Call & Response: Ayisha Jaffer
(6 min)
There are many words that come to mind when you hear the name Ayisha Jaffer: driven, courageous, inimitable, creative, kind. Her curious nature and love of music has led to an incredible resume of experience in the music industry and beyond. From organizing a battle of the bands fundraiser at 13 years old, to managing Lorde, to volunteering to be literal shark bait, Ayisha is someone you want to get to know. After years of living outside of Milwaukee, Ayisha returned in 2019 to once again blaze new trails, most recently serving as an on-air host with our friends at 88Nine Radio Milwaukee. We caught up with the industry veteran amidst the COVID pandemic and came away with unexpected stories and inspiration. You simply must find out more about Ayisha Jaffer.
Photo by: Jonny Urban
Lab Notes (LN): If you had to boil your musical journey into one sentence, what would it be? (Run-on sentences accepted and encouraged.)
Ayisha Jaffer (AJ): My journey reflects my passion which is to try on different lifestyles and live in the shoes of different paths to gain a wider perspective on the different lives out there.
LN: You've had a lot of roles within the music industry, running a company, promoting artists and venues, DJing, and everything in between. Did you always know you wanted a career in the music industry? How did you get started?
AJ: I always loved music. It hit me differently than some of my friends, I really felt it. How I actually fell into the industry is that I happened to hang around a lot of bands growing up. I even drummed in a few groups. One day a friend asked me if I wanted to throw a battle of the bands to raise money for Relay for Life and I said sure. I was 13 years old and I swear, I was smarter then, than I am now. I somehow figured out how to get sponsorship for prizes, book a space, a sound person, a door person, book the bands themselves, and ended up raising over 1k for the organization. From then on, the venue asked if I would book regular shows and that became my teenage job which kickstarted the long journey in music that I've lived out to date.
LN: Now that you've been back in Milwaukee for a while, what have been some highlights? Have there been significant changes?
AJ: Ironically, the majority of my time in Milwaukee has been in this pandemic. I would say that the community seems prouder and stronger than ever. Everyone really has mobilized to help each other in this unreal time. My highlights were at my time on the radio connecting people through music and stories, especially a series I ran called "Dine n Dance." It was cool to see that people were embracing some joy in a wild time. That says a lot about a community.
LN: You've mentioned how you love amplifying messages through arts and culture. Can you tell us more about that? Can you share an example or two?
AJ: What's more relatable than human expression? I think arts and culture are the way to reach people on a deeper level. Whether the message is "go out there and vote" or "support this community" there's always a way to get the message out that feels accessible. For example I was part of a street art team that glamoured up abandoned storefronts, houses, etc. to help make the neighborhood feel more safe. The art got noticed, got questioned, and brought attention to a community that needed help. With voting, you saw musicians, artists, creators of all types making things in their mediums to encourage people to go out there and vote. Besides politics, was it the email from the government or that artist you saw that moved you and added to your experience of the profoundness of going out there to vote?
One day a friend asked me if I wanted to throw a battle of the bands to raise money for Relay for Life and I said sure. I was 13 years old and I swear, I was smarter then, than I am now.
LN: Throughout your career, you have been exposed to a lot of new music. What do you listen for in new music? What draws you in? Are there any MKE tracks or artists that have stood out to you?
AJ: In those first five seconds, I want to be enticed enough to hear the next five seconds. It's as simple as that but also hard to explain what frequencies are good. You're telling a story through sound, do you think your story is worth listening to? ABSOLUTELY there are some Milwaukee songs that I love.
1. Klassik - Keep it Down
2. Fuzzysurf - She Was Crying Sugar
3. Paper Holland - Slouches
4. Zed Kenzo - Go Psycho
5. Browns Crew - Mil Aires
6. Immortal Girlfriend - Daybreak
7. Wire & Nail - Kentucky Lowlife
8. LUXI - Magic
9. Best of Both Worlds (Kaylee Crossfire & Kia Rap Princess) - FBU
10. Adi Armour - Kings & Queens
11. L’Resorts - Squeeze Me
LN: Rumor has it you're a big fan of sharks. Where did that come from?
AJ: I think I was scared of sharks which, like a lot of things we are afraid of, meant I just didn't understand them. When I started researching more about these creatures, I found them fascinating and actually admired that we didn't know that much about them. I am kind of an adrenaline junky so I decided to reach out to some scientists and volunteer myself as free-dive bait for studies of their behavior. The more in-person experiences I've had with sharks, the more I have grown to love them.
In those first five seconds, I want to be enticed enough to hear the next five seconds. It's as simple as that but also hard to explain what frequencies are good. You're telling a story through sound, do you think your story is worth listening to?
LN: What inspires you? What gives you hope right now?
AJ: Instead of answering this directly, I would say what makes me feel good right now is when someone checks in on you. Without any prompts, it's nice to know someone is thinking of you and looking out for you in these hard times. It's something I encouraged my listeners to do and to have it happen to me makes me feel like it's all going to be okay. Check in on people, if you think about them, shoot them a text. It goes above and beyond to lift someone's mood, hope, and motivation.
LN: What music are you listening to right now?
AJ: I'm pretty obsessed with this New Zealand artist Chaii and also the new Fleet Foxes record, Shores.
LN: If you were trapped on a desert island, what 5 albums could you not live without?
AJ: Yeah Yeah Yeahs "Fever to Tell" // H.E.R. "I Used to Know Her" // King Khan & the Shrines "What Is?!"// Lauryn Hill "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" // Fleet Foxes "Fleet Foxes"
LN: What are three things about you that wouldn’t want left out of your Wikipedia page?
AJ:
1. I owned half a record label at the age of 13 in Wisconsin called Snapdragon Records that actually somehow has a wikipedia page.
2. I worked on a TV show called "Ash vs. Evil Dead" in props and called myself the weapons master.
3. I managed Lorde.