Jacob Maskell-Key – Spooky-J, drum kit – Peter Jones – pq, electronics – Henry Kasoma – Prince, small drums – Henry Isabirye – Isa, bass drums – Jamiru Mwanje – Jally, long drum
Nihiloxica is a project that harnesses the full force of the ancient Bugandan drumming tradition of Uganda and focuses it on the contemporary dance floor through a dark lens of techno sensibility.
Formed by UK musicians Spooky-J & pq and members of the Nilotika Cultural Ensemble, incubated in Kampala by acclaimed label Nyege Nyege Tapes, the cross-continental band explore the common ground between techno and tradition, a conversation between two cultures with a common aim: to make people dance. Already tearing apart dance floors and festivals across the world with an at once transcendental and earth-shattering live show, Nihiloxica are only just getting started.
“Nihiloxica are the best band on Earth right now.” (The Quietus)
“Eerie, almost gothic, with digital synths fizzing and rumbling around hypnotic, polyrhythmic grooves.” (Pitchfork)
The collab between the Ljubljana festivals Druga godba and SONICA represents a logical step towards bringing together different audiences who share a similar sensibility for adventurous indigenous musical expressions from all over the world.
The closing night of SONICA 2023 will be defined by the sounds of one of the most intriguing live techno ensembles of the moment, the Ugandan-British collective Nihiloxica, and the Egyptian electronic music producer ABADIR, whose album Mutate (Svbkvlt, 2022), a beautiful sonic mutation of Arabic rhythms, jungle, Jersey Club, reggaeton and footwork, landed on many AOTY 2023 lists.
Even if they are fundamentally two quite different musical projects, both are united by an innovative approach to fusing contemporary club sonics and local traditions, where techno, jungle and other electronic expressions are intertwined with breakneck centuries-old polyrhythms. By fusing indigenous musical heritage and global electronic currents, Nihiloxica and ABADIR create a completely unique dance music that embodies that primal futuristic charge of the pioneering 90s.
