Nourished on the rap of Alaclair Ensemble, FouKi, 21 years old, is now signed to the same stable as his inspiration, Disques 7ème Ciel. He worked for it, the proof being his four albums, including one with Koriass. Under cover of playful lyrics and catchy melodic beats, he tackles delicate themes. Grignotines de luxe, a 12-track album that’s a sequel to the EP released a few weeks ago, gives pride of place to singing, brass, and guitar, and reveals structures close to pop and chanson. PAN M 360 spoke with FouKi about his record, a work without hang-ups.
PAN M 360: You say that Grignotines de luxe is your most accomplished album.
FouKi: First of all, on the production side, we looked for more instruments, then also on the lyrical side, there’s like a guideline to the album, more than with the previous ones, which were maybe a bit more collections of songs. This time I started with three or four songs, and then I built around them. It’s been a long time since I’ve got the feels, as you might say. Sometimes I listen to Bijou again and, I still get shivers.
PAN M 360: It’s obvious that the common thread is food, can you tell me more about that?
FouKi: It’s not necessarily just like, “you have to eat, go ahead, eat the food, yeah, yeah” (laughs), I’m making innuendo, I don’t just talk about “Crêpes sirop d’érable”. I’ve noticed that “S.P.A.L.A.”, live, works almost too well, the crowd shouts “spaghetti garlic bread!” It made me think that food is a bit like music. You’re going to think of a dish and it’s going to take you back to your grandmother’s when you were young. I wanted to exploit the perceptual side of food.
PAN M 360: Concerning the track “Crêpe sirop d’érable”, it’s also a way of talking about Quebec identity. On Bijou you approach it differently, you say “I’m a fucking wanderer in my country, Canada.” Can you explain your feelings?
FouKi: I’m not a hater of Canada, I love Canada, it’s just that you have to be aware of it, I’ve been out West with my girlfriend and I met people who didn’t think we could speak French in Quebec, they just don’t know, some people think we speak English. It’s a mixture of ignorance and thoughtlessness on the part of Canadians who are not Quebecers.
PAN M 360: Is your rap music a platform for highlighting this culture?
FouKi: You know, when you’re a young artist, you look for your identity, that was part of my questioning – “I could rap in English, or more French style” – at some point it’s not just my personal identity, I want it to be Quebecois. My father comes from Baie-Comeau and my mother from Lac Saint Jean, I was born in Montreal, it’s a nice mix. I grew up in a culturally diverse environment, I still have my Quebec roots.
Photo: Félix Renaud
PAN M 360: Who did you mainly work with on this album?
FouKi: “Beigne” is a song by Richard Beynon who did “Ciel” (with Alicia Moffet) too. That beat was supposed to be for Kanye West and he slept on it. After that, Marc Vinvent composed “Table d’hôte” with me in mind. Except on “Grignotines” and “PCU”, where I made the basic beat, it’s pretty much all Michel (Quiet Mike) and Clément (the guitarist of Clay and Friends).
PAN M 360: You sampled the voice of Louis-José Houde, who did a very remarkable sketch about you at the Gala de l’ADISQ 2019 – is that a tribute?
FouKi: It’s all because of him. The 2019 Gala, for me, I won more than a Felix or two or three – Louis-José Houde’s sketch was worth all the Felixes in the world! I thought it was funny that he said that a rapper who talks about snacks is out of this world, it doesn’t make sense. It really inspired me, I wanted to follow the delirium. Apparently he likes my music, we sent him the whole thing to find out if he agreed and he was super down with it.
PAN M 360: That’s not the only vocal sample you used. On “Beigne”, you hear “As I get older I say the same shit as when I was 16 / But now in meetings I’m taken seriously.” Who’s behind it, and is it an analogy for your evolution in the Quebec rap scene?
FouKi: There’s a funny story behind it. I can’t say who it is because I tried to send him the song but they didn’t reply. It happened at the St-Jean show, the person was telling a story to Émile Bilodeau and I, and I asked to record it because it was too perfect, they said yes but didn’t say, “go ahead and put it on your album” (laughs). That’s why I high-pitched their voice by +4, so that we don’t know if it’s a woman or a man. It spoke to me so much, it’s so true! When you’re young, you’re not taken seriously, as you get older you gain recognition from your peers and you can fulfil childhood or teenage dreams. The St-Jean show was really one of my highlights of 2020.
PAN M 360: Any culinary advice for those who will read this interview?
FouKi: Dare to be spicy-sweet-salty!
Photo: Félix Renaud
In 2010, Kerson Leong won the first junior prize at the prestigious Menuhin Competition. Since then, his extraordinary progress as a soloist and chamber musician has earned him invitations from symphony orchestras in America, Europe, and Asia, including the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of Liège, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre métropolitain de Montréal, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the National Arts Centre Orchestra of Canada.
For the 2018-2019 season, Kerson Leong has been named Artist in Residence with the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal under the direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Kerson is also an avid chamber musician and has been invited to perform at numerous international festivals. Not to mention the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation Award (2015-2017), the Prix Jeune Soliste 2015 of the Radios francophones publiques, a mentorship award from the Lin Yao Ji Music Foundation of China for inspiring the younger generation, not to mention the Révélation Radio-Canada 2014-2015 for classical music. In addition, he is an associate artist of the Queen Elizabeth Music Chapel in Belgium.
And here’s the violinist in the (virtual) spotlight of the Bach Festival, undoubtedly one of Montreal’s best-run classical events. And since users of PAN M 360 must absolutely discover Kerson Leong if they haven’t already, a conversation is in order.
PAN M 360: How have you maintained this passion for playing, from childhood to reaching an international level of recognition?
Kerson Leong: My mom is a pianist and music teacher, and my dad is a scientist who fell in love with classical music and even taught himself a bit of classical guitar. Having grown up in a musical family, it was inevitable that music would play a significant role in my life, no matter what. Although I started on the piano, I soon picked up the violin at the age of four and a half, and seemed to show a natural affinity for the instrument almost immediately. Things picked up quite rapidly after that, having won regional festivals and, subsequently, the Grand Prize at the Canadian Music Competition for five consecutive years.
PAN M 360: You’re said to have a “rare and innovative” mastery of the instrument. Your talent is indeed rare, bravo! Could you tell me more about the innovative side of your playing?
KL: I guess it would be the tailoring of my technique, over the past few years, to an all-encompassing musical approach and sound that listeners could identify as my own, and gaining quite a lot of firsthand insight into the intricacies of violin technique along the way. The sharing of this insight has become important to me, hence for example, my Art of Etude tutorial series on my YouTube channel, and the fact that reputable schools like the Jacobs School at Indiana University and the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, among others, have invited me to teach.
PAN M 360: Your father has a very advanced grasp of physics, notions that you would have applied to the resonance of the strings of your instrument. How would this acquired knowledge have improved your playing?
KL: Indeed. I’ve served as a demonstrator at lectures my dad has given about this subject in the past, in places such as the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, the Barratt-Due Music Institute in Oslo, and various universities in California. I’m certainly no physics expert myself, but it was the way in which I ended up interpreting those concepts or ideas in a practical sense specific to my setup and needs that have greatly influenced my playing since.
PAN M 360: How do you think your own playing is distinct? Phrasing, timbre, attack, lyricism, etc., how would you describe your personality as a soloist?
KL: I’d let the listener discern what qualities they perceive in my sound and playing, and in what repertoire, but I would characterize my general approach as uncompromising, unrelenting, and intense.
PAN M 360: What was your family’s story in Canada?
KL: I was born and raised in Ottawa, so that city will always feel like home to me. On the other hand, I could say that my musical heart in Canada could be found in Quebec, and in Montreal in particular, due to the abundance of important musical milestones and memories I’ve made there. Also, Mr. Roger Dubois of Canimex and his family are some of the people most dear to me. In this sense, I’ve found myself fully having embraced Quebec and its wonderful people.
PAN M 360: Is your activity as a chamber musician most important in your current career? Do you play more often with symphony orchestras?
KL: Even though soloing with orchestras makes up the most of what I do, chamber music is an essential part of my life. For me, chamber music is where one learns to listen, to communicate, and work together in a musical context, something that means informal gatherings and good times with friends just as much as a powerful experience for everyone in a concert hall.
PAN M 360: When it comes to classical and contemporary music, do you have favourite composers?
KL: I’d say my favourite composer is always the one I’m currently playing. It’s important as an interpreter to fully embrace whichever piece you end up performing, and different pieces by different composers bring out different sides of me as well. I’ve always had a soft spot for the music of Brahms, however.
