African Head Charge

Known for their transcendent live performances, African Head Charge combine African traditions with modern dub and experimental electronic elements, creating a hypnotic sound that defies genres. Their live shows pulse with tribal drum beats, soulful chanting, and deep, thrumming basslines, all elevated by heavy electronic sampling. Featuring the legendary Gaudi, and supported by DJ Earthpipe

African Head Charge is a pioneering dub and experimental percussion project founded in 1981 by percussionist and sonic visionary Bonjo Iyabinghi Noah. Formed in the UK but rooted in deep Jamaican and West African rhythmic traditions, the group became a cornerstone of the post-punk dub movement through its long-standing collaboration with producer Adrian Sherwood of On-U Sound.

Blending Nyabinghi drumming, reggae basslines, industrial textures and avant-garde studio experimentation, African Head Charge developed a distinctive, immersive sound that bridges ritual percussion and radical studio alchemy. Their early albums, including My Life in a Hole in the Ground and Environmental Studies, helped define the outer edges of dub in the 1980s, influencing generations of producers and experimental musicians.

Across four decades, African Head Charge has remained an evolving collective centred around Bonjo’s hypnotic percussion, continuing to tour internationally and release critically acclaimed recordings that fuse ancestral rhythm with forward-thinking sonic exploration.

GAUDI is a London-based Italian producer, composer and multi-instrumentalist whose bass-heavy sound bridges dub, electronica and global music. Active since the early 1980s, he has collaborated with artists including Lee “Scratch” Perry, Steel Pulse, The Orb, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Mad Professor, Horace Andy and Youth. A long-standing African Head Charge collaborator, Gaudi brings keyboards, synthesisers, theremin and live dub experimentation to the band’s sound.