WSTRN are a musical trio from West London. Some of their most popular songs include In2, Sharna, Txtin’ and Ben’ Ova.
The trio consist of Haile and Akelle Charles who are cousins and Louis Rei. They were in Kenya to headline the ‘Summer Vybz’ concert at Waterfront, Karen this past weekend.
Tracing back to their early lives, we learn that Haile and Akelle’s fathers were in a reggae group together and Louis was the youngest person to ever be signed to a football club when he got signed to Arsenal at the early age of seven.
Q. Louis, tell us about sacrificing a promising career in football to pursue music
Louis said that being a child, professional player was difficult for him and “he feels like he didn’t have much of a childhood”. He told The Sauce that as a child, he spent his days “training under regimented, hard work” and would receive “beats” if he did not do the right thing. Nonetheless, football “was a passion of (his)”. He said he still grateful for that phase of his life because “it definitely gave me discipline and order” that he uses till date. His words were that “it changed my life” by teaching him a lot about acceptance. He said “in my head, I was always going to be a footballer” so changing route was “a real eye opener” and he got to find himself.
Q. Haile, did your dad being a part of a reggae group influence your affinity for music?
“Kind of” was his response. Haile said that music has always been “part of my genes” but he “didn’t know he wanted to do it until he done it”. In essence “it wasn’t something he planned to do as a career” rather, “it became a passion overtime”. The passion started to develop when he begun producing beats, engineering and finally, singing. It is striking how humble Haile is for someone in his position. He never imagined himself singing. He told us that he struggled with expressing himself to people but overtime he “built his confidence to put vocals on the songs” and play them for the group. After that, he “knew what he was capable of and with accepting that, you just start doing your thing”.
Q. How did the three of you meet and finally decide to form WSTRN?
We already established that Haile and Akelle are cousins. Haile told us that before he was singing, he “was producing and making beats.” He added that he “was working with Akelle on a project on which Louis was featuring, that’s how I met Louis”. From there, they all started making their own music individually. Eventually, the three of them decided to work together. Haile tells us that “In2 was the first song we made as a trio and after that, that’s when WSTRN was birthed”.
Q. How did you develop your original and diverse sound that borrows from dancehall and afro-beats yet is still very authentic to London?
“I think we get it from being from where we’re from” said Haile, referring to them having Caribbean roots and growing up in West London. Louis added that they “fine-tuned the sound and it became what it is over time”. He mentioned that if you listen to their older music, the sound was not as “refined as it is now but the raw makings of it were still there.” Essentially, they developed their sound using their personality and hard work.
Q. What has kept WSTRN together since 2015 while other groups have fallen apart?
In Haile’s words, “the group wasn’t something that was put together, we created it ourselves” and “it’s always been a genuine thing from the beginning.” You can tell that there is a sincere bond between the three. Louis said that we “have to remember that there’s family involved”. When asked if that makes it even more difficult, Louis replied “it’s not all roses, but we’re human innit?” In Louis’ words “the foundations are too solid for it to just be thrown away. We have to come to some sort of agreement and have some sort of respect for one another and that’s how we’ve kept it going”.
Q. Any upcoming projects?
Something is brewing for the summertime which they call ‘WSTRN Season’ after which they intend to return to Africa for a tour.
Q. What African artists would you like to collaborate with?
“WSTRN and Rema would be a dope collaboration”. Said Haile. He added that they heard that Buju was in town and they were keen to work with him. It is highly probable that they met up and did something together as they were in Nairobi at the same time. You heard it here first. Louis expressed wanting to do a song with King Promise.
Q. What is the most surprising country where you have a really big fanbase?
They both replied “right here, Kenya”. When asked why they found that surprising, Louis replied that “when we check our statistics, Kenya is really high up there compared to countries that are closer to us”. He added that even on social media, Kenyans engage a lot with WSTRN. We could tell they were deeply moved by the love shown here.
Q. Tell the ladies, are you currently seeing anyone?
To this Louis replied “I want love, man” and Haile enforced “we need love, peace and harmony”.
Akelle was not able to accompany his group to Kenya because he is currently on probation for attacking two people in their house but his group did a phenomenal job at holding down fort.
WSTRN are incredibly talented and humble despite their massive success. They are also a joy to be around so it comes as no surprise that they shut down Nairobi. They promised to come back to the country after the release of their upcoming album.