PAN M 360: Do you have any favourite periods in musical history? At first glance, it seems like you don’t, since you interpret baroque, classical, romantic, modern, and contemporary works…
KL: Similar to the previous question, I embrace each period equally, as they each bring out something different in me.
PAN M 360: Do you have favourite soloists on the violin? Role models?
KL: I grew up listening mainly to violinists of the 20th century, so for example Heifetz, Oistrakh, Szeryng, Milstein… Even though my tastes have greatly diversified since, I still have a soft spot for the artists of that era. There are also so many great musicians today I admire for different things, whether violinists, pianists, cellists, singers, etc.
PAN M 360: You play on a superb Guarneri del Gesu from 1741. What are the most beautiful properties of your instrument?
KL: Mainly it’s the timbre of the instrument. There’s a real “tenore” quality and warmth to the sound – something that I connected with immediately, as it comes quite close to the way I would imagine my inner voice. I also like the fact that there’s texture and grit to the sound as well, giving it a more human and organic quality as well. My sincere and continuing thanks to the generosity of M. Roger Dubois of Canimex for the chance to get to play and live with such a wonderful instrument.
PAN M 360: You’re interested in Gershwin, as is the case on your album recorded with pianist Philippe Chiu and released by Analekta in 2016. We know that George Gershwin was the ideal bridge between Afro-American music and French impressionism, so… would you be inclined to invest in modern or contemporary jazz? Are you interested in improvisation?
KL: Yes, of course. I used to play jazz clarinet and saxophone in my teen years, and I’d say that I’m very open to embracing new forms of expression in the form of improvisation and other musical genres. I’m happy to let this side of me develop and to continue learning considering all the free time this pandemic has allowed for.
PAN M 360: Could you comment briefly on the programme of your concert at the Bach Festival? How do you plan to interpret these works?
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750): Sonata No. 2, in A minor, BWV 1003 Partita No. 3, in E major, BWV 1006 Partita No. 2, in D minor, BWV 1004
Eugène Ysaÿe (1858-1931): Sonata No. 2 for solo violin, Jacques Thibaud, op. 27
KL: The Bach sonatas and partitas are quite the violinist’s bible, so to say, and the Ysaÿe solo sonatas follow very much in the footsteps of that set, but embrace the style and expression of his own time in the beginning of the 20th century. The Ysaÿe set in particular has become a real passion project of mine recently, having really connected with the powerful language of that music. Bach is something I play daily, and it never fails to reveal me to myself, so to say. Therefore, this concert will almost be like welcoming a livestream audience into my own living room, and will surely be an interesting experience as a result.
PAN M 360: What are your next goals, professionally?
KL: One thing that I think is especially important now is outreach, to inspire new generations of music enthusiasts and to create a thriving environment where people could really recognize music and art as a vital part of life.
PAN M 360: What are your projects?
KL: The pandemic has put a hold on a lot of things, but I’ll be continuing to do livestreams and virtual concerts for the time being, as well as connecting directly with people on social media. I also have a new album coming out at the beginning of this coming year, so that’s exciting – details coming soon.
PAN M 360 met the Montrealer of Armenian origin and talked with her about music, about neighbours disturbed by her piano, and about her native country.
PAN M 360: Let’s start with your career history, if we could.
Anna Saradjian: I grew up in Armenia, in a very musically inclined family. My grandfather was my first teacher, he created a music school over there. Then my father took over the school and my music education. When I was 18 years old, I went to Juilliard to study, then to the Royal Academy of Music in London. That’s where I studied with Hamish Milne.
PAN M 360: Did your initial studies in Armenia anchor you in the so-called “Russian school” of piano? (Editor’s note: the “Russian school” is a way of teaching and playing the piano with an emphasis on large, very expansive phrases, a sense of improvisation and freedom minimized by the French and German schools, and above all a powerful underlining of the emotions inherent in the scores).
AS: I have a hard time differentiating between these concepts concerning my playing. I was trained in many different traditions and, besides, my grandfather was himself brought up in the Liszt tradition, who certainly studied in the German style, but was very independent-minded for his time. Anyways, I think it’s becoming more and more impossible to be attached to a specific style of playing in our 21st century. It may have been meaningful a hundred years ago, but everything is so interconnected nowadays that the only way to differentiate ourselves as musicians is to understand and play music in our own individual voice.
AS: There is one, kind of. We first programmed the Aria variata alla maniera italiana, BWV 989, the only set of themes and variations written by Bach other than the famous Goldberg Variations. It’s not very well known, but a must-discover piece! Then I added the Partita no 4 BWV 828, which is sometimes referred to as the “Italian partita”. Finally, because I’ve been thinking of playing the Italian Concerto BWV 971 for a long time, the connection happened naturally, being the italian thread of the concert. I added a couple of pieces that are a bit outside of this idea, but which I wanted to play very much because I love them.
PAN M 360: Like for example an excerpt from the St. Matthew Passion, which you have arranged for the keyboard. You often make arrangements, why do you do this exercise?
AS: I make more of them now, because COVID gave me more time on my own, ironically. I like writing transcriptions because each time I hear a Bach piece I love, be it for orchestra, choir or any other instrumentation, I want to play it! Many times, I hear the piano version in my head as I listen to the piece! I make my choices based mainly on my heart, with music that touches me directly.
PAN M 360: When you play Bach, it is mainly emotions that guide you, or architectural rigour?
AS: I feel Bach on a deep and very emotional level, that’s true. Since I was very young, his music has been a haven of peace and personal intimacy, and I go back to it each time with great joy. But, before I go in front of the public and share this experience, I work very hard on all the small details and study every intellectual facet of it. Then, I like playing it as I feel it, with the hope that the public will feel the same way.
PAN M 360: On your Facebook page, I saw you playing on an electronic keyboard. Isn’t that heresy for a classical pianist?
AS: (laughs) In reality, I have two real pianos at home, but some neighbours do not always agree with my playing, so I bought this electronic version that gives me liberty to practice when I want and need to. Besides, it gives me the opportunity to try Bach with a harpsichord sound sometimes.
PAN M 360: Do you sometimes play it on a real harpsichord?
AS: Unfortunately, no. I need to work much more on harpsichord playing before presenting myself to the public with that instrument.
PAN M 360: Do you have any plans for the post-COVID period (which we hope to arrive as soon as possible!)?
AS: Nothing in particular, other than more actively involving myself with a music festival directed by my uncle, which was moved from Italy to Armenia not long ago.
PAN M 360 : Speaking of Armenia, are you concerned about the situation (Editor’s note: armed conflict with Azerbaijan over a territory claimed by both countries, Nagorno-Karabakh)?
AS: Yes, I am worried, of course. I still have family over there, and obviously, this situation will only hurt music and musicians more, on top of COVID. This is happening at a terrible time. I do not wish to get involved in politics, but I think this is time to understand, all of us, the importance of music, and arts, education. I think that even if young people do not become musicians and artists, sensibility linked to music learning can build a new generation of adults who will simply not want to go to war.
PAN M 360: On this beautiful reflection, I thank you for your time, Anna, and wish you all the best for the future! And above all, enjoy the concert!
AS: Thank you!
PAN M 360 met the Montrealer of Armenian origin and talked with her about music, about neighbours disturbed by her piano, and about her native country.
PAN M 360: Let’s start with your career history, if we could.
Anna Saradjian: I grew up in Armenia, in a very musically inclined family. My grandfather was my first teacher, he created a music school over there. Then my father took over the school and my music education. When I was 18 years old, I went to Juilliard to study, then to the Royal Academy of Music in London. That’s where I studied with Hamish Milne.
PAN M 360: Did your initial studies in Armenia anchor you in the so-called “Russian school” of piano? (Editor’s note: the “Russian school” is a way of teaching and playing the piano with an emphasis on large, very expansive phrases, a sense of improvisation and freedom minimized by the French and German schools, and above all a powerful underlining of the emotions inherent in the scores).
AS: I have a hard time differentiating between these concepts concerning my playing. I was trained in many different traditions and, besides, my grandfather was himself brought up in the Liszt tradition, who certainly studied in the German style, but was very independent-minded for his time. Anyways, I think it’s becoming more and more impossible to be attached to a specific style of playing in our 21st century. It may have been meaningful a hundred years ago, but everything is so interconnected nowadays that the only way to differentiate ourselves as musicians is to understand and play music in our own individual voice.
AS: There is one, kind of. We first programmed the Aria variata alla maniera italiana, BWV 989, the only set of themes and variations written by Bach other than the famous Goldberg Variations. It’s not very well known, but a must-discover piece! Then I added the Partita no 4 BWV 828, which is sometimes referred to as the “Italian partita”. Finally, because I’ve been thinking of playing the Italian Concerto BWV 971 for a long time, the connection happened naturally, being the italian thread of the concert. I added a couple of pieces that are a bit outside of this idea, but which I wanted to play very much because I love them.
