IND!E FUSE 2012: The ReCAP

We certainly had a grand time at IND!E FUSE 2012. Live performances by Tawiah, FOKN BOIS, Yaa Pono, Lady Jay, Lyrical Wanzam, Jojo Abot, Rumor and so much more deliciousness. Well, the good times have rolled around again and we are counting down to IND!E FUSE 2013.

This time, we’re bringing you a 3-day music event! Boy, do we have some goodies in store. While we are still in the kitchen whipping that brew, feast on this video recap of IND!E FUSE 2012. Let us know what you’re looking forward to at this year’s show.

The 4th Annual INDI!E FUSE features the coolest artists from Ghana and beyond in an exciting live music concert event. IND!E FUSE is the largest African indie music showcase in West Africa and highlights the best in hip hop, AfroBeat, traditional fusion, soul, electronic and rock music.

HIGHLIGHTS OF 2013: THE GIRL WHO BROUGHT YOU KWAKU ANANSE

words by NANA OSEI KWADWO | images by MANTSE ARYEEQUAYE

The Kwaku Ananse premier in July was everything a film loving crowd would hope for ; great turn out, a participatory crowd and fierce music. The 26 minute short immortalizes the mythical spider by constructing a fresh narrative that retells this famous Ananse tale with multilayered, moody, elliptical shots of a wandering Jojo Abot, who plays Ananse’s daughter. The film suggests that stories normally seen through the lens of post-colonialism could just as easily be seen in existential or mythic terms.

For the record this film had the biggest turn out for an experimental Ghanaian picture, which is a refreshing start. Ghana isn’t known for experimental artsy movies and over the years John Akomfrah has been the only reference when such conversations came up. Our lame claim to his notoriety can stop now.

Adoma at the numbers station.

Akosua Adoma Owusu represents a new wave of filmmakers making bold attempts at disrupting the Ghanaian narrative in order to create new forms of story telling that involve risk taking. Hopefully these risks will explore new audiences and markets that would in turn create Ghanaian cinema the world looks forward to. This Kwaku Ananse story feeds our curiosities and creative interpretations made by the audacious individuals it features.

Grace Omaboe who plays Ananse’s wife has not been in a Ghanaian movie for years. At the height of her career, she was in a very popular TV drama series ‘OBRA’. Then through the mid to late 90’s she had a TV show “By The Fire Side” where she told Ananse stories to children. For the people old enough to remember, this film is like a time machine that travels into that past but tells the story in a sequence far removed from what a Ghanaian audience might be used to.

Another character worth mentioning in the movie is Highlife living legend Agya Koo Nimo who played Kweku Ananse. Koo Nimo brought such character volume to the 26 minute picture, it begged further exploration. That was four months ago, Adoma has since gone on to start new projects, but this is certainly worth the reminder.

We caught up with Akosua Adoma Owusu recently during our STROLLING GOATS episode and talked about film and her new projects.

AKOSUA ADOMA OWUSU hangs low on James Town Beach

What first interested you in film?

Well, my background was in the fine arts, specifically, printmaking and sculpture. I discovered my interest in filmmaking after studying 16mm Cinematography at the University of Virginia with an African American filmmaker, Kevin Jerome Everson. Kevin came from a working-class background – I identified with this in Virginia – and his work in experimental short films and traveling to film festivals really inspired me. So I decided to pursue a Master’s degree in Film/Video and Art at CalArts against my parents’ wishes. They wanted me to be more practical and pursue a career in medicine like basically all Ghanaian parents. But creating art through a cinematic medium really spoke to me and impassioned me far more than any “practical” choice could have.

