ESKA's life lessons

ESKA defies categorisation, blending soul, folk-pop, jazz, electronica and blues. Her over twenty-year career has taken her around the world, collaborating with artists including Grace Jones, UNKLE and Tony Allen.

In 2017 ESKA led “Are You Here?”, a residency exploring the role of the musician in taking responsibilities as a political, social, change-making voice.

We asked her for some top tips. We got 'em.

Learn about gardening

Even if you’ve only got a balcony or a mantlepiece. Watching things grow, learning how to keep things alive and being mindful of the seasons is incredibly rewarding. It will make you feel much more serene and enrich your time on this Earth.

Don’t reply to emails in the middle of the night

You’re tired and a bit delirious so everything you read will sound like a scream… and you’re more prone to scream back!

Heels will mash up your knees eventually

Ain’t worth it, mate.

We are not just one thing

Explore your glorious, multi-faceted self in this one lifetime you have.

You are the Wizard

I went on a musical pilgrimage to New York several years ago. Just like Dorothy (in Quincy’s Oz) I went on down that yellow brick road looking for goodness knows what; courage, enlightenment, salvation, inspiration, knowledge? Well, after several weeks of soul searching I recall getting into my seat on my return flight back whilst screaming out loud, ‘I am the Wizard!’. It all came together in that moment.

The music industry is like that little old man, nervously sitting behind a tannoy, putting enough confusing ideas into Dorothy’s head to make her think that she hasn’t got what it takes to do anything without him. It’s a truly magical feeling to know that you have the power within you to click your heels and elevate yourself to anything. Yes, I AM THE WIZARD!