PAN M 360: Like for example an excerpt from the St. Matthew Passion, which you have arranged for the keyboard. You often make arrangements, why do you do this exercise?
AS: I make more of them now, because COVID gave me more time on my own, ironically. I like writing transcriptions because each time I hear a Bach piece I love, be it for orchestra, choir or any other instrumentation, I want to play it! Many times, I hear the piano version in my head as I listen to the piece! I make my choices based mainly on my heart, with music that touches me directly.
PAN M 360: When you play Bach, it is mainly emotions that guide you, or architectural rigour?
AS: I feel Bach on a deep and very emotional level, that’s true. Since I was very young, his music has been a haven of peace and personal intimacy, and I go back to it each time with great joy. But, before I go in front of the public and share this experience, I work very hard on all the small details and study every intellectual facet of it. Then, I like playing it as I feel it, with the hope that the public will feel the same way.
PAN M 360: On your Facebook page, I saw you playing on an electronic keyboard. Isn’t that heresy for a classical pianist?
AS: (laughs) In reality, I have two real pianos at home, but some neighbours do not always agree with my playing, so I bought this electronic version that gives me liberty to practice when I want and need to. Besides, it gives me the opportunity to try Bach with a harpsichord sound sometimes.
PAN M 360: Do you sometimes play it on a real harpsichord?
AS: Unfortunately, no. I need to work much more on harpsichord playing before presenting myself to the public with that instrument.
PAN M 360: Do you have any plans for the post-COVID period (which we hope to arrive as soon as possible!)?
AS: Nothing in particular, other than more actively involving myself with a music festival directed by my uncle, which was moved from Italy to Armenia not long ago.
PAN M 360 : Speaking of Armenia, are you concerned about the situation (Editor’s note: armed conflict with Azerbaijan over a territory claimed by both countries, Nagorno-Karabakh)?
AS: Yes, I am worried, of course. I still have family over there, and obviously, this situation will only hurt music and musicians more, on top of COVID. This is happening at a terrible time. I do not wish to get involved in politics, but I think this is time to understand, all of us, the importance of music, and arts, education. I think that even if young people do not become musicians and artists, sensibility linked to music learning can build a new generation of adults who will simply not want to go to war.
PAN M 360: On this beautiful reflection, I thank you for your time, Anna, and wish you all the best for the future! And above all, enjoy the concert!
AS: Thank you!
Everywhere in the Saharan and sub-Saharan zones of Africa, the original blues generates updated expressions, adapted to a shared global culture. Since Nass El Ghiwane and Hasna el Becharia pioneered the approach in the 1970s, many artists have adapted the rich heritage of Gnawi, Tuareg, Amazigh, and Berber cultures. At the turn of the century, Tinariwen became a group of international renown, followed by Bombino, Terakaft, Etran Finatawa, Gnawa Diffusion, and Hindi Zahra, to name but a few artists living in North Africa or the West. Now it’s the turn of the Franco-Moroccan group Bab L’Bluz to make their mark. As they geared up for Mundial Montréal, Yousra Mansour and Brice Bottin, founding members of the noteworthy quartet, answered questions from PAN M 360.
PAN M 360: What is your angle of attack? What sets you apart from your predecessors and contemporaries?
Yousra Mansour and Brice Bottin: We think our strong point is that we play music with many influences, different but, to us, similar, from psychedelic rock to chaâbi, or from hassani to gnawa. We aim to bring people together positively and get heads nodding in the various audiences we meet, wherever we go. That’s what our songs are about, love, peace, and respect. We also believe that what distinguishes us from our predecessors, who are highly respected, is that we don’t see ourselves as a fusion band, but rather as a rock band based on the concept of the power trio à la Jimi Hendrix, with guembri and awisha instead of bass and guitar, with an extra flute, and with a female leader.
PAN M 360: What were the models for your own musical identity?
YM & BB: We two, the founders of the group and creators of the Bab L’ Bluz repertoire, had the chance to grow up in families open to musical diversity. For Brice, it was more rock, Afrobeat, Peruvian, and Brazilian music that he listened to at home, as for Yousra, she considers herself lucky to have had parents who loved blues, soul, funk, rock, pop, classical oriental music, and the traditional and current Moroccan music of their time. It is certainly this diversity and openness to other musical cultures, in addition to the emergence of the internet (introducing other music such as R&B and hip-hop) that has allowed us to be the people we are today and has forged our individual intercultural identities, something that has had a positive impact on our musical creativity.
https://youtu.be/HD09SXlK77Y
PAN M 360: There are still very few North African bands with frontwoman in the foreground – yes, there’s Hindi Zahara, Emel Mathlouthi, Djazia Satour, Flèche Love and so on. How do you think this role, which is perfectly fulfilled by your singer, is perceived in your opinion?
YM & BB: We think that the role of frontwoman is seen positively and encourages women to have more self-confidence and to persevere in what they undertake. This role also encourages them to challenge the patriarchal system that is pervasive in some societies. In our case, we take this very naturally; it’s a richness to have a woman leading the group, it inspires both men and women.
PAN M 360: You use modernised versions of guembri and awicha to replace the bass and guitar of rock bands, how did you develop the playing of these instruments? How do you envisage this?
YM & BB: The guembri is a very complete instrument in terms of its harmonic and rhythmic power, and has a vast traditional repertoire. Nevertheless, as we are also trained guitarists, we incorporate different playing techniques from other styles, or scales that are not often played in the repertoire of gnawa music. We welcome the constraints of the instrument as a richness and we still mix this instrument, which has been travelling for hundreds of years, with current music tinged with rock and psychedelia.
PAN M 360: From a textural point of view, do you use effect pedals or synthetic sounds from synthesizers, samplers, oscillators, or other computer software?
YM & BB:Yes, indeed, we have guitar pedalboards adapted to electric guembris – overdrive, phaser, wah-wah, fuzz, reverb, etc. We also use a few layers of analog synths and karkabou loops which are played by the real-time sampler. We love the sound and all the possibilities to travel it offers, we’re really interested in the sensations it provides.
PAN M 360: Where and how was your album Nayda! recorded and produced? Who are the people in charge of the production?
YM & BB: Our album was composed and written mainly in Marrakech by Brice and Yousra during the learning of traditional instruments, and before the creation of the complete Bab L’Bluz formation with Hafid and Jérôme. Nayda! was recorded in Lyon by Christian Hierro at Back To Mono Records, a studio specialised in analog and vintage sounds. The mixing was done by Christian Hierro and Brice Bottin. The latter is in charge of the packaging and the sound textures on our album.
PAN M 360: In more general terms, what do you think are the new chapters in the fusion of Maghreb heritage and rock culture? And electronic culture? Where do you fit into this?
YM & BB: We’re very positive about the young musicians who are coming up; many of them have the flame, the goals, and the overflowing creativity. We encourage them to develop their own style based on what they like. Many new chapters are possible on the fusion of the Maghreb heritage or elsewhere, with rock culture in particular. The best is yet to come, we hope! Besides, we were born in the culture of electronic, rock, and hip-hop, it’s also a richness that is part of us. The future of electronics is vintage electro from the ’70s, or not…
PAN M 360: The texts are sung in what language exactly?
YM & BB: The texts are sung in Darija, the Moroccan dialect which results from the succession of several peoples and civilisations in the Maghreb which mixed with the original local population (Berber). This led to a dialect with words mostly in Arabic, but also in Berber, Spanish, French, Portuguese… We also write in classical Arabic, as is the case for “Ila Mata”, or in English, for “Africa Manayo”.
PAN M 360: What’s your poetic approach? What are your favourite subjects?
YM & BB: We’re interested in all forms of poetry, especially Bedouin poetry, sung and sometimes accompanied by percussion or other instruments. On our album, there’s an influence of Mauritanian poetry called tebraa, which exists in other countries under different names, in appearance but not in language. Created by women in a patriarchal and conservative society where love was considered taboo, this poetry allowed women to enchant the world with their romantic verses sung for their lovers while remaining anonymous. A beautiful initiative to be able to contradict the system without directly opposing it. We’ll also mention the influence of Arabic and Persian poetry; on the one hand the wonders of Anis Shoshan, the young Tunisian poet, accompanied us during the writing of our lyrics, on the other hand the late Persian poet Jalāl ad-Dīn Rumi blessed us with his wisdom and purity, which has already accompanied us for several years in our daily life. We don’t set limits to the subjects of our texts, we speak of love in different forms: love of mother, lover, or neighbour, tolerance, anti-racism, Sufism. Moreover, we denounce slavery, the exploitation of precarious populations and lands still economically colonised, corruption, sexism, misogyny… We hope to live in a better world.