KWAKU ANANSE MAKES GHANA DEBUT

Director Akosua Adoma Owusu | photo by Mantse Aryeequaye

AKOSUA ADOMA OWUSU’s approach to Ghanaian folklore reconstructs the history of the mythical spider, Kwaku Ananse, in a way that forces a modern day interpretation of stories that have defined Ghanaian storytelling for eons. This Ananse story recreates the old legend through a transformative apparatus that bends and melds storytelling into a new history. Kwaku Ananse premieres in Ghana on July 4th at Alliance Francaise. The film stars Highlife music legend Koo Nimo, veteran actor Grace Omaboe, and Ghanaian indie music artist Jojo Abot, who plays the lead character in the film. Kwaku Ananse has screened at several international film festivals including the Cannes Film Festival and Berlinale. The film also won Best Short Film at the African Movie Academy Awards this Spring and has also been shortlisted at the French Cesar Academy.

OWUSU chills in James Town | photo by Mantse Aryeequaye

Watch this space for full updates on KWAKU ANANSE’s director AKOSUA ADOMA OWUSU.

TAWIAH: When FREEdom Drops [April 30th!]

Interview with Sionne Neely |  photos by Mantse Aryeequaye + Abass Ismail for REDD Kat Pictures

TAWIAH releases FREEdom Drop on April 30th | photo by REDD Kat Pictures [Dec 2012]

ADA: During your set at IND!E FUSE 2012 you talked a bit about love. We can’t assume everyone defines it the same way. What are your thoughts on love?

T: You have encounters with love everyday – with friends, family, lovers. Love is one of the most important things. . I think I’m a bit of a hopeless romantic. I love love. It’s an extremely complex thing but do we make it complex with our mortal thoughts and ways? Is love an act or is it a feeling? Surely love is ever present – it’s there before we manifested into our physical bodies. It’s always there, innit? It definitely should feel good and not judge or discriminate. But we put our own thing on what love is and what it should be.

The Big Fun Party We Had At IND!E FUSE 2012

FOKN Jam by OneFotos

story by Mantse Aryeequaye + Sionne Neely

IND!E FUSE 2012 was the most exciting, lavishly intense live show by any group of artists in Accra.  16 music acts participated – each creating their own version of an Accra indie monstrosity – dropkicking through live bass, synth harmonics and drum rhythms with menacingly cinematic vamps.

Approximately 1600 indie music fans jammed over the two day music event with headliners FOKN BOIS and Tawiah causing an almighty ruckus. In just two years, IND!E FUSE has quickly become the place for exposing music lovers to new and groundbreaking artists from Ghana, Africa and abroad.

SANKWAS BOIS

At the mainstage show, rapper duo and IND!E FUSE MCs, The Sankwas Bois [aka Mutombo da Poet and Simpol Tinz], STILL have people in stitches with their animated antics and raw, hilarious improvisation.

The DUSTLYVE Booth was in full effect for the first hour of the show – with Kobby Graham and DJ Kev spinning dopeness as the audience strolled in.

KOBBY GRAHAM | DJ KEV

DJ KEV SPINS

The F.O.K.N BOIS delivered their zombie apocalypse lyrics with a raw, funked-out fusion sound. As chaotic as their music may seem, in reality the duo are exceptionally tight and well-rehearsed which is crucial for pulling off their ingenuous shtick.

FOKN FLOSS

FOTO REWIND: INDIE FUSE 2012 [Day 2]

Take a peek at these cool visuals from the mainstage IND!E FUSE 2012 show at Alliance Francaise.

*Unmarked photos by Mantse Aryeequaye. All other images were captured by OneFotos.

The Ga Greek God’s Azonto

Mutombo da Poet’s Vibe

M3NSA | Simpol Tinz

Lady Jay’s Ha!

Paapa’s Song

BEHIND THE SCENES: IND!E FUSE 2012 Sound Check

EBEN’S HIP HOP

Peruse through our garden of IND!E FUSE 2012 images. One month later, folks are still chatting up the two-day December concert – including many a request for IND!E FUSE twice a year?!! Wow Fam.

Check out these behind-the-scenes photos of the artists and crew at sound check before the main stage show at Alliance Française that beautiful Saturday night in December.

All Photos Taken by ACCRA [dot] ALT.

