Joshua Idehen x Sinan Ors – Timing is everything

By Alan Pedder

There was a time, not all that long ago, when the whole of Joshua Idehen’s live show could fit squarely on his back. Just a suit, a mic, and a Roland SP-404 beat machine and sampler strapped over his shoulders, street pastor style. “I’d just turn up, plug in, and be like, here’s the sermon,” he says with a hearty laugh, the kind the Stockholm-based spoken-word artist and musician lets out loudly and often.

“That was back when I was playing for, like, five people and a dog,” he jokes. Before producer and multi-instrumentalist Ludvig Parment became an integral part of the performance. That version of the show is something that he’s always held onto, just in case, but not anymore. Not since playing this year’s ESNS. So, what changed?

“We’ve always said that if we ever take a step forward, we’d try not to step back,” he explains. “But right before ESNS, Ludvig got ill and, for a minute, I thought about just turning up with the SP-404, which he didn’t want me to do. And now, after the show we played together, I don’t think I can ever do that version of the show again.”

“I feel like we’ve crossed the Rubicon,” he continues. “I feel like we’ve developed to the point that there’s no other version of the show that would be credible. So, it was a real turning point.”

“ESNS was always going to be a pivotal moment for Joshua,” agrees Sinan Ors, his booking agent at Roam Artists, but it took years of trying to make it a reality. If a ‘normal’ career path looks something like a staircase, the musician’s way could not look more chaotic. Opportunities arrive too early or too late. Doors open and close without explanation. Progress stalls and plateaus. “At some point you ask yourself, well, when is the right time?” Idehen says of dealing with those early festival rejections. “And now I have the answer.”

“This year everything aligned perfectly,” Ors agrees. “A great slot at the Grand Theatre, a prime venue, in front of key festival bookers and promoters from across Europe. It was a triumphant show. The timing was everything, and Joshua made it count.”

“There were a lot of variables going into it, though,” Idehen says, laughing. “It was our first show of the year. The first time we had our backing vocalist outside of the UK. We had new clothes. We tried a new set. But we just came off stage feeling overwhelmed at how amazing it felt.”

Having imagined that the crowd at ESNS might be a tough sell, purely down to the sheer amount of music they must see month in, month out, to see them not just respond but fully take part in the performance was “genuinely very useful,” says Idehen. It’s not that he was necessarily surprised, but it wasn’t a given that agents and promoters would get behind a Nigerian wave or a hug-the-person-to-your-left request. “Sometimes you have to earn the love,” he says, “but the people at Eurosonic, they did everything we asked and they really connected.”

You don’t have to take his word for it. The numbers don’t lie. There’s been a “massive jump” in festival bookings for the rest of 2026 and “That’s pretty much down to ESNS” he says without hesitation. “Of all the showcase festivals I’ve ever done, ESNS is the one where the return on investment has been unreal. The response has been insane and I feel very lucky.”

When we talk about breakthroughs, we tend to focus on the flashpoint and not on all the moving parts that have gradually been clicking into place, and into a certainty of sorts. Even more than the breakthrough, it’s the certainty that counts, especially for an artist like Idehen who has worked for more than 15 years to get to this point. One (giant) step forward, no stepping back. With the SP-404 safe somewhere at home, now more a relic than any kind of fallback plan, the show has found its shape, recognition has found him, and the road ahead that’s spent so long in forming has at last come into view.