DRUMMER WARRIOR STORYTELLER
Drummer Warrior Storyteller is a living album by multidiscplinary artist Apex Zero, embodying Nigerian author Chinua Achebe’s perception of storytelling; the Drummer calls the people, the Warrior fights the war, the Storyteller recounts the events, creating history, forming memory and giving meaning to the survival of those who endure.
With the many collaborators, Drummer Warrior Storyteller focuses on the frustration, anger, alienation and awareness caused by racism, its embedded structures, police / state violence and denial of opportunity, whilst also striving to break from the image of the ‘struggling’ Black figure, expressing polytemporal, intergenerational joy, love & aspirations to live and grow.
Building on Audre Lorde’s writing and Alexander G. Weheliye’s Habeas Viscus in particular, the album centres African Caribbean perspectives, exploring experiences of oppression & liberation of diasporic, migrant and marginalised people in London and beyond. Pushing the boundaries of what a music album is and can be, the album fuses music with film, dance, photography, metal work, painting & more to produce powerful immersive installations & live performances.
Drummer Warrior Storyteller
is unlocking new potential of the music album, blurring lines between multiple fields, media & methodologies, creating a new paradigm for music-based work. The album is simultaneously singular, modular, interdependent, independent, fixed, fluid & constantly evolving, existing in liminal space between the embodied state of the traditional music album & the transienct essence of a performance you had to be there to experience.
ELEMENTS
DRUMMER WARRIOR STORYTELLER (PART ONE) - FILM
DRUMMER WARRIOR STORYTELLER (PART TWO) - FILM
EKUA McMORRIS - PHOTOGRAPHY
ROXANNE SIMONE - METAL WORK
DORA LAM - LIVE PAINTING
LUCIE GLEDHILL - METAL WORK
(PHOTO BY EKUA McMORRIS)
ALICIA WARNER - FILM
AKIL WILSON - PHOTOGRAPHY
APEX ZERO x STUDIO GODSON - EXPANDED PAINTING
MUSIC
DRUMMER WARRIOR STORYTELLER (PART ONE)
SPOTIFY
BANDCAMP
APPLE
DRUMMER WARRIOR STORYTELLER (PART TWO)
SPOTIFY
BANDCAMP
APPLE
INSTALLATIONS & EVENTS
On Oct 29th 2022, an amazing cast and crew brought Drummer Warrior Storyteller to life at Rich Mix, as part of ‘Legacy 101: Spirit of the Village’ Festival 2022. In its most complete form yet, the visual album was presented as an engaging installation exhibition and an immersive live theatre show.
The exhibition was curated with artists Ekua McMorris, Kyung Hwa Shon & Kyungmin Son. The exhibited work included the collaborative short films - Drummer Warrior Storyteller (Parts One & Two) - built around the album’s music, as well as photography by Ekua McMorris, expanded painting by Studio Godson and the film crew, live painting by Dora Lam, metalwork by Roxanne Simone, Gregory & Tesseras Blacksmiths Ltd and Lucie Gledhill, and outfits designed by Charlita Hall and made by Honey Malalou.
Each piece interprets the music and themes of the album or were created through the filming process. The films, the first of which won an Audience Award at the Short Focus Film Festival 2022, were shown on The Stage’s main screen, followed by panel talks with the artists and curators.
As well as those mentioned above, the exhibition features work made in collaboration with Steph Be, Theo 'Godson' Oloyade, Alethia Antonia, FUBUNATION, 3000CeanHill, Chiba Visuals, Alicia Warner, Informotion Worldwide, Village 101, GlobalFaction, Breakin' Convention, Slim Yearwood, Anna Beel, Akil Wilson and Ukombozii Ancestral Drums.
Event link:
https://richmix.org.uk/events/apez-zero-drummer-warrior-storyteller-daytime/
EXHIBITION - Images by Roisin Jones
Drummer Warrior Storyteller was then presented for the first time as an immersive live theatre production crafted with creative director Muti ‘Mutivation’ Musafiri. Using live music, dance, spoken word, visual effects, projection and sound design, audiences were welcomed into the universe of the album and guided through its multidimensional story. The performance explores African Caribbean storytelling, Spirituality and political traditions. The cast and crew process and interpret their own and collective experiences of the infinite interwoven stories of home, diaspora, displacement, migration and more that are central to that which is labelled ‘Black Experiences’.
