Extra Golden was formed rather casually in May of 2004 when Ian
Eagleson, Alex Minoff and Otieno Jagwasi began fiddling with each
other’s compositions in an apartment in the Buru Buru neighborhood of
Nairobi. For rhythmic inspiration, the trio used isolated drum tracks
by Onyango Wuod Omari that Eagleson had recorded earlier that year.
After several song ideas were hashed out, Omari came by the apartment
and, tapping pencils on a table, familiarized himself with them. The
next afternoon, the four musicians met at the Annex Club and Restaurant
in Kariobangi South Estate. Positioning themselves on a concrete slab
between the tables and the restrooms, they set up a laptop and mixing
board, a broken-down drumset, a couple of amplifiers and several
microphones. Three hours later they packed up and left, the majority of
Ok-Oyot System completed. A year after this initial recording session,
Otieno Jagwasi succumbed to his long struggle with liver disease.
Besides causing great sadness, Otieno’s passing spurred Eagleson and
Minoff to bring these recordings to the public. Chicago’s Thrill Jockey
Records agreed to release the album and, in May 2006 – exactly two
years after the group’s formation – Extra Golden was introduced to the
world. Ok-Oyot System’s unique blend of Kenyan Benga music with
American Rock and other, assorted African guitar stylings met with
widespread critical praise. The immediate demand for Extra Golden
concerts was deafening. After months of hard work and determination,
that demand was finally met, as the group (now featuring popular Benga
star Opiyo Bilongo) arrived at the 2006 Chicago World Music Festival.
Many weeks of engagements followed, after which Extra Golden holed up
in a house in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains to tackle the task of
recording a follow-up to their beloved debut. Five days later the group
emerged with twenty new tracks, eight of which constitute Hera Ma Nono.
At first, Extra Golden seems an unlikely entity. However, this project
that was birthed on a whim, a crazy “what if…” scenario between
friends, has steadily grown into a fully-realized, musical dynamo. It
remains to be seen where Extra Golden will go next, but with more
touring and recording undoubtedly ahead, the future sounds good.
© 2008
