Revista Soundloop Interview with Zoolook

Afrofuturism, Memory, and Music as Narrative

Esteban Mauricio Soria of Revista Soundloop sits down with Multidisciplinary artist, filmmaker, and musician ZOOLOOK to explore the story behind Power of the People and ZOOLOOK’s afrofuturist work on his STONEFRENGE series.

Grateful to be featured in Revista Soundloop for their recent interview on “Power of the People (Remix)” and my Afrofuturist work with STONEFRENGE.

Thank you to Esteban Mauricio Soria for creating a space to talk about music as a voice for justice, imagination as resistance, and Afrofuturism as more than an aesthetic, but a way of seeing ourselves in the future. Appreciate you!
– ZOOLOOK®

Revista Soundloop Interview

Revista Soundloop. Power of the People (Remix) speaks out against xenophobia and social injustice. Was the current political and social climate a factor in revisiting the song at this specific historical moment, or does that concern stem from a more personal experience?

ZOOLOOK. It absolutely stemmed directly from the current political and social climate in the US. When I first started writing this song, the original title was Power to the People. I wanted to commend the soul rebels who were taking a stand against an administration that thrived on division and hostility towards anyone who challenged it.

The rhetoric coming from the current president and his administration felt openly antagonistic, especially toward immigrants and marginalized communities. The constant attacks on the news media outlets and the consistent normalization of insults and misinformation became a calling for me to take action and write this song.

I ultimately changed the song’s name to “Power of the People” after witnessing Senator Cory Booker’s 25+ hour Senate floor speech. In his remarks, he repeatedly used the phrase, “the power of the People is always greater than the people in power.”

Revista Soundloop. In the press release, you talk about empathy as a form of resistance. Do you believe music can still generate that kind of collective awareness today?

ZOOLOOK. Yes, I do! Music can serve as a powerful messenger. It has a unique ability to evoke emotions and memories that resonate with listeners on personal levels. When music is shared in a communal setting, these emotional responses can lead to a stronger sense of unity.

Historically, songs have played critical roles in social movements, fostering solidarity and motivating change. Songs like Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On, addressed issues of social injustice, war, and civil rights, while Buffalo Springfield’s “For What It’s Worth” became an anthem for the anti-war and civil rights movements, capturing societal unrest.

Revista Soundloop. The remix deliberately evokes 1970s soul and psychedelia. What draws you to that musical decade, and how does it resonate with the present?

ZOOLOOK. I grew up listening to my dad’s vinyl records, spanning multiple genres. One of my favorite tracks is Bobby Womack’s Across 110th Street, a raw, unromantic portrait of survival, desperation, and moral tension in inner-city America, specifically Harlem during the early 1970s. I knew that I had to go back in time to create a track that felt raw like the many anthems of the 70s!

Other tracks that are so inspiring to me include Curtis Mayfield’s Little Child Runnin’ Wild. Mayfield was a genius, a Mad Scientist!

Revista Soundloop. You define your work within an Afrofuturist aesthetic. How does Afrofuturism manifest in your music beyond the visual or conceptual aspects?

ZOOLOOK. To me, Afrofuturism isn’t primarily visual. It’s also temporal. I think of it as collapsing the past, present, and future into the same sonic space. In the music, that shows up in how I pull from ancestral rhythms, 70s soul, dub, jazz, and early electronic music, and then process them through modern production and futuristic sound design. I think of it as a conversation across time.

Revista Soundloop. Your influences include Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, and Nina Simone. What have you learned from them as socially engaged artists, beyond the musical level?

ZOOLOOK. What I learned from Bob Marley, Marvin Gaye, and Nina Simone was to speak the truth with moral clarity, integrity, and responsibility.

From Bob Marley, I learned that speaking the truth required conviction, not anger. His discography showed me how spiritual grounding and political awareness can coexist without canceling each other out. From Marvin Gaye, I learned the power of vulnerability as a form of resistance. Marvin Gaye risked comfort and approval to ask the difficult questions about war, poverty, and injustice.

From Nina Simone, I learned fearlessness. Nina Simone refused to soften her message for the sake of acceptability. She understood that discomfort is sometimes necessary for truth to land, and that an artist’s role isn’t to soothe power, but to challenge it.

Revista Soundloop. Your album Stonefrenge reveals other musical facets, such as soul, funk, jazz, hip-hop, dub, and reggae. What was the production and recording process like for that album?

ZOOLOOK. STONEFRENGE: Black in Space is my first full album. I’ve produced a few mini-albums before this release for comic book and cartoon projects I made as a comic book writer/artist and an animator (Flash).< This was a 3-year journey that allowed me to explore different genres that inspired me and helped me become the multidisciplinary artist and musician I am today. Each track represents a distinct sound that demonstrates my ability to fuse different genres while also helping define my downtempo sound.

Revista Soundloop. As a multi-instrumentalist, where does your compositional process usually begin?

ZOOLOOK. I always start my compositions with a bass line, followed by a drum track that supports, not fights, with the bass line. I play a 5-string STEINBERG Spirit bass and a Jazz Precision Fender bass. I still have my Yamaha DX7 along with a Novation mininova to finish the songs.

Revista Soundloop. As a filmmaker and director as well, what have you learned from audiovisual language that you later apply to your music?

ZOOLOOK. Working as a filmmaker and director taught me some valuable lessons. In film, pacing, framing, and editing determine how an audience feels before they understand why. I apply that same logic to my music.

I think of tracks in terms of scenes and cuts. Dynamics function like camera movement, silence works like a hard cut or a wide shot, and repetition builds tension the way a lingering frame does. I’m less interested in constant stimulation than in guiding the listener’s attention—deciding when to hold back and when to reveal. One of my trademarks in making music is to start a song with its bridge to pull the listener in.

Audiovisual language also taught me that you don’t need to show everything on screen for an audience to feel it, and you don’t need to over-explain in music either.

Filmmaking has sharpened my awareness of structure, rhythm, and emotional timing. It has helped me approach music not just as sound, but as narrative, something that unfolds, breathes, and leaves an afterimage.

Revista Soundloop. How does your work as a graphic designer, animator, and visual artist influence Zoolock’s sonic identity?

My background as a graphic designer, animator, and visual artist shapes how I hear music before I even make it. For example, Animation, in particular, has influenced my sense of timing. I am aware of the pacing, transitions, and how long a moment needs to breathe before it cuts or evolves. That’s why a lot of my music feels cinematic or episodic. My music feels like it is designed to move through scenes rather than repeat sections.

Thank you for this opportunity!

ZOOLOOK