Tonight Jordan Mackampa will be in Liverpool headlining a show. According to him, he’ll be neck deep in food that’s definitely not great for him, but it’s totally fine because he’s on the road. From there he’ll remain out and about through the UK here and there from June through August. If you’re in the UK, please check out this Congo-born artist, but if not – no worries, you can get to know him more below.

Kendra: How long did you live in Congo before you relocated to Coventry/the UK?

Jordan Mackampa: I was very little when I moved here so I don’t remember much of back home – I’ve made myself very comfortable here but I’m looking to go back soon.

Kendra: Musically, where were you influenced most?

Jordan: I’m influenced everywhere I go, so I can’t narrow it down to one place, unfortunately, although I like the fact I can draw inspiration from lots of things, it helps.

Kendra: When did you first find your own musical style? How did it evolve?

Jordan: Probably around the time I started playing guitar, so 12-13 years-old. I wasn’t very good at music theory or improving solo’s – I can’t play a solo to save my life; as much as I wanted to be the next Jimi Hendrix or John Mayer, I’d get frustrated at how slow I was at learning so I decide to come up with my own way of playing, which helped a lot with my songwriting over the years.

Kendra: Your latest record, Tales From The Broken, sounds like quite the emotional ride. Were you going through some heavy stuff when you were working on the EP?

Jordan: It didn’t feel like the emotional rollercoaster that record portrays when I was writing the songs at the time, but once we’d gathered all the songs together I’d realized that there was a certain level of substance to each song, that sounds like I’d been through quite the journey.

Kendra: How did you decide “Battlecry” would be the first single?

Jordan: I looked at what was going on in the world, and said: “if I don’t say something now, when will I?” I was lucky enough to write with Jamie Ellis & Brendan Davies on this, they both played a huge part in the last EP I released (Physics) and I wanted to see how we could venture away from that particular sound, but still be able to make a “Jordan Mackampa” song.

Kendra: You’ve got a lot of dates between now and August. What is your favourite and least favourite thing about being on the road?

Jordan: Eating lots of junk food and using “I’m on tour it’s fine…” as an excuse! My least favourite thing would be coming off tour actually, I really enjoy touring so I get really bad post tour depression once it’s finished so I’m always itching to be back on the road.

Kendra: Other than the new record and the upcoming tour…do you have any other plans for the year?

Jordan: I definitely have world domination penciled in my calendar. All in due time though so I’m being patient.