Interview: THE KILIMANJARO DARKJAZZ ENSEMBLE

Please tell our readers how and when did TKDE come to life and what's the story so far. Also what is the idea behind the band?

We formed TKDE back in 2000, just as a duo working with existing sound and film, re-arranging existing music with old silent film. We quickly started to compose our own music because we didn’t find the exact music we would like to use. We immediately knew we wanted to work on making some form of dark, cinematic jazz. In 2004 Gideon and I decided to take the project further and slowly start developing it into a group. Little by little we bumped into the right group of musicians who we asked to become part of TKDE. Around 2008 the whole band decided it would be cool if we started a side-project which would fully focus on improvising. A direct opposite to how we worked with TKDE. So we formed TMFDJC more as a simple creational outlet, we never planned to release any albums.

The band has an alter ego called MFDJC. Same people, the music does not differ across the bands, why have you been divided in two projects?

This is quite simple. TKDE is linear, studio composed music. TMFDJC is totally improvisational and non-linear.

I wonder why both of the bands have mountain peaks in their names. Is there anything specific about those two mountains? How you came across with that name?

We chose Kilimanjaro because it always had a mysterious vibe surrounding it. Also the location and the phonetics of the word work really well. It seemed right to give the side-project name a similar name so people would directly see the link between the two bands, so we chose Mt Fuji, to be honest this could have been any other mountain top in the world.


You have a new album out, ''From The Stairwell ''. Can you tell us something more about it? Is there any feedback?

It’s a kind of futuristic film noir setting we chose for this album. I guess “nostalgia” can be the best emotion described to fit the album. The feedback has been really great so far!

At the beginning TKDE was an instrumental project. What made you decide to introduce the vocal parts in "Here Be Dragons". Which is the role that they play in "From The Stairwell "?

We never chose to be instrumental. We found that certain tracks on “Here Be Dragons” worked well with lyrics, so we did this. It’s never been a discussion about limiting possibilities in the band. If something works well, or we want to try something new it’s always possible.

Listening to the live performance of "Lobby" again and again I wonder if do you have any plans on releasing a recording of an actual live performance?

Possibly… but we have no plans at the moment.

You have already visited our country once! Which was your experience? What, the Greek audience, should expect from your live performance this time?

It was great! We played in Larissa, we were very well received…Oh and the Greek food is just amazing!!

We have to be prepared for visuals this time? How important are they for experiencing your music? Who actually does them?

It accentuates the music, giving a more full-sense experience.

There are six people in the band. How does your creative process look like? And how does this differ in TKDE and MFDJC?

TMFDJC is fully improved, so there is no process, it’s pure on the spot creativity. TKDE works more structured, composing and arranging ideas.

Who would you say are your influences and the musical and visual sources of inspiration?
It’s very varied. We really listen to all kinds if music. There’s really too much good music to pin point it down to a certain group or artist. Same goes with film.

It is known your love for silent movies. Can you tell us more about this?

It’s a great genre. As the films are silent, the actors were obliged to be over-expressive which gives the films a lot of dramatization.

What is your favorite movie?

As with music, I don’t have a favorite band or movie.

What music do you listen to these days?

At the moment I’m listening to African jazz.

Is there anything that you would like to say to our readers?

Hellos… hope you’re fine!

Interview: Nikos Z.