SOUND CHECK 1-2, 1-2

DJ KEV | KOBBY GRAHAM | BADBOY STELOO

CRUSH ME FOR DEH FRONT

M3NSA | KOBBY GRAHAM

TAWIAH’S IN THE BLDG

TAWIAH | WANLOV

IND!E FUSE Promo x JOJO ABOT

We are amped that the IND!E FUSE 2012 mainstage show is just around the corner. Jam with us this Saturday, December 15th from 7:30 – 11:00pm at Alliance Francaise. To get you equally excited for the show we’re dropping a few videos featuring some of the artists doing their thing.

Check out JOJO ABOT – an Ewe soul princess who funks up jazz and dresses down AfroBeat with sticky fire.

See JOJO ABOT live at IND!E FUSE 2012 | @JojoAbot

On FRIDAY<DEC14th, catch our mashup boutique at The Republic Bar + Grill in Osu (make the first right after Frankie’s, place is on your right). We’re starting the party @9:00pm with DJ sets from Jason Kleatsh, Kweku Ananse, SanSe and DJ Kev and collabos with Rumor [Skillions Records], HollaBlak, Looney the TKR, Oga Chuxx, Steloo + Yaw P, Eli and Fatul. 5ghc @ the door.

 

IND!E FUSE 2012: Live Electro Accra [DEC. 14th x 15th]

Accra’s coolest music event of the year, IND!E FUSE, is back for a third edition. Music lovers who want a taste of imaginative, super fresh, and amazing live music should come out and jam at IND!E FUSE 2012. The show features the trendsetters of the Accra indie scene and a growing network of young Ghanaian artists that are causing international waves in music.

ACCRA [dot] ALT, a cultural network that encourages the alternative work of Ghanaian artists and emerging artists across the globe, closes 2012 with a two-day IND!E FUSE concert event on December 14th (The Republic Bar + Grill) and 15th (Alliance Française). IND!E FUSE is the premiere showcase for the freshest artists on the Accra music scene. Last year’s show was a sellout success and this year will be even sweeter. Come and witness Ghanaian and international artists create live sonic rainbows of edgy AfroBeat, electronic soul, drumbassfunk, R&B, true skool hip hop, and rare West African folk grooves.

 Our 2012 IND!E FUSE Lineup for the two nights include:

On Friday 14 December 2012, chill with us at The Republic Bar and Grill for a live DJ mashup with Kwaku Ananse, Jason Kleatsh and SanSe beginning at 9pm (5GHC to enter). Catch live performances by Ghana’s leading indie artists – Rumor, Kay-Ara, Holla Blak, Oga Chuxx, Steloo and Yaw P.

On Saturday 15 December 2012, an eclectic set of musicians from Ghana and abroad will mount the stage at Alliance Française from 7:30 – 11pm. IND!E FUSE 2012 is headlined by FOKN BOIS (UK/Ghana), Tawiah (UK) and Yaa Pono. Fans can also wild out to performances by Jojo Abot (NYC/Ghana), Lady Jay, FaintMedal, Paapa (Skillions Records), Lyrical Wanzam and Zantou Lansre (Niger). The show is hosted by the Sankwas Bois and will feature a live DUSTLVYE (YFM) DJ Booth with the sounds of our resident Funky Professor, Mr. Kobby Graham.

Admission is only 10 GHC.

 IND!E FUSE 2012 is brought to you by ACCRA [dot] ALT in partnership with Institut Français, Alliance Française, The Republic Bar + Grill, REDD Kat Pictures, DUST Magazine, Fullish Art, Pidgen Music, Skillions Records, Goba Hub, Smoothy’s Café and Global Outdoor Systems.

For more information, email us at accra.alt@gmail.com.

ACCRA Street Style Mixtape vol. 2

EVERYDAY WE GET STOKED by the unique flair for style Accra exhibits. From straight, clean cuts to colorful mixed prints, dapper, dark silhouettes, and electronic, trill shapes – the capital city’s got it all.

Check out what Molly Lambe‘s lens picked up for ACCRA [dot] ALT this week for our street segment.

California in Osu | photo by ACCRA [dot] ALT

FLORAL STRIPES | photo by ACCRA [dot] ALT

Twin Swag | photo by ACCRA [dot] ALT