interview:SIPHO.
Fresh from the release of his latest project, sipho., producer and multi instrumentalist sits down with Tirade to discuss the realities of finishing a project, the collaborators who helped shape the record, and the creative home he’s built on a farm studio outside the city. Across the conversation, Sipho. reflects on the value of friendship, the challenge of translating feelings into songs, and why radio remains one of the few places where people can still experience music together in real time.
Warm, thoughtful and effortlessly funny, Sipho. speaks with the same sincerity that runs through his music. Whether discussing George Clinton and D’Angelo, obsessing over drum takes, or reminding us all to drink water and mind our business, one thing becomes clear: authenticity isn't a branding exercise for Sipho, it's the foundation of everything he creates.
Interview BY AMRIT KAMBO
photos by priya
"It's been very looked down upon the past couple of years to have something to say about things and feel things."
My name is Sipho, spelled S I P H O. Don't forget the dot, it was very expensive. And I'm very humbled to be here. You could have been anywhere in the world, but you're here with me.
Congratulations on your EP.
SIPHO. - Thank you so much.
I have had it on repeat, I'm not even playing.
SIPHO. - I'm relieved. I'm relieved and I'm glad people like it, but I'm stressing about the rest of the stuff that I'm making right now. The hard part is to finish it. Now I can make ideas all day,
Did you feel that when you were making this project?
SIPHO. - Yeah, because there wasn't even like a, oh yeah, I need to make a project. I was kind of in my little hiatus time. And eventually I sat down, I'm like, what do you want to do next? And I've been making demos anyways. But now it's like, oh, you know, these sick ideas I have are now turning into... so when are you going to finish these? Like, what's left? You know?
ARE YOU A LOVER BOY
SIPHO. - Actually, I got no choice on the matter. Yeah, I have feelings. I care about things, and it's been very looked down upon the past couple of years to have something to say about things and feel things. But you know what, it actually just...
Because I know a lot of people, I don't know if you've been in that situation, but you've had an argument with someone and you realized you could have just avoided that argument if you just said this one thing. I like peace. So let's make it happen. Do the hard thing, and then do the next thing to deal with the hard thing, and then after that, well...
TELL US ABOUT THE WRITING PROCESS.
SIPHO. - Yeah. Because I already know I like this melody, I already know I like this cadence, I'm not gonna change this for nobody. Do you know what I mean? But there's a way to say the thing I want to say, so I have to sit there and kind of do the... hmm.
BINA’S INTERLUDE
SIPHO. - Me and Bina have a bunch of sessions. It's always been very much in the trenches sessions. So it would be, let's say, me and Bina after she's come from work or whatever, traffic in London, so it's a bit of an emotional day, Well, we're just hanging out. I'm glad I got to see you. But I heard this track, I felt like she's the voice for this one.
"Radio is one of those mediums where we relinquish our control and we tune in together to this one frequency, this one sentiment, and we get to feel live together in one moment."
BINA’S INTERLUDE
SIPHO. - Me and Bina have a bunch of sessions. It's always been very much in the trenches sessions. So it would be, let's say, me and Bina after she's come from work or whatever, traffic in London, so it's a bit of an emotional day, Well, we're just hanging out. I'm glad I got to see you. But I heard this track, I felt like she's the voice for this one.
TRY TAME ME FT KOJEY RADICAL
SIPHO. - Funny thing with Kojey Radical, it was literally... 'cause I had his number for ages, but I decided one day to just start bothering him. "You working on any music?" "Yeah." "Well, we've got this album, if you want to come to the sessions." And I think because I have my studio, my studio's on a farm, I'll be trying to get people down to the farm because I come up here all the time. So, nah bro, come on, come down here, come now, 'cause it's gonna be like four hours and we'll get it done.
COLD WEATHER FT NIKHIL, AYEISHA RAQUEL
SIPHO. - Me and Nikhil, we just kind of always knew each other, and eventually, he's one of the people, bless him, because I was like, "Oh yeah, come down to the session." He just came, so that song was actually... I just had the bass on it, you know, I just had the hook. But I think that song is the best. Yeah. And then eventually I got it all together.
