Innerviews with Theru

I have known Emma Mbeke Nzioka for about 3 years now. From back when she worked as a media photo-journalist and moonlighted as a film location scout. On the weekends one would find her doing the flea market beat selling her specialty homemade healthy candy. Music was a therapy that helped her unwind -decompress after a hard days hustle. Fast forward to present day Nairobi and we have been witness to a surreal transformation. 2018 marked the break out year for this chocolate beauty who now rolls by the moniker 'Coco Em' - Nairobi's hardest hustling Deejay. It had been barely a year after her bold venture into full-time duty behind the decks when 'Boiler Room' - the international live music streaming platform came calling and she headlined their 'True Music Africa' tour - Nairobi edition. It was then that deejay Coco Em was thrust into the global spotlight. A number of high profile international gigs soon followed and she closed out the phenomenal year by p

INTRO John Udulele is an afroeclectic, folk singer-songwriter whose evolution as a musician has been steeped in Benga culture. An avid experimentalist he is co-founder of the bengatronics collective, an outfit that is blending the benga sound with EDM - Electronic Dance Music. This self-effacing, soft-spoken music man is now pushing a new project that is dear to his heart. He labels this genre as Soulful Benga. A sound that aptly describes him as an artist and mirrors him as an individual. INTERVIEW I remember when I first met John Udulele, It was at 'The Terrace',  a scenic open-air makuti tavern perched cliff-side right by the Kilifi bridge. We were having a sundowner jam session and the sea rippled gold. Udulele was singing solo, improvising lyrics as he strummed the guitar. His music complimented the scene. He had everyone enthralled. It was quite a surreal moment. We then kept bumping into each other within the arts and culture event spaces and we became acquainted. I

In the undulating landscape of vivid red sandstones by the shores of the great salt lake Anam Ka'alakol,  lies an ancient sacred mound nestled between two prominent ridges of dark volcanic rock. A ring of boulders defines the mound’s edges; rock pillars demarcate its center where a huge fire eerily lights up the landscape. A group of young neophytes, marked with sacred sigils of ochre, mustard and charcoal gather around a ritual fire Inlaid with an obsidian rock that burns white hot. In unison they hum a tune that they have heard in their sleep through every full moon for the last solar cycle. They are the ones who have heeded the sacred calling from their dreaming and have come to partake of this ancient ritual.  The great invocation is a tradition as old as time in the memory of the clan. It is held every solar cycle at the time of the red moon right after the season of humid heat - just before the rains. The great entities of the 4 directions are invited to take possession of

Life... To know that rhythm, to be that flow. The love beating in the heart. How one feels - the joie de vivre, Is really all that matters. To the young at heart, to those still flourishing, We bless you for your creative light and vibrance that fill up our spaces. to the weary souls, the fading stars, whose eyes dimly stare beyond the horizon Into the abyss of reckoning. We salute you For the parts you have played In our journey. to the zombies, the undead who inhabit the in-between  Leading Sullen, leaden, harried lives, Subjects to the the tyranny of the chime, life force stolen for a dime Re-member the child the play and the day dreams, the wishing upon a star, that which makes you come alive. bring the twinkle Back into your eyes. Ahh - Life! 

This was a pop-up carnival right in the midst of Kilifi's primeval baobab forest. An ethnic-inspired EDM fantascape featuring holistic wellness programs, workshops, and dazzling art installations. This was officially the herald of the first transformational festival in Subsaharan Africa … well apart from the 'Afrika Burn' Fest in South Africa. I had been waiting for this moment since I read up on the plans of the move of Kilifi New Years Festival to the new 20-acre site on the upper reaches of Takaungu Creek on the Indian Ocean. I had been to Kilifi just once before when I needed an escape from the Nairobi June -July winter. I was also going thru' an existential crisis and my life was in a desperate need of a reboot. Beyond the stunning visual beauty of its coastal line - the white powdery beaches, emerald creeks and warm turquoise waters, t here is a mood here that settles and centers one.  A sacred presence that speaks peace and healing to ones being. It was hard l

I dream that I am 5 years old again. I hear a voice calling me in my sleep. I rise up from bed half asleep and walk to the  window. In the garden I see my favourite play tree awash in wavy blue light. I open the window and climb into the cold chilly night. The grass is wet with dew. The stars glimmer icily in the inky blackness. All is silent except for the chirping of crickets. I begin to approach this strange phenomenon. I walk without hesitation or fear. I have done this before. The earth suddenly trembles. I stumble and stop. I feel crawly sensation penetrate the soles of my naked feet and furry warmth creeping up my legs gathering like wet wood smoke on my pelvic floor. Titillating pressure builds up into the base of my spine. A sudden cracking sound and a spiral gush of energy shoots up exploding at the brain stem. I feel warm oily sensation fill up my eye sockets. Then a bright flash and I'm floating in soft milky white light. Free from its material cage, consciousness exp