The immersive live theatre production is a collaboration between Apex Zero, Muti Musafiri, Daniel Oluwasayo Olabode, Kitmapper, Tilé Gichigi-Liperé, Poetikah, Guy Kelton Jones Sr., Moussa Dembele, Dembis Thioung, Ukombozii Ancestral Drums, Corrie Onyx David King, Grace Ogundipe Akinbode, Andre Bright, Charlita ‘Lita-Styles’ Hall, Honey Malaolu, and features music made by Micall Parknsun, Al Lawson, In:Theory, RU1 Fam, Isatta Sheriff, Logic, Renee Soul, Big Cakes, Jazz T, Crazy Haze, Mazzi & S.O.U.L. Purpose, Elia-Naa, Nilotika Cultural Ensemble.
Event Link:
https://richmix.org.uk/events/apex-zero-drummer-warrior-storyteller-evening/
The night ended with a beautiful afterparty, with DJ Chantz Dee spinning a wide range of local and global Black music and Mas Law holding down the mic. The dance cyphas were off the chain.
THEATRE PERFORMANCE - Images by Akil Wilson
Breakin' Convention: Open Art Surgery
On 9th March 2024, Apex Zero and Corrie David Onyx King performed a section of Drummer Warrior Storyteller at Sadler's Wells as part of Open Art Surgery.
They were one of the six acts who presented brand new short works developed in just one week with mentorship from Hip Hop theatre aficionados Jonzi D, Jane Sekonya and Ivan Blackstock. Apex and Corrie performed alongside Anja Milicic, Gary Clarke - UPG, Luke Lentes & Vasiliki Papapostolou, as well as Ivan himself.
This unique event, which takes place at the end of a week of intense research and development, presents six new works to the audience who are then invited to critique, feedback and ask questions to the artists involved.
BMT CULTURE HUB x EDF LONDON JAZZ FESTIVAL
SUPER ORGANIC - 1ST ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL
On Friday 17th November 2023, Drummer Warrior Storyteller was installed as part of SuperOrganic, a monthly musical experience that mixes Hip Hop’s ‘golden era’ of Jazz and Soul-infused beats with live music, lyrical vibes and spoken word, hosted by producer Fusion and DJs Porge and Budda Q.
To celebrate their 1st anniversary SuperOrganic partnered with Serious to bring a touch of Boom Bap energy to the EFG London Jazz Festival. With Drummer Warrior Storyteller installed as an exhibition, Apex Zero performed with Dembis Thioung (drums) and Moussa Dembele (kora/balafon). They were joined by musician, conceptualist and choreographer tyroneisaacstuart; reggae rebel and musical maverick Br!dge; rapper and activist AWATE; multi-genre songstress K Soul and the percussive powerhouse that is Hannabiell Sanders & Ylis from Ladies of Midnight Blue.
The
Drummer Warrior Storyteller
exhibition remained open to the public at Good Company Tap Room for the following week.
Code 1 Presents: The Chi Dome
at Alexandra Palace's 150th Year Celebration
Apex Zero was joined by Dembis Thioung, Moussa Dembele and the Yemalla Drummers for an afternoon of poetry writing workshops inspired by Drummer Warrior Storyteller, followed by a spoken word and drumming performance, with open mic and open floor.
BLACK PROJECTOR:
DRUMMER WARRIOR STORYTELLER
On March 1st 2023, BMT x BWT launched 'Black Projector', a monthly meet up celebrating the power of film, inspirational shorts, the kind of music videos that spark discussion...and free popcorn!
The premiere event featured an installation of
Drummer Warrior Storyteller, with images and music from the project, followed by film screenings of Part One and Part Two. Apex discussed the album's creation journey with BMT's organiser Fusion, producing an intimate, powerful conversation with the host and audience, before ending with a spoken word performance.
