Mo Kolours Interview

There are many things that make Mo Kolours, aka Joseph Deenmamode, stand out. The half English, half Mauritian musician/vocalist/DJ involves many different instruments and heavy sampling in his production for a sound that can’t be imitated. Perfect vibes for a chilled festival experience, he’ll be headlining Meadows In The Mountains in beautiful Bulgaria in June, so we thought it was the perfect time to find out more about him.

Hi Joe, how are you today?
I’m alright, how are you?

We’re great, thanks! Where in the world are you right now?
I’m in London – not that exotic!

Do you split your time between London and Mauritius?
Nah, I wish I could but that would be expensive! I’ve only been out there a couple of times, but I’ve got family there and I’ve got a close affinity to the place, and I’m planning to go out there more in the future.

There are clear London and Mauritian influences to your music; do you use your personal background to separate you from other acts that are out there?
Not really, that wasn’t really my intention. I feel like I don’t belong to one thing in particular – not Mauritian, not English – my mum’s white and my dad’s black but I don’t really look like either, so I’ve always had this thing about not hanging in one place and I wanted to do that in my music. People find the Mauritian connection quite interesting, and the music from Mauritius is quite unique, so it has helped, but my intention was actually opposite, to make it a little bit ambiguous and hard to tell where I was from. Didn’t quite pan out like that… [Laughs]

There are some very enigmatic samples and instruments in your music, from distorted laughing and children crying to different types of drum; are all of these a result of experimentation?
Yeah, totally, spot on. I just like playing around and listening to different records and getting inspiration about how to approach sound, not necessarily thinking about it in a structural sense, just appreciating the sound and different frequencies. I just try to find new things and get people going.

Is that what influences the sound that your produce?
It definitely plays a role, but there are loads, y’know. Life is an influence, from my dinnertime to dreams, the way I feel about consuming things.

Do you travel much?
Yeah, I’ve been really lucky since I’ve been putting out music, people have asked me to come here and there. I’ve been to so many magical places. My Mrs is actually Japanese and we’re planning to go out there but I’m trying to juggle that around gigs that I’m doing.

You’ll be heading to Bulgaria for Meadows In The Mountains in June; is it your first time at the festival?
Yeah, I think it was a couple of Brits that started it, so it’s gonna have that British feel to a summery festival, a little bit hippy, and that’s always nice.

Do you think the Bulgarian mountains will give you any inspiration?
I hope so! I hope they don’t leave me speechless!

How do you want people to feel when listening and watching you play live?
I’d like them to sympathise with what I’m trying to do; the fact that music and sound can be interpreted in different ways, and that moods and emotions can come and go rapidly and be opposing within the structure of music and sound. Overall, I’d like them to feel like they had a fun time and some of the ways that I present that sound can make them feel like they wanna listen more. I want people to enjoy it and feel like it’s not too heavy or silly – somewhere in the middle!

And what about you when you’re on stage? As it’s somewhere between a DJ and live performance, what’s your plan on stage?
I often have no plan whatsoever, I rely on spontaneity and the feeling of the crowd, my own emotions let me do what I feel at the time. I have loose structures of vocals that I use, but otherwise it’s unplanned, so there’s a live element, but then I take some beats that I’ve made I’ll play those to get people moving just in case the live thing goes wrong! I want to make people think about what DJing is, and the selection of music to show people apart from your own.

Will you be incorporating your new EP, ‘How I (Rhythm Love Affair)’ into your sets?
Yeah, I’d like to play a couple of tracks off that and see if people wanna get dancey!

How I (Rhythm Love Affair) by Mo Kolours

Will you be hanging around for the rest of the festival?
I think I’m only going to be there for a couple of days, so I’ll try and soak in as much as I can, eat some local food and maybe get some records and local instruments. Unfortunately, it’s part and parcel of these things that you don’t get to be there for that long.

Gilles Peterson must have made a big impact on your career; how did the meeting and live session come about?
He invited into the studio for an interview and he was excited – I don’t know why! – and he asked me about all the things I’d do, so from that the Maida Vale session was organised, and I felt like it was a little bit of a test! It was definitely a personal test… And it was cool, an amazing experience.

Who are your heroes?
The list goes on and on, really. There are the obvious ones like Jay Z, Jimi Hendrix, Madlib, Bob Marley, The Stranglers, Bobby McFerrin, Reggie Watts…loads! I love YouTube actually, I think it’s the best thing about the Internet. Back in the day, you couldn’t find artists talking about what they like and on a personal level – you’d have to wait for a documentary on TV – but nowadays you can type in “Jimi Hendrix talking about the colour purple” and you might find something and it’s crazy!

Finally, why the name Mo Kolours?
It came out nowhere, I called myself something else just to make beats, and then I put vocals on the beats and it felt like something else, like, “who is this character?!”. As I’ve grown, the name seems to fit more and more, I’m grateful for it.

Get your ticket to Meadows In The Mountains from www.meadowsinthemountains.com