Aisha is interesting because I think I was looking for backing vocals for stuff, because I basically got to the wire with my first album, this thing right here. It was all just me on vocals for all of the BVs, and I got tired of just hearing my own voice, like this. Bro, like, please. We got it down for like a week and we just went through the tracks, and I got some extra bits from her, and we got the dimensions, so now here we are.
"We have millions of songs, and I don't think our brains are designed to have that many options. For some people this is too much, literally."
how long did it take you to complete yearn
SIPHO. - It took my whole life to get to this point, but I want to say... let's just say two years. Two years for us to get here. But I think that was from the start of just making demos and feeling it out and studying the sound and the references.
WHAT WERE YOUR REFERENCES
SIPHO. - George Clinton, Funkadelic, Sly Stone, D'Angelo, There's this band, if you go on YouTube, they're called Fanny, and it's like an all girl band from the 70s. From the 70s, yeah. And their shit goes off.
DO YOU HAVE A FAVOURITE
SIPHO. - There's like pre-release favorites, and there's certain songs in that time that I would press play on them and, as great as they are, they just piss me off. I just couldn't get this one sound right or whatever, but then I have to be like, you know what, this is my version of that sound. This is what I can give you. And then there's obviously the post-release kind of favorites, which are the ones that I hated before. So I can just kind of throw it in and it'll be fun. Cocoa Butter and Cigarettes, obviously, that's another one that was really difficult for me, because I played the drums on that and I usually don't play all the drums on the stuff.
When you listen back to "Cocoa Butter & Cigarettes," are there moments that you're particularly proud of as a musician?
SIPHO. - Because there's me, and then there's my boy Tom, who's on some of the other tracks, and he's like a human clock. So comparing my playing to his playing, every time I listen to mine, my feelings are hurt. There was a way to end it, and I was listening to it and I was like, "Oh, I'm a lady." That's the point. I want the ladies to feel like the ladies.
WHO DID YOU LISTEN TO GROWING UP
SIPHO. - There’s this band a Swedish duo called the Roxette. The cassettes, we had all the tapes. We also had this one single... it was the cassette single of "Don't Let Go" by En Vogue. But obviously it would be the OG, then there's African House
radio
SIPHO. - Radio is one of those mediums where we relinquish our control and we get to tune in together to this one frequency, and this one sentiment that's going on, and we get to feel live together in one moment.
streaming
SIPHO. - It's nice to have the access to the streaming and everything, but we have hundreds of thousands, millions of songs, and I don't think our brains are designed to have that many options. For some people this is too much, literally.
RADIO
SIPHO. - Jesus, no. You don't... you still have... I'm a new man, you got respect too. But yeah, you don't want to listen back to the thing where you know all the things you were doing wrong.
How do I feel about the music that I'm making now?
SIPHO. - Fuck yeah. This is like... I want to say this is the first or second iteration of the farm. That's my home base, that's my studio, that's where I get all my stuff done, that's where all my friends are. And it's a nicely, groovy, decorated space.
**Interviewer:** Very nice.
SIPHO. - And I'm hiring it out to people every now and then. So let's do business, let's make a deal, let's talk rates. And not even on some "I want to be a farmer" type of thing. I really try and take care of my own plants. But I guess it's just having a space with land that's flexible, that you can kind of do what you want to do. It's yours. I can have my studio here and I can grow food here, and I have options.
ANY WORDS OF ADVICE
SIPHO. - Be very earnest, and work with your friends, and be willing to learn more than one skill at a time, because if you want anything to actually happen, at first you're going to have to do it all yourself. Thank you very much for having us. Thank you for being so sweet and lovely. Everyone, have your vitamins and do your exercise and drink your water. Drink your water and mind your business.
**Interviewer:** Exactly.
"You had an argument with someone and you realized you could have avoided the whole thing if you just said this one thing. I like peace. So let's make it happen."