CRUCIBLE: Earthseed
Exhibition
14th-20th November 2022
Stuben Gallery, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NYC
Drummer Warrior Storyteller (Part One) was selected to be part of ‘Earthseed', CRUCIBLE’s show at New York Jewelry Week 2022. The film was shown as a large projection at Pratt Institute's Stuben Gallery at their Brooklyn Campus, and screened on repeat for the duration of the exhibition.
https://nycjewelryweek.com/events/on-going/exhibition/crucible/
DRUMMER WARRIOR STORYTELLER
Visual Album Screening / Exhibition
7pm-9pm - 24th June 2022
Bernie Grants Arts Centre, London
Another SOLD OUT installation of Drummer Warrior Storyteller, this time at 'Simmer Down Fridays', Bernie Grant Arts Centre. The event included film screenings and artwork created through the filming process, including portrait photography by Ekua McMorris and live painting by Dora Lam.
The night was intermixed with a drum circle led by Ukombozii Ancestral Drums, live dance from Muti 'Mutivation' Musafiri and spoken word from Apex Zero. The commuity turned up to drum, dance and flow with us - footage coming soon.
DRUMMER WARRIOR STORYTELLER
Visual Album Screening / Exhibition
6pm - 22nd August 2021
The Hackney Social, London
We SOLD OUT The Hackney Social for the first installation of Drummer Warrior Storyteller, sharing a powerful experience with friends and family, new and old, on the 230th anniversary of the start of the Haitian Revolution. The ancient riddims channelled by the Djembes of Ukombozii Ancestral Drums, the Libation by Orisha Priestess Osunyemi and the performances from Apex Zero, Isatta Sheriff and DJ Steaz cultivated an electric, moving energy felt by all.
We held an insightful reasoning session, facilitated by Victoria Nzeribe of 'Love of Culture' where Apex, Steph Be, Ekua McMorris, Dora Lam, tyroneisaacstuart, Priestess Osunyemi, Jonzi D, Muti Musafiri, Omowale Pert-Hru, Shezal Laing and numerous audience members expressed their views on the processes, emotions, meditations, reactions, interpretations and messages of the project.
BREAKIN' CONVENTION 2021
Visual Album Screening
3rd & 4th July 2021
Sadler's Wells
The premiere screening of the first film element of Drummer Warrior Storyteller was at the sold out Breakin' Convention 2021 festival, featured as one of a number of projects supported by Jonzi D's legendary Hip Hop Dance Theatre platform during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The R&D for the project's choreography was worked on throughout Breakin' Convention's Open Art Surgery initiative, with mentors Jonzi D, Jade Hackett and Ivan Michael Blackstock giving valuable insights and guidance throughout the process.
The R&D gave space for Studio Godson, Alethia Antonia and FUBUNATION to work with Apex and Steph to interpret and elevate the vision of the project as artist in residence at Muti Musafiri's Village 101.
REACTIONS
"It had dance, it had abstraction...the lyrics was always gonna be Fyah. I just think the whole vision was beautiful."
Jonzi D (Breakin’ Convention)
"The energy, passion and commitment to our community gives me hope and confidence for our future. I can't wait to get a copy of the album."
Dr Toyin Agbetu (Ligali / UCL)
"Deeply powerful work that really captures how I feel about the situation we as a people are in, and highlights some real solutions."
Shezal Laing (Slavery Remembrance / Sankofa Day)
"One of the dopest things I’ve experienced...I haven’t felt that way about music and film in a long time. What the collective has put together is something else; drummers, paint, photographs, rapping, the Libations...it came together beautifully."
QBN Blue
"This was a brilliant, highly emotive and powerful look at police brutality beautifully shot, edited and scored...I would certainly like to see this extended with a bigger budget to see how Apex could expand on this concept."
Skandouz (Connoisseurs of Hip Hop / I Am Hip Hop Magazine)
"What a beautiful experience. I watched, I listened and I danced free spirited. Elders, adults, young people and a child here and there having no choice but to allow their spirit to move to Ancestral rhythms."
Griot Chinyere
"An amazing, conscious, spiritual, interactive, poetic, dance musical drumming experience"
Rosanna (Muatta books)
"I came empty and my cup ran over...Spiritual… worldly … vibrating ….haunting…though provoking…stirring!Such powerful messages are needed and necessary...this production needs to be on da road"
Sista P
