Jinja Safari

Jinja Safari were an Australian indie rock band formed in the Central Coast, New South Wales who drew from "afropop rhythms, (and) tumbling island guitar"^[1] to create African-inspired "dreamy folk pop, with a melodic richness comparable to acts like Sufjan Stevens, Animal Collective and Sigur Ros".^[2] They were known for their energetic live shows.^[3][4]

Formed in 2010, Jinja Safari were initially a duo of Marcus Azon and Pepa Knight. The two met at a beach party on the Central Coast of New South Wales in early 2010.

Pepa lives on the coast, and I live in the city: so we tossed ideas back and forth across email after meeting over a beach campfire party earlier this year. We spent about 4 weekends recording all our ideas at his home studio, where he produced the tracks that we have now, which we're calling 'Forest Rock'. - Marcus Azon (Jinja Safari)^[5]

After their first show for friends and family in a coastal forest on the Central Coast of New South Wales on 1 May 2010,^[6] Jinja Safari were invited to support Miami Horror at the Manning Bar in Sydney for their first public show.^[7]

By June 2010, Jinja Safari had received high rotation airplay on both national Australian broadcaster Triple J and plays on UK's BBC Radio 6 Music.^[8] In July 2010 they won the Triple J Unearthed competition, awarding the band a spot at Splendour in the Grass Festival 2010. Jinja Safari's first national Australian tour was supporting Art vs. Science in August 2010.^[9]

Jinja Safari spent the majority of 2011 touring Australia, playing sold-out shows in support of their second EP, Mermaids & Other Sirens. The five-track EP was released for free to fans, one song a month over five months. The band also toured Australia with both Boy & Bear and Menomena whilst continuing to be a mainstay at major Australian festivals in 2011, playing Big Day Out, Good Vibrations, Falls Festival in that year. They have been nominated twice for "Best Live Music Act" in the Sydney Music, Arts & Culture Awards in 2010^[10] and 2011^[11]

La oficina australiana del sello discográfico británico Cooperative Music lanzó una colección de los dos primeros EP de Jinja Safari titulada Locked By Land , como el primer lanzamiento local del sello. El nuevo sencillo "Sunken House" se agregó a la rotación de la lista de reproducción de Triple J ^{[ 12 ]} menos de un mes antes de que la banda agotara las entradas para su concierto más grande hasta la fecha, el Metro Theatre de Sídney, con capacidad para 1200 personas. ^{[ 13 ]}

Jinja Safari fue invitado a realizar su debut en el Reino Unido en el principal festival de música nueva de Europa, The Great Escape Festival ^{[ 14 ]} en mayo de 2012. El DJ de BBC Radio 1 y director del sello Sunday Best Records, Rob Da Bank, nombró el sonido de la banda como un " safari pop cósmico " ^{[ 15 ]} , puso la canción "Mermaids" de la banda en su programa de BBC Radio 1 e invitó a la banda a tocar en Bestival 2012.

Jinja Safari recibe su nombre de la ciudad de Jinja , en Uganda , África Oriental :

Crecí en Tasmania y mi abuela vive en Uganda, en la ciudad de Jinja; por alguna razón, siempre sentí una conexión con la música de África y cómo, a pesar de las opresiones de innumerables dictaduras, el genocidio y el apartheid, la gente de África siempre encontró la manera de golpear un tambor, gritar con una enorme sonrisa y bailar descalzos en la tierra. - Marcus Azon (Jinja Safari) ^{[ 5 ]}

• Myspace de Jinja Safari