Whenever the expression ‘tribute show’ is uttered, it’s generally wise to run a mile. Chances are it’ll involve a bunch of mismatched also-rans playing half-hearted cover versions.Atomic Bomb!, however, is an exception. A feature event at next year’s Sydney Festival, the show takes its name from one of the many mind-bending originals written and performed by 1970s Nigerian electronic funk artist William Onyeabor.
“Everyone who is involved is a big fan of his music and really respects William Onyeabor,” says Atomic Bomb! bandleader Sinkane (AKA Ahmed Gallab). “So we’re coming in at 100 per cent. Everyone wants to see the live performance at its full effect. We want it to be a really beautiful experience for everybody involved.”
Over two nights at the Enmore Theatre, Gallab and his Sinkane bandmates will lead a crack crew of musicians – including Gotye, Money Mark, Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, LCD Soundsystem’s Pat Mahoney and The Mahotella Queens – through a sequence of Onyeabor’s feel-good, synth-heavy jams. With the exception of Gotye, the Atomic Bomb band has already done a handful of triumphant shows in the US and UK.
“All of us have taken it very seriously,” Gallab says. “Through that we’ve become a unit. We’re a big family; there’s 14 of us onstage and we really like to play with each other. We were the first people to perform this music live – it was never performed live, ever – so I hope that we’re doing it justice for him, but at the same time it’s turned into our own thing and we’re really happy to be playing music with each other.”
Onyeabor’s recording career stretched from the late ’70s through to the mid-’80s. During that period, he independently recorded and released a series of LPs, all featuring a heavily synthesised mutation of Afrobeat. Listening in 2014, Onyeabor’s output remains unstoppably uplifting and positively futuristic.
“It’s pretty genius music if you think about it,” Gallab says. “He was doing what musicians are trying to do now, back in 1977. He recorded everything himself, he played all of the instruments himself and he released the music all himself. That, in 1977, was unheard of and was completely ahead of its time. I would argue that people who are doing it now aren’t even doing it in the same capacity he did. It’s a pretty unbelievable achievement.”
The Atomic Bomb! live show came together thanks to David Byrne’s world music imprint, Luaka Bop. Last year, Luaka Bop issued a comprehensive retrospective album called Who Is William Onyeabor? Prior to this, Onyeabor’s ‘Better Change Your Mind’ featured on the label’s 2005 compilation World Psychedelic Classics Volume 3: Love’s A Real Thing, which is how Gallab discovered the Nigerian guru.
“His was so far beyond what was my understanding of African music. I was so inspired by it. It’s just beautiful music. It makes you feel good and it’s got a really positive message. And it’s kind of hypnotic – you can’t stop listening to it.”
Now based in New York, Gallab is of Sudanese heritage. Both these locations influence the music he’s been making under the Sinkane moniker since 2007. Mean Love, theproject’s fourth LP, came out this August. The record makes it pretty obvious that Onyeabor’s upbeat outlook has rubbed off on Gallab.
“I really was inspired by the fact that his music sounded deeply African, but had transcended the idea of what African music was,” he says. “It ultimately became something unto itself. That’s something I’ve always wanted to do and William Onyeabor’s been my biggest influence in that regard.”
Atomic Bomb! The Music Of William Onyeabor as part of Sydney Festival 2015. Sinkane will be alongsideGotye, The Mahotella Queens, Money Mark, Luke Jenner, Alexis Taylor, Pat Mahoney atEnmore TheatreonFriday January 16 and Saturday January 17, tickets online.
