Going Under the Surface

When music producer Nick Wilde’s recording studio Fat Fox in London first went up in flames, he invested his blood, sweat, and tears to rebuild it. It was the following two floods within six months which he took as a sign to pull up stakes. Together with his wife, Nick moved to Marrakech, bought a beautiful riad in the center of town, and started over. Without any real professional plans in place, his reputation as a producer preceded him, and things organically fell into place “People just started to turn up at the house,” he recalls. "There’d be a knock at the door, and a kid would be standing there saying that he’s a rapper.” Not wanting to offend his new neighbors, he began to record with them, and eventually founded a label to promote them – Marrakchi Records. By diving into the Moroccan music scene, Nick met photographer Lamia Naji through a mutual friend. When she sent him a video called Couleurs Primaires that she'd composed of photographs, he was blown away. “It’s something that I wanted to do musically, what she did with the camera," he says. "She went under the surface of a scene which is pretty difficult to crack.” Lamia captured moments of a Gnawa ritual in her photographs and re-animated them in a rhythmic video edit, creating a fusion between tradition and modernity. 

Learn more about Nick Wilde HERE and Lamia Naji HERE.

Editorial Lead: Kitty Bolhoefer / Filming & Photos: Fridolin Schöpper / Editing: Konterfei / Music: Bunnystripes