Is Tropical’s Simon Milner Creates Africa-Inspired Film

Brought To You By Lynx

During the band’s almighty tour, Simon Milner of Is Tropical was hit by his fair share of culture shocks. What started out as an ordinary stint of travelling led him to filming and photographing each day-to-day event, which in turn led to a new piece created for Lynx’s 18 Years of Africa.

‘I spent most of 2013 abroad and it has all been very inspiring,’ he tells DIY. ‘Visiting Ghana was a culture shock though because it was my first time in Africa.

‘Africans live and breath music so they quickly put an English boy to shame.’

Midway through his time in Accra, Ghana, Simon ended up filming footage of a Ghanaian boxer spending the best part of his day in the local gym. Following this, the footage was cast against a new musical piece put together by Simon. He blended traditional samples with original sounds, combining to create a piece that captured his time abroad.

Fellow inspired artists submitted their works for Lynx Africa 18. Andrew Groves, Duffy and Kyle Platts are among those getting involved.

View Simon’s work below and find out more about his experience in Africa:





Being exposed to different cultures and ways of life - is this integral to how to work musically?

As of recent, yes. A friend just came back from Angola with a recording of 2 boys on the street making music with tin cans and rapping for music - it’s a great sample. Travelling can open your eyes to the possibilities in sound.

The accompanying track seems to capture the energy of the community you describe. How did you go about putting it together?

I just began by layering the sounds. The female vocal is of an old traditional song sung at celebrations such as weddings. It sounds aggressive but it’s not meant to be, a little like their culture. Even though the chat-like vocals are a different BPM and key it somehow works. The culture is deep with tradition and also collects others, this is a celebration of that.



Is there anything in this piece that you’d draw parallels to when it comes to Is Tropical’s music?

Before the release of the last album we released a 4 track electronic EP that pointed more in this genre. We have so much inspiration that it’s hard to concentrate in one category. This project seemed to fit the genre of dance as their music has a sense of groove with repetitive percussion that just keeps going.