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inspiration2022/08/17

Finding Community With Musical Movement Touching Bass

by Wolf & Badger

Touching Bass is a South London-based musical movement and multi-faceted curatorial platform lead by Errol and Alex Rita but sustained by a wider community of friends. Their ethos centres around the real-life human and spiritual ability of music to bring people together - music to make you think and feel. We caught up with the duo to hear more about their creative community. 

What would you say is Touching Bass’ biggest achievement to date?

Alex: Doing things our way and getting to where we are without compromising our integrity, getting through 2020-2021, actualising and releasing Soon Come, our most recent and ambitious release on our record label.

Errol: Yeah, I agree. I think the first point about not compromising who we are and how we approach things is one of the most fulfilling and empowering things for me. I’m really grateful that Alex and I regularly take time to interrogate our intentions. It means that we’ve had to make some tough decisions and that the journey has been slightly slower, but I’m truly enjoying how we’ve travelled so far.

Community is at the heart of Touching Bass. Can you tell us what community itself means to you? 

A: Community is everything to me. I think it's vital to our human existence. We are not solitary creatures, we thrive and overcome incredible hardships when we come together. To me, community means a support system, and I don't know what I would do without mine.

Who, and what, would you say is inspiring you at this moment in time?

A: I’m inspired by anyone who stands up for what they believe in, creates with intention and doesn't compromise on their integrity. It can be very difficult to stay true to yourself within the capitalistic system that we live in.

E: Alex, my close friends, nature trips (especially ones by the sea), my never-ending Pinterest collection, Eris Drew, the resourcefulness of people from low-income families.

What’s next for Touching Bass, both short-term moving into the late summer months, as well as beyond?

A: We are working on some really big exciting projects (can’t say too much just yet).

E: There are so many things. For a start, we want to keep asking ourselves what community can mean and lean into that more where we have the capacity. Continuing to create special moments with the artists, entities and people we admire. Whether that’s via the concert series, club night, label, community gatherings or collaborations. 

We’re bringing the Touching Bass spirit to a few more festivals before 2022 is done, including our now infamous We Out Here Festival forest takeover and another great festival called Field Maneuvers.

We’re set to partner with one of our favourite venues in London in 2023, which is really exciting! We also recently sold out our most ambitious concert to date, inviting Nigerian highlife and brotherly duo, The Cavemen., to the UK for their debut headline show outside of Africa at Village Underground in September.

The record label continues to go from strength to strength and we’re really enjoying the journey it is taking, so keep your eyes on it for more magic from London and abroad. It’s been beautiful to see people find out about releases in their own time. People are still just discovering cktrl and Demae as well as picking up on our most recent releases. 

We’re also manifesting the growth of our team. As more opportunities come in, it’s becoming clear that we could have some more help so fingers crossed we can make that step.

What do you love about Wolf & Badger?

A: The focus on sustainability and new smaller designers and that there's something for everyone. 

E: Yeah, it’s really heartwarming to find a place where sustainability truly feels at the front of the intention. I found out about some great, ethical brands that I had no idea about so they’ve definitely been added to my Google Chrome bookmarks!