PAN M 360: Is the Bab L’Bluz line-up a mix? What are the origins of each member? Are they all from Marrakesh or are they all based in Morocco?
YM & BB: Yes, the Bab L’Bluz line-up is mixed, in a way. Yousra is from El Jadida in Morocco, she’s of Arab-Berber origin, Brice is from Annecy and he doesn’t know his origins, Hafid is from Lyon and of Tunisian origin, and Jérôme is Spanish. The group was created by Yousra and Brice in Marrakech and developed into a four-person group in Lyon. Before the lockdown, the two founders of the group lived between Lyon and Marrakech.
PAN M 360: In the current context where several regions of the Sahara are becoming zones conducive to ethnic strife and religious violence, do you see a commitment to your free and progressive music? Do you believe you have a role to play?
YM & BB: Indeed, music could play a fundamental role in the reintegration of peace in areas with a tendency towards conflict, especially over identity or religion. We must succeed in transmitting the idea and highlighting the fact that cultural difference has always brought richness, and that in today’s world all cultures are impregnated by the traces of other previous local cultures, or foreign cultures that ended up becoming local at some point by mixing with already existing cultures. As for the subject of religion, it’s enough to put forward the foundations of all religions, which have a lot in common, and thus transmit the values of peace, love, tolerance, benevolence, and respect through music. We fight an inner struggle every day to become better people, and believe that through the vibrations of music, we’ll end up touching the hearts of many.
PAN M 360: What are the next steps in your development? Do you have any new recording projects, remixes, collaborations?
YM & BB: To be able to play in as many places as possible, to share our first album live, then to compose and, why not, think about collaborations or remixes! If you have any ideas, don’t hesitate!
PAN M 360: For Mundial Montréal, what are you planning to play? Where will you be? How was the film set designed?
YM & BB: Unfortunately, there won’t be a film set for us in this edition, it will be in the form of an interview with a focus on our existing sounds, but we very much hope to see you live next year. Inch’Allah!
In 2019, Winnipeg-based Leonard Sumner won the Juno in the Indigenous Music Album of the Year category. Standing in the Light was a testament to the lucid and fervent commitment of the Manitoba-born Anishinaabe writer, composer, and performer. To this day, this commitment is matched by a composite stylistic approach: Americana (country, folk, etc.) and hip-hop lend a magnetic force to Sumner, who was invited to perform as part of Mundial Montréal. PAN M 360 connected with Sumner to find out more.
PAN M 360: You’re often presented among important new voices on the First Nations roots music scene today. How do you see that, yourself?
Leonard Sumner: I don’t see myself as a new voice anymore, but I feel it’s still important for these stories to be heard.
PAN M 360: Since a few years, there has been a great renaissance of indigenous cultures all over Canada, and it appears to be much more than a trend. How do you see your own contribution to this very important cultural expansion?
LS: If Canada wishes to advertise itself as a multicultural society and nation, it needs to fully recognize the Indigenous peoples and nations that have been existing prior to colonial expansion.
PAN M 360: Did you have role models when you defined your artistic personality and identity?
LS: I was inspired by hip-hop and country music.
PAN M 360: Who are your favourite musicians, songwriters, rappers and beatmakers?
LS: My current favourite MC is Black Thought, my favourite of all time is 2Pac. Steve Earle is probably my favourite songwriter.
PAN M 360: Folk rock, country, and rap are important components of your art form. How did it come together?
LS: It just happened naturally. Once I taught myself how to play guitar, I started mixing my lyrics into that.
PAN M 360: Could you explain the way you also include elements of traditional Anishinaabe music and singing, and/or other First Nations?
LS: I sing some traditional songs and insert as much of my language into my set as I can. I also include songs I composed in the language.
PAN M 360: For you, what are the specific aspects of your own craft? What makes the difference between you and other songwriters/rappers?
LS: The ability to seamlessly bring multiple genres together on stage.
PAN M 360: Of course the First Nations’ and native cultures’ many issues are a huge part of poetic inspiration of your lyrics. How do you transform those crucial concerns in a poetic way?
LS: With heart!
PAN M 360: What are the other dimensions of your lyrics?
LS: Spiritual.
PAN M 360: What is, for you, the tension between directness and abstraction? I mean between reality-based concerns – sharing stuff that’s real – and more abstract themes?
LS: Fiction can be shaped however a writer wishes it to be. Fact is a representation of the truth, and it’s important to speak the truth when speaking of serious issues.
PAN M 360: You seem also to have performed all over in the First Nations cultural networks?
LS: Yes, this is true.
PAN M 360: How are your songs perceived in this great indigenous diversity in North America?
LS: They are received well. We all have not had the exact same experience, but people have empathy because there are commonalities.
PAN M 360: What are your hopes for an international career?
LS: I’ve toured Australia and played a bit in the U.S. I would like to do a European tour eventually.
The emancipation of African women also passes through music. The aim of the meeting between Les Mamans du Congo and French producer RRobin is to highlight the daily life of these extraordinary women, whose place in society is still too marginal. Led by Gladys Samba, an emblematic figure of the Congo, the Mamans collective tells the story of its people over complex rhythms played with forks, baskets, plates, and recycled materials. A colourful and original project for RRobin, a great fan of the sounds and noises that surround us since his early childhood. The producer and beatmaker looks back on this musical journey that led him to Brazzaville and the meeting with the collective Les Mamans du Congo.
PAN M 360: When and how was the project born? How did the connection with Les Mamans du Congo happen?
RRobin: At the beginning of the project, it was an initiative of the Coopérative de Mai (a theater in Clermont-Ferrand), the French institute in Brazzaville, and the Jarring Effects label that put me in contact with les Mamans du Congo. It all started a year ago, when Céline Frezza (co-director of the label and sound engineer) and I met Gladys Samba at the music studio in Brazzaville. Gladys is the leader of the band and has some fame in Congo. We had ten days to make this album and everything came naturally. The deadline was short and I had to work in a rush. Having said that, I’m more productive that way, and it allows me to work on instinct too. It was a blessing in disguise. Everything was designed on the spot. I came with my computer, my synthesizer, and everything was thought out and recorded in the studio.
PAN M 360: Who are Les Mamans du Congo, and what place do they occupy, both on the music scene and in society?
RRobin: Les Mamans du Congo is a collective of Congolese women led by the charismatic singer and percussionist, Gladys Samba. It’s not always the same people who are part of the group. They often accompany Gladys and add the backing vocals on the album. The place of women in the music industry, as in society, is quite particular in Congo. There, often, the husband gives them an ultimatum: either you sing or you stay at home. In this context, that’s why Les Mamans du Congo are not always the same. These women and mothers bring a real authenticity to the lyrics, both in the voices and in the texts they sing in Lari, their local dialect.
PAN M 360: On that subject, what were the themes addressed by Les Mamans du Congo in their texts?
RRobin: Well, that’s funny, because I never really knew the meaning of lyrics texts until Gladys Samba and her husband came to visit me in France. The trip to Brazzaville was quick, ten days, and we didn’t have enough time to exchange. However, in France we talked for a long time and I finally learned what it meant. Gladys and les mamans mainly talk about the role of women and their emancipation in a society that is still very patriarchal. They also highlight the ancestral songs and lullabies from their childhood that they want to pass on to the new generations. An important cultural heritage which they hold dear, especially the history of their people and their daily lives. They are free women, who push others to emancipate themselves and have very strong commitments that push them to fight for the recognition of the status of women. They are involved in society and say they are proud to be feminists.
PAN M 360: Moreover, what place does music occupy in Congolese society, and more specifically in Brazzaville, where you recorded the album?
RRobin: In the streets of Brazzaville, music is omnipresent. In Congo, everything is music. Music is part of daily life. What’s mainly played is rap and electronic. There’s a big French influence that’s inevitable and I’ve heard a lot of music by the French rapper Niska. Electronic music is also booming because of the notoriety of some artists like Spoek Mathambo, a big figure from South Africa, who also raps and produces. I had worked with him on my previous album Déluge, on the track “Contact”. On this new album with Les Mamans du Congo, I also worked with the great Armel Malonga (husband of Gladys), bassist of the legendary Congolese singer ZAO, who served as artistic director of the project. A whole collective that has been making Congolese music shine internationally for several years.
PAN M 360: What are the differences between a production with Les Mamans du Congo and a production for Déluge or the instrumental album IN, which were released in 2018 and 2020, respectively – and how did you compose with them?
