FLYING IBEX formed in 2011 when songwriter Barnaby Keen met drummer/producer Dave De Rose living in an old south London church, comandeered by artists. 

Starting his musicial life as a Saxophone player, Barnaby Keen jumped from the train of galactic, coltrane-inspired wanderings into a lush songwriting jungle whilst travelling in the northeast of Brazil. Back in Europe his near obsession produced an impressive catalogue of songs in every unimaginable shape and size.

Dave De Rose’s musical influences are as broad as his abilities as a drummer, having been the rhythmic backbone for many a headline act over his career, including Mark Ronson, Mulatu Astatke, Jamie Cullum and Moloko.

They spent hours directing noises toward the Alter, filling the cavernous space with experimental music and playing around on an old hammond organ that the church had left behind.

After returning from international duty with Soulstress Andreya Triana, Nathaniel Keen a guitarist and highly accomplished music-maker in his own right, heard the noises from his nearby south London pad and quickly jumped on board Flying Ibex’ ship to provide decorative basslines and vocal harmonies.

They started off as the church house band, improvising along to silent film projections, trapeze shows and offbeat theatre pieces, no doubt helping cement their musical relationship into something firmly maleable. A common love of analogue sounds, incessant grooves and polished performances inticed them to form a band and start gigging their own material.

They listen to old African pop cassettes and Brazilian Maracatu, mess around with delay pedals, and generally run down avenues of sound that are potentially as weird as they are potentially accessible.

You can either deep-sea-dive into the songs or try and untangle yourself from the perfectly executed, uncivilized beats. Whatever you choose to do, the songs will stick in your mind and the band will serve you up an irresistable feast of wayward groove.


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