In between sound checks and chicken wings, we caught up with Femi Koleoso of Ezra Collective in the back patio of The Main II. That night, March 14th, the venue was being taken over by British jazz in a big way. Those at the forefront of the new wave of British jazz, like Moses Boyd and Blue Lab Beats, were performing as part of a showcase organized by Jazz re:freshed and British Underground. Both have over 15 years’ in supporting alternative jazz musicians in the UK, and work hard to bring their music worldwide.

Femi Koleoso is an accomplished man outside of his band; as a touring drummer with Jorja Smith, Nubya Garcia and previously with other artists, like Pharoahe Monch, he’s just landed a fortnightly show with Reprezent Radio in London, which is unsurprising given his down-to-earth and articulate manner. A perfect example of what public arts funding can do, Koleoso and his brother TJ got into jazz from a young age, and they ran with it. Jazz may be the official genre of Ezra Collective, but their sound is a product of growing up in London: grime, garage, hip hop, electronic - and you can hear it all.

We spoke to Femi about how Ezra Collective came to be, his experiences playing outside of the UK, chopping it up with Drake, and why happiness is the most important thing.

UHH: Can you tell me some of the background on Ezra Collective, what you guys are about and how it all happened?

Femi: So I'm Femi Koleoso, I play the drums and band lead for Ezra Collective. We've been going for six years, we met in a jazz development organization called Tomorrow's Warriors. They put on jazz workshops for free and just try and encourage young people to play the music. So through that I met the others, and then TJ, my brother's in the band also. We just been hitting it since then really, trying to push boundaries, enjoy ourselves, and that's basically the story 'til now.

UHH: Nice. Where did the name come from? It definitely stands out.

Femi: Ezra is a prophet in the Bible, and the story of Ezra is he studied the prophets before him and then used that information to go forward. It's the same approach I have to music where I'll be checking out things that have happened before, and using all of that information to go forward. Then ‘Collective’ because it's not just one person, it's all of us.

UHH: Great name! That's got way more thought embedded into it than most names I reckon.

Femi: Yeah, I hear that, why you call yourself Arctic Monkeys? There was a little vibe to it.

UHH: That's cool. I studied theology actually, I should have known that about Ezra…

Femi: Oh, wavy man. That's a cool thing to study, you know. I probably would have done something like that if I didn't go for the music thing.

UHH: I could not have done music, haha. Have you ever done SXSW before?

Femi: No man...Moses [Boyd] has done it before, half them have but this is my first time.

UHH: So how does it feel to be here?

Femi: Exciting! Man, you hear about it everywhere, it's a positive vibe. I love the energy, I'm just walking down that street [6th Street] and you see someone with a tambourine, and you see someone screaming and someone dancing, and you hear some music here, hear some rock band there. I like the energy and the vibes. I'm just so honored that they want us to contribute to that. It feels special, the first time Ezra Collective is in America, so that's positive as well. Taking new ground and that. I'm happy to be here.

UHH: Do you have time to check out some other shows?

Femi: It's pretty full on because we're here so short. But I was saying earlier, our managers circled a bunch of things in the program like, ‘You should see this and this.’ So I'm just hoping to catch what I can. But I'm just more excited about being in the environment, you get me?

UHH: First time in the US. That's a big deal. You’ve obviously played outside of the UK in Europe though?

Femi: Yeah, several times.

UHH: Do you feel like playing in the UK versus outside feels different?

Femi: Yeah, it's different people, even just playing in different part of the UK it's always a different vibe and you feed off that energy. It's always positive. Like you go to Germany, you go to Kazakhstan or whatever.

UHH: Kazakhstan?! Is there a jazz scene there?

Femi: I didn't know that but when we got there they had a party, man. It was wicked. I've had the pleasure of traveling a lot with music, and so everywhere I go I'm just looking for different energy and stuff. Last year, not with Ezra, but I toured the entire United States, and even just state to state there are such differences. I love it, I love meeting new people. I'm glad to meet you, do you know what I'm saying?

UHH: Sick, I definitely understand that. And whereabouts in London are you from?

Femi: North London.

UHH: Same! Where?

Femi: Wait, snap! What part of North London you from?

UHH: East Finchley.

Femi: Mad. I grew up in Enfield.

UHH: North London is everywhere....

You’re all part of this new jazz wave coming out of the UK. You, Moses, and really this whole line-up always get name-checked in anything to do with UK jazz. How does it feel to be at the forefront of that wave, and really be changing a musical sound?

Femi: It's an honor, It's a privilege. These lot are just my bredrens, so it means a lot to be mentioned amongst them, because even though they're just my friends, I'm just a fan of them. To be mentioned amongst Moses means a lot to me, ‘cause I rate him just standard. If I wasn’t playing this music I would still be rating him because he's sick. It's positive when you see the name being spread around because that means more people are enjoying it, do you know what I'm saying? Good vibrations.

UHH: When you guys started out, or maybe within these past six years, did you think, ‘We're going to be different, we're going to be something new"? Or it was just the sound you were making organically?