RRobin: There are almost none. I don’t create sounds based on a musical style, let alone the artists I’m going to collaborate with. In fact, the voices of the artists resonate in my head, for example the rapper Grems, who’s present on many of my projects, and notably at my side in The Imposture, is one of them. I have a special relationship with him, because his voice is everything that makes me trip, and it resonates in my head.
Every sound I produce, I can already see which voice I would see landing on it. With Les Mamans du Congo, it was completely different. Most of the sounds on the album were recorded as a result of improvisation. Sometimes Les Mamans and Gladys would go into deliriums and extreme musical trances, and the alchemy would work, that’s what was fantastic and what made the charm and authenticity of the sounds. On top of that, African music goes hand in hand with dance. It was quite a show in the studio!
PAN M 360: On some songs, like “Sans Pagne” and “Meki”, Gladys Samba raps with a sustained rhythm. Did she take the initiative to sing like that, because it’s not quite in her register, compared to a song like “Ngaminke”?
RRobin: It’s completely her style, in fact (laughs)! That was even noticed by Céline. But her flow is completely natural. If you listen to her solo album Absence, from 2018, it’s pretty obvious in the way she enunciates words. But the beauty of this artist’s voice lies in the fact that she manages to rap on a track like “Sans Pagne” as much as she manages to bring a lot of sweetness to a lullaby on the track “Mwana Wu Dila”. When she sings, she puts all her soul, her heart, her guts into it, and you feel it every time. For all that, there was no personal initiative, it came quite naturally and by improvisation, according to the rhythm used on each of the songs.
PAN M 360: What is your relationship with music, what does it mean to you?
RRobin: Music for me is a means of expression without rules or constraints. A total creative freedom in which I discovered the pleasure of simple emotion. At the age of five, my parents gave me the gift of enrolment at the conservatory. In musical practice, there were a lot of constraints and a lot of rules for little pleasure. It was after school that I started my own band with friends, but there again I was frustrated to perform and not create. It was at university, with a computer music option, that I had this revelation. There I had a creative tool with infinite possibilities open to me. By dint of fooling and fiddling with sounds on my computer, I ended up collaborating with artists from the rap and electronic scene, until last year and the project with Les Mamans du Congo.
PAN M 360: Noises and sounds are familiar to you, since they are the basis of all your musical creations. How did you go about creating the sounds for this album?
RRobin: Yes, since I was very young I’ve been attracted by the sounds and noises that surround us. In the car, I was already fascinated and hypnotized by the noise of the windshield wipers and turn signals. I quickly began to create my own sounds, to fiddle and tinker with everything that passed through my hands. I have a 15-year-old laptop, but with precious music-composition software on which I’ve been working for many years, and with which I create all my presets. It’s a gift from my girlfriend, which I never let go of. I create all my sounds and samples on it, in addition to a very basic synthesizer. I also use samples that I find, but like any good beatmaker, I crush them as much as I can to avoid being recognized. No question that this project was a joy for me to record. I was in my element, mixing all these sounds of plates, forks, buckets, recycled materials. It was an extraordinary experience.
PAN M 360: How do you see the live version of this album, and was a tour planned?
RRobin: Yes indeed, a tour with Les Mamans was planned throughout the summer, here in Congo, but also in Europe. African music goes hand in hand with dance. It’s in their culture, in their genes, in their blood. So, on stage Les Mamans would have danced and sung without any doubt, I would have been on the decks with my synthesizer to play live at times, and a percussionist also, to add life. Unfortunately, as you can imagine, it was cancelled, to our great sadness, but it is only temporarily postponed, we hope.
PAN M 360: This forced period of quarantine is conducive to the production of content, how do you see the next steps in your career?
RRobin: I’m keeping my feet firmly on the ground and I’ve resumed my work as a special educator for disabled children. I don’t consider my passion as a beatmaker a profession. I want to remain myself, faithful to my convictions and free to do what I like. Having a full-time career as a producer would potentially mean accepting everything and its opposite and that’s not my vision of things. I want to do what I want to do, and when I want to do it. Collaborate with who I want ,and be artistically free. However, I always continue to create, at my own pace and according to the human encounters I make in life. I always tinker with my sounds and send them to the artists and friends to whom they might correspond. Sharing is the best thing there is.
On PAN M 360’s radar, Jo Passed is one of the most exciting pop-rock projects on the Canadian West Coast. The bio from Sub Pop, the Seattle label the band is signed to, lines up names to describe the approach of writer, composer, performer, and producer Jo Hirayabashi, without whom this band could not exist: XTC (Andy Partridge) + deconstructed Beatles + krautrock (Can and Neu!) + a bit of prog + American avant-rock + a bit of Sonic Youth somewhere + Nick Drake meeting Swans + Grouper with Frank Ocean. Let’s add to all this a funny name, inspired by the legendary jazz guitarist Joe Pass. M for Montreal spotlights this top-notch act, and PAN M 360 spoke with him.
PAN M 360: What do you think of this list of references laid out by Sub Pop?
Jo Hirabayashi: That’s from the Sub Pop bio, I think we were trying to strategically write artists for reference to end up in interview questions and reviews. You know, everyone is so stressed working to deadline so often that releasing a bio, basically stating the things you want to be compared to or sound like, will generally equal that kind of press for people who are asked to cover it, and need quick-written things to sell the band or project or whatever. I think that was the rationale, leaving the name-dropping references in there. The publicist working on the record liked the comparisons. Also, that’s super awesome that you saw Joe Pass in concert, it must have been incredible. What an amazing musician and guitarist. I took his name to hide my Japanese real name, so that I wouldn’t get asked questions about how being part Japanese has influenced my music.
PAN M 360: How did you evolve as a music fan? How did you acquire this rich musical culture?
JH: I used to make myself listen to a new album every day. Now I can’t even get through a three-minute song, it takes a lot. It’s just really overwhelming generally, there’s so much to take in and it gets me thinking about the whole context of the artist and the intent and all that jazz. The culture of music scares me. I’m hoping to get rid of the culture and keep the rest. I think it gets in the way of whether I can actually experience just the pure sonic joy of music most of the time.
PAN M 360: As a musician, what schooling did you have, how did you learn?
JH: I started taiko drums at four, and then piano at five, and then guitar at 16, 17. I went to jazz school to get more skills to write songs and make records but then got sidetracked, thinking I could maybe score the hottest restaurant gig in town. Did a few records with other groups, and then started Jo Passed 平林 as my final project before I give up.
PAN M 360: Your harmonic choices, your rhythmic patterns, and the quality of your performances suggest that you’ve explored a lot of music and sound design.
JH: I think I’ve spent a lot of time listening to my anxiety when I’m writing, which is why everyone sounds so tense and why none of my projects are very popular. Songwriting is a release for me and most of the time I’m high-energy and anxious. I think my favourite songs I’ve written are when I’m tired, but they are few.
PAN M 360: You reached a peak with the album Their Prime, released in 2018. What happened afterwards?
JH: I’ve been depressed since the record was released. I think it was a step off a bridge. Lots of weird social stuff going into the record and coming out, and the whole time I was trying to finish a second record purely based around a song that my guitar player, who later quit, really liked and was really pushing for us to play. It’s a song that preceded the project and I thought was kind of simple and silly, but she was so nice and supportive of it that it inspired writing an EP around it to make it work. The EP was pitched as a warm-up to the album with Sub Pop, but eventually everyone thought it’d be better to just lead with the album and leave those songs until another time. Eventually I wrote a fifth song for EP which turned it into a side A. Side B came out very very slowly. The whole process has been a slog and I still need to write one more song, and I’m left with this bunch of songs that just carry such weird baggage with them.
PAN M 360: Mac Lawry, Bella Bébé, and Megan Magdalena-Bourne were your partners in Jo Passed, how did they evolve within the group?
JH: Bella and Megan don’t play with me anymore. Mac plays with me and Téa Mei has joined me on bass. My old childhood friend Elliot Langford is joining on guitar and ebow for this session at M for Montreal, opening for Mac Demarco. Mac (not Demarco, my drummer) has evolved from playing drums really loud to playing them, like, really, really loud, and very tight, with good ideas, and he’s a good friend. Téa has just started playing in bands and music and is a sobering presence who doesn’t care about the career ambitions of rockers very much, and thinks music scenes are BS and the whole thing is a bit silly, she’s really rad and she’s my partner and I love her so much. Even if me and Elliot are super-fighty and not speaking, being weird, I could still ask him to help me by playing in my band and he would because he’s such a sweet and caring guy. Or I could ask him to pick me up after I got hit by car on my bike and he would too, like, not ’cause my band is cool to play in, just like, he’d help out, y’know?
