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"It's more about knowing who we decide to give our personal residence in our lives"
Kele Okereke spoke about the "liberating challenge" of writing music for the new play "Leave To Remain" – exploring baduality and marriage in a post-Brexit society.
With the soundtrack released today, the series features songs written by Bloc Party singer and Matt Jones, who tell the story of a "young gay couple suddenly facing an uncertain future, told through a mix of music, drama and movement ".
"I think the title obviously evokes images of Brexit and that the action in the play exists in a post-Brexit landscape," Okereke said. NME. "I would say it's mostly a story about two people who are in a relationship and in love. Because of Brexit, one of the characters is moving to another part of the world, forcing them to consider marriage to stay together. So I think it's not really a discussion about residency; it is more important to know who we decide to give our personal residence in our lives. "
He continued, "I understand the questions about the British political landscape, but it's mainly about a story about gay marriage and what's really going on when families get together."
The project was set up when Okereke and Matt Jones started talking while they were traveling to the same gym in East London. They began by planning to turn their idea into a television show, and then, after realizing how long it would take, they started translating it into a graphic novel.
"I started thinking that I was making music for my daily work. Was there a way to integrate music into the story we were working on together? "Said Okereke. "We talked about creating a graphic novel to be able to tell the story and the music shed light on the story.
"Someone suggested we make a musical and they introduced us to the Lyric Theater and they were really in the mood. We came in and worked in 2016 with just a handful of actors and Matt and Robbie, the choreographer. To get here, the road was quite winding, but it's finally arrived. "
He added: "Initially, each song would reflect a chapter of the graphic novel, so we planned to release them episodically. There was a basic framework in place that remained pretty much intact throughout the process. "
Matt Jones, Billy Cullum, Robby Graham, Tyrone Huntley and Kele Okereke attend the "Leave To Remain" press party at Lyric Hammersmith on January 24, 2019 in London, England. (Photo by David M. Benett / Dave Benett / Getty Images)
When asked how difficult it was to adapt his words to a narrative experience rather than a personal experience, Okereke replied, "I must say that I found that very liberator, because when I make discs with Bloc Party or when I usually or always the main expressive point. While with this project, I had to be very focused on what I was writing and I needed to be a lot more literal than what I would have normally chosen to be because I was not going to be there. basically used the music to tell the story.
"It was a challenge on some levels, but it was also very rewarding to know that I had to exist in a setting.
"One of the main characters is of Nigerian descent and the other is American and it was important to me that the music somehow reflects the clash of cultures. That's why I tried to immerse myself in a lot of my parents' music, a West African high-music, and I thought about introducing it into the contexts contemporary Westerners. This is where the electronic influence.
Is it inspired by his own life experiences?
"I do not think the lyrics are specifically autobiographical," Okereke said. "They feel a bit fictitious. At one level, all writing is autobiographical and, of course, I can understand some aspects of this story, but it is not my world. It's a fictional story.
"Matt, the writer and I talked a lot about the beginning of the story that we wanted to tell and he asked me for advice and experience on some of the things that he was going to bring to the screenplay. He also talked to a lot of other people. He talked to many other gay men about their experiences in life and with their families. "
Although the soundtrack was recorded by Okereke himself, the actors in the play play it on stage. The singer admits it was an unusual experience for him, but pushed him to avoid many of the usual clichés of musical theater.
"It's interesting to see how they were reinterpreted for the stage," Okereke said. "I'm not traditionally in musical theater. When I knew we were going to make a music production, I really tried to see as much as I could during those two years, just to get an idea of the language of the musicals and the way crucial to turn it into something would appreciate.
"For me, traditional musicals have a very bbad language and I just wanted to try to play with the form a bit. So, the moments I'm most proud of are those who have a slightly more experimental or abstract feel in songs such as "Chi Chi Convinces" and "Damian's Seduction". They just have a very different and atypical quality for me. "
Come back soon to NME to find out more about our interview with Kele Okereke
The soundtrack of Kele Okereke's 'Leave To Remain' is now available. Read the NME review here.
"Leave To Remain" will be held at Lyric Hammersmith Theater until February 16, 2019, with tickets available here.
Meanwhile, Bloc Party recently announced a series of tour dates in the UK, fully performing its first clbadic album 'Silent Alarm'.
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