Speed Date With Stuart Fergie aka Didgeristu From OKA

1.Your Profile

Try to imagine Bob Marley meets Stevie Wonder via The Chemical Brothers, on acid, playing in a steaming rainforest with a didgeridoo, and you are getting close. OKA is a celebration of freedom, beauty and love. It’s electric, it’s conscious roots, it’s Dreamtime. OKA draw upon their indigenous connection to place and country through an irresistible blend of influences spanning house, big beat, reggae-dub, roots, jazz and world music.

2.Keeping Busy

We have just returned from just over four months of touring extensively through Europe and Canada. It was our maiden voyage to Europe and was really well received, so now we’re in motion to finish our new album and head back overseas sharing more OKA tunes.

3.Best Gig Ever

We have had some amazing gigs over the years, but recently we played a show at the Colours of Ostrava festival in the Czech Republic to 20,000 peeps hearing and reacting to OKA for the first time. It’s a crazy experience watching someone absorb OKA for the first time. But the real highlight was supporting the godfather of funk, Mr. George Clinton, at The Forum in London. It was such a religious experience and honour to share our sound before hanging side of stage as George did his magic… wow, I still get goosebumps thinking about it now.

4.Current Playlist

I’m really into an amazing first nation band from Canada, A Tribe Called Red. They put on an ‘electric pow wow’ where they create heavy dance music with traditional summing and singing. Such a dope experience!

5.Your Ultimate Rider

Our ultimate rider is two words: Ron Zacapa. Rum is our weapon of choice and is really all you need. We love a good Jamaican Mule and a Zacapa XO is medicine. And we have a few vegetarians in the group so finding good organic ‘herb’ is always important.