Club Mango Music

It’s hard to define Club Mango Music, they are by no means your run-of-the-mill teenage band, nor are they simply a collective. They are a group of artists, musicians and producers from South London, spanning multiple genres. CMM is the combined efforts of: Breed, Gilly the Kid, Terory Briscoe, Kay a.k.a Slim Wednesday, ADXM and Sujitha, with Akil Scafe-Smith and Vishnu providing all the behind-the-scenes work. They refer to themselves as a “house,” multiple artists all doing their own thing and in their own style- but with a shared vision. All working with and for each other, progressing CMM as the movement it has become. You would think this lack of definition would be daunting, but as Sujitha says, they like the fact they don’t fit into a category neatly- it allows them a creative freedom to do their own thing, when and how they want. They make their own instrumentals and beats, write their own lyrics and shoot their own videos.

(L-R) Sujitha, Akil, Breed, ADXM, Kay.

They formed in 2010 after a lot of talk about making mixtapes together (all being friends before CMM) and made their debut with Sujitha’s Defiant in November of the same year. They have been a constant participator in the South London music scene, lining up countless gigs and releasing tracks as they go- even planning a show in Paris which had to be cancelled, for now at least. Some shows are only for one artist and others they all perform, for example, Breed performed in Brixton this month, whereas at the Ritzy they all participated. Nevertheless, they all attend the shows, because they aren’t just about their solo endeavours, they look out for one and other.

Looking to the future, CMM show no signs of going quiet. As Akil says, “for us it’s about the vision and materialising CMM into a career,” they aren’t just making music as a hobby- although that’s not to say they don’t love what they do- but they are completely dedicated to forging a living out of Club Mango Music. Interestingly, he continues, “hopefully one day [we can] make it bigger than just the music and really become prominent in all sorts of things: design, music video/films, clothes,” he adds, “[we will be] really pushing our portfolio, aiming for in-house development and a strong presence on the scene,” That is the simplest description of their vision, they want to spread CMM as a name and move into different areas, not just music, but through a visual aspect, pioneered by ‘The DST’ (Directorial Super Team). It’s refreshing how driven by passion and interest they are, rather than doing it to exploit a gap in the market and make some money, they all love what they do.

Kay, ADXM, Gilly the Kid, Breed, Vishnu.

In the coming months they will be working tirelessly, despite having other commitments, releasing the highly anticipated ‘CMM Leaks,’ which will feature all the artists and they are hoping to make a regular thing, with all the artists contributing some tracks to a mixtape. ‘CMM Leaks’ will be accompanied by a Breed video, followed by his ‘Studio Therapy EP’ which is guaranteed to garner him even more attention. “Come summer everyone should be in full flow, ADXM’s got his Fruit Salad EP coming, followed by a full mixtape,” Akil says, adding that he and Sujitha are planning a surprise cover set for Summer. To end their relentless Summer of non stopping promotion, production and performing, they will release Breed’s ‘The Getaway,’ which is highly anticipated, featuring nearly a year’s worth of hard work.

Needless to say, they are the ones to be looking out for in 2012, not that they’ll be hard to find.

About these ads