Femi: No, I think we just set out as like, we're gonna be honest and we're gonna tell our own story, and we're not gonna compromise that for anything. Whether it's popular or not, I just wanna tell my story and be true to myself, and TJ, Dylan, Joe, and James, it's very much if we think it sounds cool, it will be played. Whether people leave the dance floor or not, if I think it sounds hench, and thank the Lord what we think sounds cool, people are attracted to at the moment. It was never like, ‘I wanna be different’, or bring this new wave of jazz. It was just like, if I love John Coltrane, and I love J Dilla, and I love J Hus, then it's all gotta come out in the gig. When you approach music like that it will always sounds different because that's the beauty of being you. No one else can sound like me because I'm me, and Moses is Moses. So that's all it was really.

UHH: You just mentioned three very different genres within those artists - who do you listen to?

Femi: I listen to those three. It's a wide listening range. I might check out Fela Kuti, I love bebop, I'm listening to Freddie Hubbard, I'm listening to Miles Davis. I'm listening to Giggs, to Skepta, D Double E. I'm listening to Nubya, I'm listening to Sun Ra. It's all a massive, massive spectrum. You can't really press shuffle on my Spotify ‘cause it's just gonna just throw you in all types of galaxies. I love hip hop; I got the privilege of playing with some really great hip hop artists from the States.

UHH: Oh really, like who?

Femi: Pharoahe Monch. I toured with him for a few years, which was really positive and I learned so much from him. I love Mos Def and I love Nas. I love A$AP Rocky. I love all sorts, man, I'm not a snob. I love Drake.

UHH: Drake's my number one of all time.

Femi: You know what, man? It's so mad. I've got maddest privilege to play with him and meet him.

UHH: What? You've played with him?

Femi:Yeah, man! He featured on a track for Jorja Smith, I play the drums for her. Once we played in Toronto and he came out and joined us on the track.

UHH: Oh my god.

Femi: It was wavy, and I got to spend the evening talking and reasoning with him.

UHH: And? Was he the best thing ever?

Femi: He's crazy, but you know what the maddest thing is? I have to be honest. I wouldn't say I was a hench Drake fan when that happened. I knew of him but I hadn't really gone in, and then I got a new car and the radio station I was listening to played him all the time. And you know that moment when you're like, ‘This is a vibe, this is a vibe.’ It's a bit like when you start drinking alcohol, the first time you drink it it's like, ‘I don't like this, I don't know.’ And then before you know it, you're in deep, and you're trying to get off it. It's one of them ones.The spectrum of music I'm into is wide, and I pray I stay that way.

UHH: That's sick. How do you balance yourself as a drummer touring with other artists, and then playing with Ezra Collective, and making music together?

Femi: I've got really good people that help me out scheduling things, just on a practical level. But then also, whatever you prioritize in your heart, it seems to work out. I'm 100% on this Ezra Collective thing, write music, push it forward. I love touring with Jorja, I love recording with different projects and different bands. I'm always working hard. But it's mad, just keep it going really, and then where your life takes you, you move in different directions, things go down, other things pop up and you just keep it moving.

UHH:  You guys dropped an EP last year, Juan Pablo the Philosopher. How did that go down?

Femi: Wavy, man. People liked the songs, and I got shouted by lots of people, "Yo, this record's making me happy!" My favorite thing ever is when I get tweets from people...the other day someone must have been 40, 50, she said she had a few kids. She said, "I'm cooking and dancing to Ezra Collective right now." And I was like, that's so real, ‘cause my mom cooks and dances, and she has a couple of kids. That meant a lot to me. You walk into a club and people blaring it, a club played it at midnight on New Year's Eve. I wasn't there, but that's so wavy that you deemed Space is the Place right to rock your New Year's. So I wrote the music to make people happy, make people dance, make people smile. And I feel like that's what's happening with it, you get me? When we played Juan Pablo, the track itself, at the album launch in November in London, them man was skanking and jumping and that was nice. Someone wrote to us like, "Yo, can I use your music for my cooking channel?" I was like, "Yeah man, go for it." He made his thing, our music was in the background, I enjoyed every second of that Instagram video. So yeah it's positive reception to it, which makes us happy.

UHH:  Okay, so what's the next step?

Femi: Bruv, I get asked this question often, and the answer's always been the same. My main priority is just keeping the band together and keeping people happy. As long as anyone can share a hotel room with anyone, as long as if someone feels upset they can just put in the WhatsApp group, "Yo man, I need someone to come round," and anyone can turn round. If that's the vibration that we have within the band, the music will take care of itself. The opportunities will take care of itself. The features, the gigs, the tours, all of that. The t-shirts, the socks, all the merch, everything. Hopefully that's what happens, we all stay together and write music and make people happy. Maybe we just stay together as mates and don't write any more music, just see what happens. Not really into putting too much pressure, like, "Yeah, Imma have an album for you in April, and Imma have three features with three different artists." [Pause to listen to the soundcheck] I can hear that's James playing the saxophone. That's real, innit? I can hear, I can tell. He could go into Space is the Place any second now, and I'll have to run away and join him on drums.

...and that’s what he did.

Find Ezra Collective and Femi here:

Website: http://ezracollective.com

SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/ezracollective

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5BRAUN0yN8557PLRZIr02W?si=45a6TYqDQcmnv0wliZ79_g

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ezracollectivemusic/ / https://www.instagram.com/femiondrums

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ezracollective / https://twitter.com/FemiOnDrums