The Edinburgh trio are too rock for some radio stations and too hip-hop for others. But maybe it’s because their infectious, empathic sound shouldn’t really work that it definitely does
“Mistakes are good, and perfection is a sin,” says Graham “G” Hastings, explaining the creative ethos guiding Young Fathers. They have even coined a name for it: “mistakeology”. It’s the governing principle at their Edinburgh HQ, Out of the Blue Studios, an environment where, bandmate Kayus Bankole says, “You’re not afraid to make mistakes, to try”. Without it, the trio wouldn’t have happened on the chaotic, joyful brilliance of their sound, which has evolved yet again on their new album, Heavy Heavy.
This faith in mistakeology is partly atonement for the first half of Young Fathers’ career, the original sin that almost did them in. Meeting as teenagers at Lick Shot, an under-16s hip-hop night in Edinburgh, they bonded over their nascent love for the culture and were soon gathered around an old karaoke machine in Hastings’ bedroom cupboard, freestyling over beats. Drunk on MTV dreams of success and fame, at 15 they signed a “horrible, nasty production deal”. What followed was nearly a decade of sustained failure as their handlers attempted to shape them into “some strange fucking boyband”, filming videos nobody saw and recording five albums’ worth of music they hope no one will ever hear.
