Kele Okereke wants to write a Bloc Party musical.
The 37-year-old singer/songwriter has just finished penning his first ever musical with his friend Matt Jones which is entitled ‘Leave to Remain’ and after having such a positive creative experience on the project he is interested in adapting some of his band’s songs into a story for the stage.
When asked if he would make a Bloc Party musical, he said: "What, like a ‘Mamma Mia!’ type thing?
"I mean, I feel like Bloc Party’s music over the records we’ve made has a certain range. I don’t think it’s inconceivable to see some of that music being translated for stage. It has been fascinating for me seeing how the music that I have written has been turned into something else by the cast. That has been a fun and eye-opening experience for me. So never say never. I think it could be quite interesting to go back and carve a story out of Bloc Party songs, but that’s one for a later date."
The ‘Helicopter’ hitmaker’s musical tells the story of an interracial homosexual relationship between an American and West African man and is in part inspired by his own life as a gay black British man whose parents came to the UK from Nigeria.
As well as being influenced by his own story, Kele’s also got ideas from the gay black friends he has who have never come out to their parents due to fears about their homophobic attitudes.
He said: "Nearly all of my black gay friends aren’t out to their families, or are choosing not to be themselves around their families because of quite perceivable homophobia. That’s depressing for me as a gay black man. That’s something we touch upon in the story, and I hope this depiction goes some way to helping people and making things easier."
Kele Okereke wants to make a Bloc Party musical