PAN M 360 : How do you see the next steps in your creation? Electronics? Effect pedals? New dimensions?
JH: I’m trying to get rid of pedals. I did get some synths. I might write more simply and just record albums and share them with my friends and not really promote them or anything.
PAN M 360: What will you play M for Montreal ?
JH: We will play songs, mostly “new” songs plus “MDM” ’cause of all the Ms, and it’s my hit – one-hit wonder, yo.
PAN M 360: You lived in Montreal a few years ago and then returned to British Columbia, why the migration?
JH: I wish I hadn’t left or had to leave Montreal in some ways. Sub Pop definitely made it feel okay to leave for a bit and I suppose I could always just go back to Montreal. But I don’t know if that will happen. Largely it was personal and family that brought me back after spending just a measly six months in Montreal, where this project started.
PAN M 360: You would seem to have a love/hate relationship with Vancouver, what would you say is your “West Coast identity”?
JH: I’m West Coast through and through, and can’t deny it. Even when I was in Montreal, people just thought of me as a West Coast guy. Honestly, I’ve really enjoyed Vancouver for the first time since ever during lockdown. It made me grateful for the place I get to live in with such a wealth of indigenous history, which I’m starting to explore, as well as the beautiful forests and mountains.
PAN M 360: How would you describe the subjects of your lyrics?
JH: Mainly probably just identity and coming to terms with general humanistic notions in an increasingly inhuman world.
PAN M 360: Are you looking for a balance between lyrics and music?
JH: I think the lyrics are more important, but no one can understand what I’m saying on this record. But people should buy it at subpop.com.
Photos: Marie Belzil
Occupied as a filmmaker and a sculptor of bizarre toys, and the oversight of his family’s restaurant Ta Chido (try the tortas!), Mexican-born Montrealer Mariano Franco still finds time to make music. He’s made a lot of it over the years, in fact. Installed in Montreal in the mid-’90s, he began with the metal band Mi Santa Sangre, followed by a series of bands and projects that kept pace with the cool new Latin music wave hitting the Americas. At each stage, Franco, his constant collaborator Fernando Pinzón, and their recurring associates flew the flag for Latin counterculture in the north, while indulging in a surrealist, cinematic sensibility. Franco’s latest concoction sees him adopting the moniker of Papi Chulo. Taking his introductory bow in 2017 with La tierra promitida, an electro-centric album of sexy, sinister tropical bass. Papi Chulo now returns with Ritmo de lo Habitual, a follow-up album that’s anything but habitual in its sci-fi mutations of mambo, champeta, cumbia, and more. PAN M 360 spoke with Franco to find out more, and to give some visibility to his Grupo Invisible.
PAN M 360: You handle most of the vocals on the record. For listeners with little comprehension of Spanish, how would you describe what you’re doing lyrically?
MF: Just like my music, the lyrics are also weird. They are images translated to words, like long haikus that talk about love, anger, passion, and metaphysical ideas in a surreal, satirical way. There’s the song “Dispárame al corazón”, for example, which is a love song about this guy asking his love to kill him very fast because his heart is not beating anymore. “Satánico” is like a prayer, a song about passion, sweat, and cellular fusion if that makes sense, and “El Encuentro” is a poem about two worlds colliding.
PAN M 360: There’s a strong taste of Italian horror-movie music from the 1970s in a lot of the synthesizer parts. And the synth line in “Pa Que Lo Sepas” totally reminds me of the ninja-Light theme from Shogun Assassin. You’re a filmmaker yourself – how much of an influence are film soundtracks on your sound?
MF: I really love films and their soundtracks, especially those from the ’60s and ’70s. I just bought the Planète Sauvage soundtrack on vinyl because it drives me crazy with all its weirdness and psychedelic sound. I think that what I do is somehow a soundtrack, because when you make music for film, you’re creating feelings, conveying images, and you’re not constrained by structure or music formulas. You’re just going on a trip to enhance the visuals, and Papi Chulo’s music has some of this. I don’t consider myself a musician, often I don’t know what I’m doing and, because of my musical ignorance, I rely on feelings and moods rather than structure, and it all results in this weird universe called Papi Chulo.
PAN M 360: Your band includes Fernando Pinzón on bass. The two of you have worked together through a succession of bands, for a couple of decades now. What makes your partnership so solid?
Mariano Franco: Fernando is a longtime collaborator. I think he really understands what I’m trying to say musically. We’ve collaborated in so many projects since the late ‘90s that I think he really knows how my brain works, and he’s become some sort of an external ear for me, a way to know if I’m going in the right direction with something, he’s my Jiminy Cricket. He says that I have a weird way of making music, mixing stuff that should not go together, but he encourages me to go ahead, as he thinks that is at the same time beautiful.
PAN M 360: The brass arrangements by Etienne Lebel are great, really effective and often with a strange flavour to them. The percussion work by Omar Diaz, from Panama, adds so much to the record too. What can you tell me about them and their contributions?
MF: Originally, I did program all the percs and horns, and I was going to release it as an entirely electronic music album. Then, the pandemic came and it hit the scene hard, but also created a beautiful world of artistic collaborations. Etienne and Omar, who’ve played with Papi Chulo in the past, reached out and say, hey let’s record all that stuff and make it sound real. So they took my arrangements and made them theirs and this creates a very interesting sound. Etienne would record from his house in Montreal, and Omar all the way from Panama City! These guys are great musicians and I’m grateful to them for their collaboration and support.
PAN M 360: You have a trio of features from guest vocalists Ultra K, Stephanie Osorio, and Nagano Morro, who sounds mad as hell on “Corriente Alterna”. Could you tell us more about them?
MF: It’s the first time I’ve invited others to sing my songs. I felt that these songs did not want me. I wanted Ultra K for “El Encuentro”, because her voice is really something unique and gives the song a perfect ethereal and dark sound. For “Chispas”, which is a kind of cumbia, I wanted a voice that echoes the mix of African, Spanish, and Indigenous voices, the sound of the Caribbean. Stephanie Osorio, who sings with Bumaranga, really takes us there, we can almost see the sunset behind palm trees as we listen to the song. “Corriente Alterna” is a song about being different and wild, it’s a punk song. I’ve known Nagano for a long time and after listening to his new funk-metal project DéKorà – Tira Barrio, I knew he was perfect for this song. He really went the extra mile. I sent him the track and he sent me back about five tracks of vocals!
PAN M 360: The cover art by the Serbian artist Mihailo Kalabicis really outstanding. How did you arrive at that image?
MF: I was checking my Instagram and I saw Mihailo’s crazy work, and I knew that it was what I wanted for this album. I sent him a message and the music, and he said “I’m pretty busy but I love the music and I’m willing to make a space for your cover.” I sent him another message recounting a trip on mushrooms about 15 years ago, when I saw myself being reconstructed and guided by African spirits, and he sent me this sketch that magically portrays the feeling and the setup of my experience. I was in shock! It is like he’d had the trip with me. I love the cover because it truly represents my world, and reflects also the times during which the album was conceived, dark times of pandemic and dark politics, this was really my landscape and Mihailo’s art truly translates that, my desire to see beyond the ordinary into an universe of magical and infinite possibilities.
PAN M 360: As I mentioned, you and Fernando have been in a series of bands and projects together, including Psychotropical Orchestra, and the Sonido Nordico DJ crew, also with Marie Belzil. You were early heralds and northern representatives of the cumbia revival that began about 15 or 20 years ago. It turns out that revival had staying power, and cumbia is more widespread and diversified. What’s your read on where cumbia is at right now, worldwide?
MF: Cumbia has really reached places no one knew back then, when we were experimenting with it in the 2000s. From famous DJs and producers around the world to mainstream artists, cumbia has reached a well-deserved place in the hearts of people who love to make music and dance. When we started, we thought that cumbia would just fade away and go back to what it was for a long time, a music for the fringe of Latin-American society, but it emerged and took its place as the queen of our music, the musical gene that we share from Argentina to Mexico and that now is recognized even in Japan. I don’t know what the future of cumbia is, it’s been mixed with rock, with hip hop, with electronic music, it has been over-instrumented by big bands and stripped down to the minimal by experimentalists. I guess it will live forever.
Bar Farouk is a colourful, multidisciplinary show presented at the Metro Al Madina space in the Hamra district of Beirut. Its audiovisual version is broadcast as part of Montreal’s Festival du Monde Arabe, allowing a virtual plunge into downtown Beirut, the hard-hit capital of 2020. A crucial artist in this show is singer Yasmina Fayed, who connected with PAN M 360 from Lebanon.
