FlexFab | Research Trip

January 2020

FlexFab is the moniker of Swiss electronic music producer Pablo Fernandez. FlexFab’s production fuses subtle elements with intense sound creating a brand of bass music that is as engaging as it is innovative. With a strong visual identity and captivating live performance, FlexFab has won numerous awards including Best Electronic Category at M4Music and Best Emerging Talent at Swiss Live Talents. His tracks have amassed millions of online streams and he has performed at festivals and venues around the world.

In August-September 2019 FlexFab was invited by the Swiss cultural engineering platform FLEE to participate in a series of exchange workshops in Kenya between East African and Swiss electronic producers. During this trip FlexFab met and struck up a creative chemistry with Kenyan artist/musician/singer Baraka Shujaa, who produces music under the name Ziller Bas.

The two musicians have kept up conversation and now look forward to further collaboration and cultural exchange during FlexFab’s two-week residency in Kenya in from 8-22 January 2020. The Swiss musician will be hosted at Distant Relatives, where he established connections on his previous trip.

FlexFab’s recent album Ex-Voto is the follow up to the mini-albums Manoir and LOAS which catapulted him into the spotlight and established him as a growing force in the bass music scene. Ex-Voto is a collection of 9 new tracks featuring the producer’s signature bewitched-hybrid bass sounds, and unexpected collaborations with up and coming artists such as South African rappers Batuk, Malaysian singer The Venopian Solitude, Egyptian rapper Rozzma (from Acid Arab’s label), US rapper Mouthe, or Swiss producer Simpig, to name a few.

ABOUT ZILLER BAS

Baraka Shujaa—known professionally as Ziller Bas—is a rapper, writer, and entrepreneur based in Kilifi, Kenya. Born 25 June 1995, Baraka first began writing and producing his own music when he was in high school. He founded the genre of Swengflow in 2012, which is a style of rap that combines three languages: Swahili, English, and Giriama, the latter of which being Baraka’s native language. Baraka produces his music using a variety of background rap and Afrobeats, drawing inspiration from J. Cole, Jay Z, and other Roc Nation artists. His lyrics are inspired by life in his community and he covers a range of topics from love to collective consciousness. His goal is to create music that makes people happy, fixes broken hearts, and challenges the way people think about the world.

RESIDENCY UPDATE

In June 2020, FlexFab and Ziller Bas release Mugogo!, the first 4-track EP of songs produced during the residency. A documentary of their time together in Kilifi is soon to be released.