Ausecuma Beats x Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange w/ Ajak Kwai, Maxine Funke, Jordan Ireland & The ZiggZaggers + Washing Machine DJs

SUNDAY 22nd JAN 2023
Music In Exile, Waving At Trains Artists and Volumes present...

AUSECUMA BEATS (Senegal, Cuba, Mali, Aus) and ZEITGEIST FREEDOM ENERGY EXCHANGE (Melb)
with very special guests...
AJAK KWAI (South Sudan/Aus)
MAXINE FUNKE (NZ)
JORDAN IRELAND & THE ZIGG ZAGGERS 
WASHING MACHINE DJs

Early in 2020, the music community was forced to close its doors, not only to the outside world,  but  to  each  other. 
Creative  partnerships  were  lost,  performances  canceled,  studio sessions scrapped.
In response to these limitations, as is often the case, innovation and cooperation blossomed.

Melbourne’s Music in Exile label, a not-for-profit aimed at profiling musicians from refugee and migrant backgrounds that give the city its world-class reputation in the arts, started the
Building Bridges series, a collection of recordings aimed at keeping individuals connected and inspired during lockdown.

One  such  project  was  a  match  made  somewhere  in  musical  heaven.  The  minds  behind Ausecuma  Beats,  a  nine-piece,  Melbourne-based  ensemble  comprised  of  members  from Senegal, Mali, Cuba and Guinea, spent weeks recording and sharing material remotely with the Zeitgeist Freedom Energy Exchange, also known as  Z*F*E*X.
Themselves  a  semi-improvised  collective  or  ensemble  of  sorts,  Z*F*E*X  comprises  of drummer Zeke ‘Ziggy’ Zeitgeist, keyboardist and producer Lewis Moody, bassist Matthew Hayes, and a rotating cast of guests, all prolific musicians with weighty crededitionals across Australia, the United Kingdom, and Europe.
And so from a backyard shed in Dandenong North, Australia, some of West Africa’s finest would  record  simple  percussive  tracks,  when  then  surfed  the  airwaves  via  studios  in Melbourne, Berlin and London, to finally land back on our doorsteps as Deep Heat/Tropical Storm.
Add to this heady brew two guest vocalists who are some of the most invigorating in their respective scenes, Latin America via Berlin star Gotopo, and Melbourne’s own Rara Zulu, and all of sudden what began as an exercise in  percussive exploration has transformed into a hands-down banger of a record.
Music in Exile is a not-for-profit record label supporting artists from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds working in the music industry. Our vision is to build a music scene that is  equally  accessible  to  all,  and  represents  the  myriad  voices  and  viewpoints  found  in  our community today.

The Servo is an all ages venue but anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an parent / guardian. 

This event takes place on the stolen lands of the Dharawal people. Always was, always will be.