PAN M 360: Tell us about the genesis of your show, which is about the nightlife of Beirut before the civil war.
Yasmina Fayed: Seven years ago, Metro created a new show called Hishik Bishik. We tried to assemble the “greatest hits” of the golden era in Egypt, songs that were loved by the whole Arab world, along with a certain story to link these songs together. As the two-hour show progresses, the songs do too, chronologically, meaning that during our research, we tried to choose songs that were the hits of the years between the 1920s and the 1970s. The show was a success, and it’s still running for the seventh year. Hicham Jaber, the director of the show, thought it was inevitable to give the same salute to the songwriters and artists of Lebanon, so Bar Farouk, with the same group of actors and musicians, was created.
PAN M 360: How is the show put together, and staged?
YF: Beirut has always been a vibrant city, witnessing the arrival of artists and intellectuals from all over the Arab world.The name Bar Farouk was inspired by Theatre Farouk, which actually existed in the old Beirut, downtown. The theatre presented various shows, and the most promising artists from Egypt and Syria gathered there to discuss art and give performances. As the years went by, and war was looming in the air, la decadence was mirrored in the grand theatre’s performances. Pioneers were replaced by amateurs.
The director tried again to copy the images and colours of the city. Progressing again from the ’20s to the year 1975, when the Lebanese civil war started. The audience is transported in time, through the songs, melodies, and costumes. The show takes place in the famous theatre, and with each song, the characters of the show are revealed, introducing the femmes fatales of the cabaret, along with the usual band, the romantic singer, the comic duo, and the abaday, meaning the strong fellow that everyone fears, the Robin Hood of the Beiruti streets (every street in Beirut had its own abaday). The visuals playing in the background are essential because they play the role of the sand clock, that gives the audience an indicator of time passing by.
PAN M 360: Who handles the musical direction?
YF: Ziad al Ahmadiya is in charge of the musical arrangements in both Hishik Bishik and Bar Farouk. Musically, some of the original songs were performed at the Lebanese radio station, so they had an orchestra playing with the singer. In Bar Farouk, Ziad tried to preserve the spirit of the different eras presented through his arrangements.
PAN M 360: Who are the main soloists, singers, and musicians?
YF: The performers and musicians are Ziad al Ahmadiya (oud and vocals), Ziad Jaafar (violin and vocals), Bahaa Daou (percussions and vocals), Samah Abi El Mona (accordion and vocals), Diaa Hamza (accordion and vocals), Bachar Farran (bass), Wissam Dalati (costumes, vocals, and performance), Roy Deeb (vocals and performance), Ahmad al Khatib (vocals and performance), Randa Makhoul (vocals and belly-dancer), Lina Sahhab (vocals and performance), and Yasmina Fayed (vocals and performance).
PAN M 360: How has the show evolved? What changes have been made over time?
YF: Each member of the band did their own research about the character he or she was playing. A lot of one-on-one meetings were held with the director, and we discussed costumes, and the characters’ attitudes. The show is not just about singing; every person on stage represents a certain character that the Lebanese audience relates to. As time went by, the characters we were playing were continuously developing, and asides began to be heard, revealing each of the characters’ own world. For example, you could hear a dispute between the “girls”, or advances from one of the male characters to one of the girls in the cabaret. It’s as if we’ve always known what the show is about, and with time, it all fell into the right place.
PAN M 360: Is this show a source of nostalgia for the Lebanese who lived through the great years of modern Beirut?
YF: Indeed it is! The audience is transported through time with every song, and every tune. The songs were carefully selected to create that impact. You’ll see someone in the audience smiling, or rushing to whisper in someone else’s ear that he remembers this song. Nostalgia is the main driver of the show, we revived a lot of musicians and performers that only few knew about, and brought to light some of the greatest artists that were forgotten, intentionally or unintentionally, over time. I guess that’s why the show turned out to be a hit.
PAN M 360: How have younger audiences reacted?
YF: When Metro opened its doors eight years ago, the younger audience were seen flocking to see the shows and get a glimpse of what was happening in the capital. They were, and still are, curious. They want to see what’s new, they want to see new shows. So when the idea came to revisit a bygone era, the younger audience manifested love and appreciation, and you could see them coming again to see the show twice or more, inviting their parents and friends.
PAN M 360: Do you see an international potential for the presentation of this show? How do you think it could reach audiences around the world?
YF: I consider the audience to be my own “guests”. They are visiting us to see us dance and sing, and they sing along and dance too. Many people from different nationalities have come to see Bar Farouk, and their reaction was as overwhelming as any other Lebanese or Arab. So I think that taking part in this celebration is very important. People will be reintroduced to the forgotten face of Lebanon – the Lebanon that had la joie de vivre!
PAN M 360: How did you adapt Bar Farouk as an audiovisual production?
YF: For us on stage, we tried to perform as if we had a full house. We had the cameras to look at, keeping in mind that a big audience will be watching behind those lenses. What the cameras were trying to catch was the little details that are happening in the corners of the stage; they tried to capture every move of every character so that the people watching online could get into the mood, as if they were seated inside the theatre.
PAN M 360: Can you tell us the history of your troupe, of your artistic direction?
YF: We have always been friends, all of us, really. We knew each other by name, or because we’ve had some work in common during our time at university. When Metro decided to produce Hishik Bishik, everything fell into its right place, as if we were meant to come together. And here we are, still performing both shows.
PAN M 360: Recent events in Beirut have been very difficult, and come on top of the hardships experienced by the Lebanese. What’s your state of mind?
YF: I think I speak on behalf of a lot of us when I say we are tired. We are depressed. During the first days of the revolution, someone had written that the Lebanese people are the happiest depressed people you’ll ever meet, and that is very true. We know the situation we are in, and we are trying to make the best of it. We’ve decided to move on. I am writing to you now, thinking about the deteriorating economic and political situation, about the people who have lost their homes after the 4th of August port explosion, and about rain. It’s raining in Beirut and so many people haven’t had the proper help needed to restore their houses. They know they won’t get the help needed from the government. I think about our performances, about joy, songs and dancing, depression, lockdown, bankruptcies… I think these are great topics for a new show! We have to move on. We need to move on.
PAN M 360: There was a lot of vigour for protest among Beirut’s young people before the explosion, some now speak of gloom and discouragement… what do you think?
YF: Lebanon has always had its ups and downs, but the young ones have always managed to pick up the pieces and carry on. Youth from all over the Arab world have come to Beirut to experience freedom of speech and get a taste of art and fantasy. I am afraid that this time it’s different. We tried to raise our voice, it was unheard. We tried to carry on, and thought that through hard work we will have it our way, and then came the explosion.
PAN M 360: What are your plans for the future? Stay in Hamra? Move? Work for the cultural reconstruction of Beirut?
YF: Being Lebanese is hard nowadays. As I said earlier, we are tired… constantly worried. Thinking about what’s to come, knowing that we have only ourselves to count on. I cannot leave Lebanon or Beirut, though I dream of peace of mind! But this is where we belong. We have learned how to zigzag through it all. Build our small world, through performing arts or small businesses. This is what it’s all about, isn’t it? Surviving through it all, while keeping your head above water.
In Algeria there is an orchestra, the only one of its kind, made up entirely of women, called the L’Orchestre féminin Cheikh Sadek el-Bejaoui. Its mission is to perpetuate the tradition of a music that is more than a thousand years old, inherited from the kingdom of al-Andalus. Al-Andalus is the whole of the territories of the Iberian Peninsula and some in the south of France that were, at one time or another, under Muslim rule between 711 (date of the first landing) and 1492 (date of the fall of Granada, the last Muslim stronghold in the territory). As part of the Festival du monde arabe de Montréal (FMA), the ensemble offers an exclusive show that only festival-goers will be able to see and hear.
PAN M 360 connected with the energetic Madina Yahiaoui, co-leader of the orchestra, a title she shares with Sonia Bouyahia, Sadek el-Bejaoui’s granddaughter.
PAN M 360: Let’s start, if you will, by explaining to the readers who Sadek el-Bejaoui is.
Madina Yahiaoui: Sadek el-Bejaoui is a great pedagogue, composer, performer, and perpetuator of the tradition of Arab-Andalusian music, Algerian classical music. He has taught several generations the love of this tradition. He has also founded an association with which L’Orchestre féminin is associated. We are thus pursuing the master’s mission by playing his music (he has composed nearly a thousand pieces in the style of this age-old music) and by perpetuating his teaching and his method of interpretation.
PAN M 360: The orchestra was founded in 2008. What is its importance in the Algerian musical landscape, in your opinion?
