Jinja Safari

For the first time in five years, Jinja Safari are headed back down to Geelong to play at the Street Life festival on November 14. The last time they graced the streets of Geetroit was back when they were playing support slots around the country and touring on the back of their self titled EP. Boy and Bear were the headline act on that night at the Bended Elbow, and the Jinja Safari set was full of energy, great costumes as well as a sneaky bit of Sitar. Marcus Azon and myself reminisce fondly about that night and the early years of the band.
“The sitar does come out on occasion my friend I can tell you that much. In those first few years as a band, we went out on the road with Boy and Bear and Art Vs. Science and they were two completely different tours from the opposite end of the spectrum. We learned a lot from those shows and figured out what we wanted to be. We got the opportunity to play at Splendour three years in a row and that really allowed us to learn how to bring the party to our gigs,” Azon says.
Alongside Melbourne rock and roll legends, the Delta Riggs, Street Life festival is set to take Lt. Malop Street by storm on the 14th and is quite possibly going to be the biggest party of the year. Although Azon doesn’t know too much about it, he is excited about the prospect of the event in its inaugural year and sees big things to come in the future.
Attending a songwriting summit in Perth in October, Azon assures me the new record (the follow up to the 2013 self-titled debut) is not too far away. Personally accepted to the summit by Kav Temperley from Eskimo Joe, he is excited about the prospect of learning some new techniques and developing his songwriting skills and writing in collaboration.
Little did Azon know, for the past few years there has been considerable talk about Eskimo Joe writing the new Fremantle Dockers theme song, given that the band hails from there. If the opportunity were to arise at the summit for Marcus to put his two cents worth into the song, would he be up for it?
“Absolutely man, I am definitely keen for that one, if I could help Kav realise his big dream in any way, then I am in. Who knows whether this will ever get off the ground or not, but if they need some harmony vocals or a big chant then I reckon I could do that,” he says.
One of the major Jinja Safari ‘hits’ is ‘Peter Pan’. Combining all the essentials of a good pop song, it was the summertime feel that broadcast them into the Australian music scene and made people sit up and take notice. Talking about the immediate success of the band from that point, Azon was unaware of what was about to happen.
“We were just hanging out writing some chilled out songs on acoustic guitar and bongos and triple j heard us on Unearthed and took it from there. We were very lucky at the opportunities that have arisen over the years. We have toured through Europe and the US and have played some great shows. It’s been a great ride so far and we can’t thank everyone enough,” he says.
It’s been a couple of years since the first album, so when can we expect to hear some new music from the indie pop rock geniuses?
“We had an album pretty much ready to go and we’ve all pretty much decided as a band to start afresh. We’re working on it right now and I’ve got so many demos that could potentially be on the new record, so we’ll just have to wait and see. Keep an eye on our social media though for all the rolling updates,” Azon says.
Written by Tex Miller
When & Where: Street Life, Geelong – November 14