record Shop, Honest Jon’s, Jelly Records, Tome Records, Reckless Records, Flashback Records, Rough Trade, Audio Gold, Folkies, When Spaceships Appear, Love Vinyl, Out on the Floor Records, Sister Ray and YoYo Records. Crate digging has been a really beautiful experience for me. Speaking with people that work in the record stores, especially the more independent ones, they’re real music lovers with so much knowledge about music from all over the world, from different time periods, along with great stories about said artist or band. You really learn a lot. Everything from the label it was on released on, what year it was recorded, where it was recorded, why it was recorded, how it was recorded, the personnel, instrumentation, the artwork etc. It’s really deepened my relationship with music and has greatly informed my own creative endeavours as a musician/artist.
Tracklist:
- Purelink – In Circuits
- Bitchin Bajas – Amorpha
- Jan Jelinek – Moire Piano Organ
- Triosk meets Jan Jelinek – On The Lake
- Jon Hassell – Courage
- Andrew Renfroe – Storm’s Eye
- Nancy Wilson / Cannonball Adderley – Save Your Love For Me
- Joshua Abrams – By Way of Odessa
- Joe Henderson – Tress Cun Deo La
- John Coltrane – Mr Syms
- Sebastiao Tapajos/ Pedro dos Santos – Estudo no 1
- Wes Montgomery – Round Midnight
- Dorothy Ashby – Canto De Ossanha
- Max Roach – Garvey’s Ghost
- Drum Suite Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers – Cubano Chant
- Thelonious Monk – Ask Me Now
- Augustus Pablo – King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown
- Common – Geto Heaven ft D’angelo
- Latin Playboys – Viva La Raza
- Bilal – Evr Chngin Nrml
- Rex Lawson – Jolly Papa
Kintsugi by Sheldon Agwu is out on April 11 on Bandcamp.
Sheldon Agwu portrait photo by Karolina Wieolcha.
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