Madina Yahiaoui: The importance goes beyond the strictly artistic register. With the orchestra, another side of the Algerian woman is shown. A woman who knows how to be modern while at the same time having at heart the maintaining of traditions. This orchestra is also a struggle. A social, political, and historical struggle.
PAN M 360: Is the new generation listening to and practising this tradition?
Madina Yahiaoui: Honestly, it’s difficult. It’s a bit like in Europe or America: traditional or classical music is neglected. Pop, hip-hop and commercial music take up a lot of space. This is the role of the Ahbab Sheikh Sadek el-Bejaoui association and others like it. It is not a conservatory, but it does a conservatory’s job.
PAN M 360: What musical training do the musicians of the orchestra have?
Madina Yahiaoui: Training acquired in the Association’s curriculum. It is not the same type of training as a European classical curriculum, although some “modern” elements are taught there, such as solfège. It is primarily an oral tradition. That said, some musicians are increasingly trying to write this music, in order to ensure its preservation in a more certain way. There’s a debate in the field, but I think it’s a good thing.
PAN M 360: Do you live professionally from this activity?
Madina Yahiaoui: We all have other professional occupations, if that’s what you want to know. Many of us are studying, and not in music! I, for example, am studying in the financial world. Others are pharmacists, computer scientists, linguists, etc. But be careful! For us, music is not an occasional hobby. It is at least as important in our lives as our studies or full-time jobs. We want to bring our heritage to life and share it all over the world!
PAN M 360: What kind of repertoire will be played for the November 18 broadcast on the FMA website?
Madina Yahiaoui: A repertoire mainly from the compositions of the master, Sadek el-Bejaoui (who died in 1995). There will also be some pieces from the distant tradition, that of the Middle Ages, from the ninth to the 15th centuries. It will be a journey out of the ordinary and out of time!
PAN M 360: This concert will be like no other you’ve given before, and it seems exclusive to the FMA – why?
Madina Yahiaoui: Because of the pandemic, a majority of the musicians have remained in Algeria and a few, including me, are confined to Paris. The solution we have found allows us to offer something unique. Part of the concert is played by the musicians who are in Algeria. This part is very traditional, with the costumes and everything. Here in Paris, I have recruited classical musicians from the conservatory, including a pianist and a drummer. This part is far from pure tradition, it has a very different character, because of the instrumentation, but also because of the training of the musicians, which has nothing to do with Arab-Andalusian music. We have edited both, because it is not a live performance, and the broadcast of the 18th will be the first. Friends of the FMA will have an exclusive. Two different images for the same tradition, in a single concert!
PAN M 360: In the end, has the pandemic opened a door that you never thought you would get through?
Madina Yahiaoui: Yes and no. I’ve had the idea of doing this kind of collaboration for a long time. It’s important for me to meet as many musicians as possible from other traditions. Let’s say that the pandemic has forced us to act in this way.
PAN M 360: Thank you very much for introducing us to this wonderful musical tradition!
Madina Yahiaoui: Thank you very much for allowing us to talk about it. And thank you especially to the FMA, who have the courage to maintain their programming despite the current difficulties. We are very grateful for this. And we are especially looking forward to being able to come to Montreal for real one day!
While Paul Jacobs often finds himself surrounded by several musicians on stage, it’s all by himself that he enjoys composing, creating, and recording his music. Just as adept with drums (we saw him behind the kit with Pottery), guitar, keyboards, and mixing console as he is with drawing and animation, the Windsor musician, who has been exiled in Montreal for the past few years, presents his eighth album on stage as part of M For Montreal. While waiting for the record, which will be released sometime next year, he unveils “Thanks”, a first track from the Sounds From Mothland Vol. 1 compilation – the crew behind the Distortion festival, among other things – for which Paul Jacobs illustrated the cover.
PAN M 360 took a virtual meeting with this prolific and versatile artist, in his home studio.
PAN M 360: You have a rather atypical background. From drummer for metal bands, you ended up in a one-man garage band, then singing and playing guitar with seven or eight people on stage in a kind of psychedelic noise supersonic maelstrom.
Paul Jacobs: I was playing drums in a lot of metal bands. In Windsor, where I’m from, there were a lot of metal and hardcore-punk bands. So I didn’t want to play such crazy music all the time and do stuff like the Beatles, play drums like Ringo Starr and stuff, so I just decided to learn guitar in 2010, I guess. And then I just started making songs from there, stuff I kinda like more. But drums are my main instrument, so when I started Pottery, it was mostly because I wanted to play drums again.
PAN M 360 : You’ve recorded a lot of demos over the last few months, some of which were used to create your forthcoming album…
PJ: I’ve just finished an album and I’m starting the next one because I’ve got so much time at home. I play and I record here, whenever I want.
PAN M 360: We already know quite a bit about your next album, which will be released on the Montreal label Blow The Fuse in 2021, but we can’t reveal everything. Top secret! So, without risking revealing too much, can you tell us more or less what it will consist of?
PJ:Sure! My last release was from two years ago, I think. I feel I kind of went through a transition period with the music I wanted to make – something less crazy, a more defined sound, something recorded a bit better. I recorded this album with all the exact same gear as my other albums, but I focused on mixing a lot better, going for more clarity and less noise. In between this new album and my last, I was more into folk and I started off writing a lot of folk songs but then, as time went on, I brought in a lot more of the psychedelic stuff, like the synths, the drums, and other stuff. So it’s like a mix of folky-type songs and psychedelic rock ’n’ roll kinda stuff. It was good that I took that little break because it helped me figure out where I wanted to go, because if I had not done that, I would have ended up releasing a folk album.
PAN M 360: So like your other albums, did you do everything by yourself or did you have a little help this time?
PJ: No, I just did it by myself, like I did all the other ones. I also did the recording and the mixing here at home, but I got the mastering done by Oliver Ackermann from Death By Audio/A Place To Bury Strangers.
PAN M 360: Since it is different from the previous ones, what were the sources of inspiration for this album?
PJ: The reason I wanted to change the sound is because of the animation videos I make. I find that it’s easier and better to make videos for songs that have more emotion, instead of punk songs. You can put more feelings in them. I also listen to more stuff like Cass McCombs, Kurt Vile, things like that. So I wanted to make songs that are closer to that. I also listen to a lot of Gene Clark, the Byrds, Tucker Zimmerman, especially in the way that this guy writes lyrics… Folky stuff like that, you know?
PAN M 360 : So did you first build the album by imagining videos or pictures?
PJ: A little, yes. That’s what pushed me to change my sound. I was looking to make music that would be more in line with my style of drawing, which would be easier to illustrate. Something that actually corresponds to what I listen to when I’m drawing.
PAN M 360 : You’re still in charge of illustrating your covers and making your videos, aren’t you?
PJ: Yes, but I worked with other people for some clips. I do all the animation, though. I think the music and the illustrations should mix with each other, I always try to merge the two. It’s my passion project if you want, making music and drawing, that’s all I want to do and now I have the possibility to do both, and to bring them together. Plus I can do it all from home, which is even more fun. I also did the cover art for the Mothland compilation, the Pottery album and the videos, and also a video clip for Elephant Stone… I like to work on other projects, it’s kind of a challenge I give myself, trying to do something that’s not too much me, if you know what I mean. I also make some t-shirts for different bands. But when it comes to making animation clips, I get offered to do it from time to time but it’s really much too time-consuming, it’s a bit crazy. I prefer to spend that time doing stuff for myself.
PAN M 360 : You said earlier that you are already working on another album? Would you like to tell us about it ?
PJ: It’s going to be pretty much in the same vein as what I’m listening to at home right now. I want to make music that I would like to listen to at home. And again, it’s pretty much drum-based. The drums are really present and I’d like to do something a little bit darker, in a way. Something more serious, more dreamlike but darker. No dream-pop but more like a weird dream thing, you know? It will be quite different from the record that will be released on Blow The Fuse, the production will be better, I think. With each album I’m getting better at producing, with the recording techniques and all that. It’s going to be the best I’ve done so far in terms of production I’d say; I’ve got new mics, new interfaces…
PAN M 360 : What kind of concert will you present at M For Montreal?
PJ: I’m doing roughly the same show I gave at the last Taverne Tour, but with six musicians instead of seven. It’s pretty sweet. I play mostly songs from my next album and a track from my previous one, Easy.
PAN M 360 : And as for Pottery, what’s the news?
PJ: Not much, to tell you the truth. Because we can’t tour, everyone went back home. I would say the band is on a break right now. The band is not dead, a band never really dies! Everybody’s just taking a little break, that’s all. There are bands that can’t work if there’s not a tour, if there’s not something to put some wood in the fire.
Subscribe to our newsletter
Manage Cookie Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
