P&P Spotlight: Wuzy Bambussy & Kat Harrison (EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW)

In several music discussion threads, album reviews, and fan pages, one can often find debates of which songs deserved the single treatment but never got it. Sometimes, this leads to passionate arguments between fans, and in other cases, they will not leave their favorite artists alone on the matter, until they cave. Wuzy Bambussy has accidentally discovered a way to end the discourse before it even starts: releasing every track as a single. By putting out one song per month, he hopes to let each of them have its moment, and make a greater, more long-lasting impression as an artist.

Stylistically, Wuzy Bambussy adds a refreshing, modern twist to traditional1920s jazz music, characterizing a variety of everyday human emotions in a three-dimensional manner. With the help of singer Kat Harrison, this ongoing project brings new perspectives and daring creative choices to the indie music scene. Read our full interview with this mastermind below!

Image credit: Wuzy Bambussy; graphic created by Karly Ramnani

YOU'LL LOVE WUZY BAMBUSSY IF YOU LISTEN TO: Etta James, Ashe, Nina Simone, Laufey, Bruno Mars, John Legend

What inspired you to use an alter ego, rather than your real name? How did you come up with "Wuzy Bambussy"?

I’ve always liked the degree of separation that an alter ego can provide. It feels then that you aren’t airing your whole everything out in public you know? In this day and age you’re supposed to be present online for everything, and I just don’t think that results in great art or music. I guess an alter ego affords more privacy and that makes more sense to me.

What styles of music and artists inspire you the most? What draws you to jazz and funk music, in particular?

Now that’s a galactic question, I’m not sure where to even start! I’m obsessed with music, and with the craft of lyricism and songwriting. I find I’m a fan of the song more than any particular musician or producer - I can really actively dislike an artist, but they have that one song that’s just genius that I love. Always, the end product is the key, not the vessel that made it. Producer wise, I’m a big fan of Dangermouse, Rza, Quantic, [and] Quincey Jones. At the moment I’m listening to stuff by Drug Cabin, Woods, Ezra Collective & Cheikh Lo. With jazz & funk, I love the freedom of the mind that jazz provides, and with funk, it’s the freedom of the arse!

How did you and Kat Harrison meet, and what made you both decide on the project of releasing one single per month? In what ways do you guys hope this goal will push and challenge you?

I met Kat through an ad she had on a musicians meeting site. I was looking to get a new project up and running, joined this site, and Kat was literally the first person I stumbled across! I heard her sing, and [then] for me the search was over. The whole single a month thing, so we wrote 10 tunes (well, one is instrumental) so we could’ve just released an LP straight off, but as an unknown act it would’ve just sunk without a trace into the depths of the digital murk. A single a month gives us a chance to give each song its [time of] day, to stage a little mini event with each release and to talk to good people like yourself about our music! So yeah, we weighed it up and decided the reach of 10 singles was a far better plan.

Image credit: Wuzy Bambussy & Kat Harrison

I love the characterization of writers' block in "Shoo Bi Be Doo." As a songwriter, tell us about your personal experience with writers' block! What advice would you give to aspiring songwriters - and writers in general - who face the same issue?

Thanks! So it’s more of a haunting than a block I guess, I never feel out of ideas it’s just finding the right headspace to birth the stubborn little thing! Often I will take out song ideas on my phone then sing them loud and very badly into the countryside where I’m often caught and avoided by other terrified dog walkers. I work a lot through the night when the muse is at her calmest and vibes channel smoother. Advice-wise? Well for me, any hold up is generally with the lyrics. I want them to be meaningful, have flair and depth and to avoid cliché but also not pretentious, it’s a tricky balance! I would say if you’re stuck move on, keep that melody compartmentalised and it’ll come when you least expect it.

I also really liked "Matinee"! Can you take us through your world-building process of this one?

"Matinee," the song, had been around in a demoed format for a few years. I knew Kat would be perfect on it and I wanted to write something that suited her voice. The song has a dreamy. summery vibe so I looked to conjure that up, on a beautiful moment where all the woes of the world can be forgotten, where the blue notes don’t get played and where drama and tragedy aren’t invited. The song is about making perfect memories, that can be replayed in the cinema of your mind when life is much less than perfect.

Of all the singles you and Kat have put out so far, is there a particular one that stands out to you? If so, what makes you pick this track over the others?

Can I be cheeky and say it’s our new single "Yesterday’s Shoes"? I have a real affinity with this one, I can’t really say why but I always knew this little groove had potential and I’m very proud of how it turned out.

How many of the remaining singles have already been written? Do you have one you're most excited for us to hear?

So they’ve all been written, they’ve been finished some time ago. I sat on them for ages and had a real crisis of confidence, Kat to her credit stuck with it but she must’ve wondered what on earth was occurring, we did all this body of work during various lockdowns then ...nothing...for a year! Bambussy finally snapped out of my bad funk and shook me roughly, screaming in my face. Another benefit of the alter ego, they don’t put up with your nonsense.

Based on your experience with releasing a single per month so far, would you consider doing it again next year?

So currently I’m working on around 10-15 new song ideas, we’ve finalised 2 with recorded vocals, lyrics written for another 3 or 4. I’m going to drop an instrumental world funk EP next year at some point and I think there’s going to be a folk EP also, then after that I’ll be doing more monthly single drops with Kat, yes.

And finally, the P&P Classic - What's one lyric on a single from this project that stands out to you? How do you personally connect to it, and what was going through your head as you composed it?

I would say there’s a future release for November called "What Became of You?’ It’s a real old time, late night down tempo vibe reminiscent of like Billie Holiday or Julie London or someone. The opening lines are “Now the clubs are closing up, all the buildings shells. Big old bus is bumping down, past the Grand hotels. My mind starts to wander as it’s wont to do. All across the aeon, What became of you?” I love the romance of that, like a late night bus ride in foggy late Autumn London, it’s a reflection on a past lost love. Yeah, that one I think.

We're so grateful that Wuzy Bambussy and Kat Harrison are bringing us along on a compelling, ten-month journey - and today, we got to go behind the scenes of it! Few are cut out for ambitious projects of this nature, but this dynamic duo steps up to the challenge and adds their own flair to it. The pair highlights their individual and collective strengths, including an eagerness to experiment and impressive versatility. As we stay tuned for Wuzy Bambussy and Kat Harrison's final four tracks of this current effort, coming over the next four months, we've got just the playlist for you to listen to in the meantime.