Biography
In the closing months of 2008 Bristol became the setting where Mauritian guitarist and singer Kushal Gaya linked up with Yoshino Shigihara, both recent arrivals in the U.K. After trying out a string of other players they settled on their core lineup of bassist Luke Mosse and drummer Matt Jones. The phrase Zun Zun Egui refers to a stand of trees in Basque, yet Shigihara noticed the term on a visit and recognized its echo of the Japanese words for “Fast Fast Weird.” Their initial self-released recordings remained loose and exploratory until the group defined a sharper direction that fused Tropicalia, punk, funk, Afrobeat, and Ethiopian jazz, an approach fully realized on the debut album Katang issued by Bella Union. Once the record appeared, Mosse exited and Adam Newton took over on bass, after which the band toured the U.K. and Europe. In 2013 the lineup expanded further when second guitarist Stephen Kerrison came aboard and the musicians began shaping new songs. During 2014 they tracked their next album, Shackles' Gift, at Kore Studios in London with production from Fuck Buttons’ Andrew Hung; the set reached listeners in early 2015.