PLAY NEXT MUDI SAMA "THIS WAS THE PUREST FEELING FROM ME'

With his newly released debut EP, Will I Make It Out Alive?, the indie artist is setting out his stall as a guitar hero of the future

- NICK REILLY

You need only listen to Mudi Sama's excellent single 'Bad Life' to see that the London artist quite happily wears his influences on his sleeve. The song zips along with spiky guitars that feel like a callback to Bloc Party's Silent Alarm. It becomes clear throughout our interview that the band's frontman, Kele Okereke, has been a guiding light in Sama's musical journey so far.

'Bad Life' features on his recently released debut EP Will I Make It Out Alive? and it's joined by the woozy 'Pretty Soon', which sees Sama reflect on a childhood friendship while growing up in Lagos, before they reconnected in east London.

Sama was born in Britain but moved to Nigeria as a child before returning to the UK as a teenager. It was around this time, he explains, that a love of guitar music – largely honed through watching endless YouTube videos of the Red Hot Chili Peppers – was born.

“I remember watching the Chili Peppers’ Live At Slane Castle DVD, and that was a lightbulb moment for me,” he recalls. “And then when John Frusciante returned for their shows after Covid, that really spurned me on.”

Here, Sama explains how he is carving out a path towards becoming an indie star and guitar hero in his own right.

How’s things, Mudi? I saw you were at one of Oasis’ Heaton Park shows recently – how was it?