We chat to UK duo Maribou State ahead of their SA tour

Cape Town – UK duo Maribou State is coming to South Africa for the very first time in December.

Their sound is eclectic, down-tempo and steeped in classic hip-hop and their new album, Portraits is basically updated trip-hop. 

They’ll be playing two shows, one in Cape Town and one in Johannesburg, and will be performing with Felix Laband, Christian Tiger School, PHFat, Akio, DJ Lag, Kidfonque, Nonku Phiri and P-Kuttah. 

Originally from London, Maribou State – which consist of Chris Davids and Liam Ivory - has built a glowing international reputation via a string of well-loved EPs as well as remixes for the likes of Kelis, Lana Del Rey, Alpines, Ultraista and more. 

We asked the duo a few questions head of their visit to SA:

Will this be your first visit to South Africa? And are you excited?
Yes, it will and we’re both very excited. We love travelling to new places and meeting new people. 

Will you be doing any sightseeing while here?
Yeah for sure. We’re going to hang around for a bit. There’s talk of safari also. 

You guys have a played many big shows in different places, what’s been a highlight for you and why?
It’s hard to pick one particular highlight as each place and show is so different. I’d say the show we’re most proud of so far would have been headlining Secret Garden Party festival in the UK. It had been a dream of ours for many years and very unexpectedly came true. The festival closed the following year so we’re extremely grateful that we got the opportunity when we did. 

What inspires your music?
We draw influence from all kinds of places. In anything creative, your output is a product of what you consume. We listen to all kinds of music, we like to travel a lot, we just try and stay happy and healthy to be in a good headspace to write music. 

What’s the one thing you never travel without?
Our laptops. Not a single trip has ever been made without them. 

What’s the one thing no one knows about you?
If we say then people will no longer not know. 

What can fans expect from your set?
We tend to sonically roam around quite a lot in our DJ sets. We both have a very eclectic taste and we try and explore all different styles when we play. We also play a lot of our own edits of other people’s music.

Tour details:

Cape Town
Date: Friday, 8 December 2017
Venue: Mercury Live
Entrance: R250
Time: 20:00

Johannesburg
Date: Saturday, 9 December 2017
Venue: The Good Luck Bar
Entrance: R250
Time: 20:00

Tickets are available from Computicket.