Loah

Name, where are you from?
Loah, Irish mother, Sierra Leonean father, raised in both places!

Describe your style in three words?
Colourful, fusion, fancy.

What’s the best gig you’ve ever been to?
Kendrick Lamar live at the 3 Arena in Dublin by a long shot. I ended up in the pit with all the folks intent on moshing by a strange set of circumstances and I thought I might perhaps die by crushing or suffocation. Still worth it though! The energy! 

If you could be on the line up with any two artists in history?
Joni Mitchell - she doesn't gig really anymore but she's in my top five artists ever and it would be a crazy honour to even just be in the radius! Her ability to deliver flawless technical and intellectual skill, yet in the most accessible and beautiful packaging of gorgeous songs is just a gift to every musician that has come after her. One of my favourite songs of hers is actually a super early one called 'Urge For Going' that is her signature delicate but intricate style. 
Nina Simone - not really reinventing the wheel here as Joni and Nina are both undisputed geniuses! The energy of Nina's shows that I've watched are just crazy electric - also so hard to do while being so virtuosic. I think it would have just been an amazing experience to be there, especially in the Civil Rights period when she was creating some of her legendary masterpieces. She could get so huge and bombastic and also be so tender. 

Which subcultures have influenced you?
Afrofuturism. It's kind of a philosophical movement or ideology. This idea that we use the creative arts, the imagination and technology to create a really exciting vision for what being an African diasporan or descendent could mean in the future. Retelling the narrative in our own way and then living from that. It takes in fashion, science fiction and literature, filmmaking, music, architecture, everything. It expresses most directly in my music and my fashion.

If you could spend an hour with anyone from history?
Fela Kuti. It seems obvious but he was both a musical legend and also lived such a fascinating and countercultural life. He cared so much about his people and his homeland and big ideals, and was also super worldly and a shrewd artist. It's very hard to be both: I have so many questions! 

Of all the venues you’ve been to or played, which is your favourite?
I played in a cave called Mitchelstown Caves here in Ireland which have these huge limestone pieces hanging down and it was one of the most memorable experiences of my life (also freezing).

Your greatest unsung hero or heroine in music?
Peggy Jones aka Lady Bo - She was most famously Bo Diddley's guitarist and was such a dope musician and exciting performer. My favourite performance of hers is the tune 'Aztec' which she wrote and arranged for Bo and herself and the band. I guess in the plethora of modern male rock guitarists we do forget that some of the OG heavyweights and indeed pioneers were black American women such as Peggy Jones, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Odetta.