Scritto da E.F.
Il Deserto dei Tamikrest
Intervista con Ousmane Ag Mossa
con il loro album di debutto, Adagh, dotato di un sound esotico ed insolito, ci hanno conquistato e fatto sognare il deserto, portandoci a contatto con culture lontane. Ci erano piaciuti al punto di guadagnarsi un posto nella top 20 del 2010, unica presenza di sonorità così poco convenzionali nella classifica di fine anno. E mentre ancora non ci eravamo stancati di addentrarci curiosi nelle tracce di Adagh, alla scoperta di dettagli nascosti e dei testi impegnati, ecco l'annuncio di un nuovo album, Toumastin, in uscita il 22 aprile, sempre per la tedesca Glitterhouse. Quella che segue è l'intervista che Ousmane Ag Mossa, leader della band, ci ha gentilmente concesso. Dalle sue parole, cariche di orgoglio per la propria cultura Tuareg, scopriamo qualcosa di più sul progetto Tamikrest e otteniamo anche qualche anticipazione sul nuovo disco.
Panopticon: First of all, thanks a lot for your time. We liked very much Adagh last year, and we think that you deserve much more attention by music lovers around the world, so it is a pleasure to have the opportunity to interview you.
Ousmane: Hi, my name is Ousmane Ag Mossa. I am the bandleader of Tamikrest. It is a pleasure for me to answer your questions.
P: To get started: how did the Tamikrest project begin? More specifically: in the liner notes of Adagh you explain the political and social situation in which Tuareg live, which is also dominant in your lyrics. What brought you to decide that music was the best way to give voice to the Touareg people, and how did you form the band?
O: We all went to the same school in Tinzaouetene, a small town in the middle of the desert. I dreamed. My dream was to become an advocat and fight for a better situation of my people. But soon I saw that it would have probably become an impossible issue. As an advocat, my voice in the world would not be big enough to solve the problems. We all loved the music of the Ishumar, represented mainly by the band Tinariwen. They spoke to the world and they had an influence through their music. So we all decided to become professional musicians and spread the word.
P: Which are your main influences? Are there bands you owe something in shaping Tamikrest’s style?
O: Of course, we all started with the traditional music of the Tuareg. As I said, the influence of the Ishumar movement (unemployed and homeless nomads of the desert) represented by musicians such as Tinariwen, Terakaft etc. brought us to music. But cassette players and later mp3 players gave us the possibility to listen to « Western » music, represented by Bob Marley, Mark Knopfler and Jimi Hendrix. So, we as the younger generation tried to integrate these styles in our music too.
P: When we first listened to Adagh, we were surprised by the fact that your music, though geographically and culturally “far” from our Euro-American standards, was actually not that far, also embodying what seemed to be a “Western touch”, especially in guitar riffs and in the rhythmic section. Is it a coincidence or did you have influences also from Western music?
O: In 2008 we met the australian/american band Dirtmusic at a festival in the desert. They invited us to back them as the rhythm section on their next album. So we did, and we learned a lot about the western music. After recording our first album Adagh we made a long European tour in 2010 together with Dirtmusic. We all listened very carefully to their style and riffs and of course we learned a lot from western music. Also we had the chance to listen to well-know Western heroes like Pink Floyd or Neil Young. All of this influenced us, but we've never forgotten our basics.
P: Probably your relationship with Glitterhouse Records has provided you with much more means than before to bring your music and your message outside Mali, beyond the desert to Europe and the world. Was it difficult to find a label interested in your music? How did your partnership with Glitterhouse start?
O: Our relationship with Glitterhouse happened by fortune. As we met Dirtmusic in the desert, there was a representative of Glitterhouse with them. We became friends and suddenly we had a german manager. He took over all the business responsibility and offered us a contract for 2 albums and the touring in Europe.
P: Let’s now turn to the actual content of your music. What are the main claims of the Tuareg people? Which issues would you like to stress, to make our readers understand better your situation? In particular, given the importance they have in your lyrics, which kind of problems do the “children of l’Adagh” (that we can see in a beautiful photo in the booklet of your album), face?
O: The younger generation of Tuaregs have no chance to create and live their own culture. Our culture is one of the oldest in the world. Nowadays we live in ignorance, poverty, no chance for education. Our nation is spread over 5 countries and in each country we are strangers without a voice. You can read more in the statement I made for our website.
P: Interviewing you, I cannot avoid asking about what is happening in Northern Africa. I'm sure you followed the development of events in Tunisia, Egypt, Lybia... What do you think of those liberation movements? Do you feel that they can help, in some way, your battle for rights and freedom?
O: I respect their fight for freedom, especially to get rid of dictatorship. But it has nothing to do with our fight. We are fighting to keep our culture alive. We are fighting to have a voice for our people. We are fighting for our own political representation. We are not a revolution, we are not terrorists, Islamists, or fighting against a political party. We just want to keep our culture and people self-determined.
P: Back to music now. Adagh was an extraordinary debut, both for its excellent songs and its ability to let us have a journey through central Africa and make us taste a bit of the flavour that life has in the desert. What can we expect from your next album, Toumastin, that soon we will have the pleasure to listen to? Did you change something, for example, in the way you write music, or in the way you arrange songs?
O: You can expect more of the same... It is still the basic Tuareg sound, but maybe you can listen what we have learned in Europe. A little rock-riff here, a little bit of Pink Floyd sound there... our producer Chris Eckman also added some snippets played by European musicians, but in the end it's the continuing development of our own Tamikrest sound.
P: Thank you very much again, we wish you all the best.
O: Thank you for the good questions and for the interest in Tamikrest
Tamikrest
Domande in Inglese di Enrico Finocchiaro; tradotte dall'Inglese al Francese, e inviate ai Tamikrest dal manager della band, Peter Weber. Intervista telefonica, trascrizione delle risposte e resa in Inglese di Peter Weber. Articolo curato da Enrico Finocchiaro.
Intervista con Ousmane Ag Mossa
I
Tamikrest sono stati tra le più belle scoperte dello scorso anno: con il loro album di debutto, Adagh, dotato di un sound esotico ed insolito, ci hanno conquistato e fatto sognare il deserto, portandoci a contatto con culture lontane. Ci erano piaciuti al punto di guadagnarsi un posto nella top 20 del 2010, unica presenza di sonorità così poco convenzionali nella classifica di fine anno. E mentre ancora non ci eravamo stancati di addentrarci curiosi nelle tracce di Adagh, alla scoperta di dettagli nascosti e dei testi impegnati, ecco l'annuncio di un nuovo album, Toumastin, in uscita il 22 aprile, sempre per la tedesca Glitterhouse. Quella che segue è l'intervista che Ousmane Ag Mossa, leader della band, ci ha gentilmente concesso. Dalle sue parole, cariche di orgoglio per la propria cultura Tuareg, scopriamo qualcosa di più sul progetto Tamikrest e otteniamo anche qualche anticipazione sul nuovo disco.Panopticon: First of all, thanks a lot for your time. We liked very much Adagh last year, and we think that you deserve much more attention by music lovers around the world, so it is a pleasure to have the opportunity to interview you.
Ousmane: Hi, my name is Ousmane Ag Mossa. I am the bandleader of Tamikrest. It is a pleasure for me to answer your questions.
P: To get started: how did the Tamikrest project begin? More specifically: in the liner notes of Adagh you explain the political and social situation in which Tuareg live, which is also dominant in your lyrics. What brought you to decide that music was the best way to give voice to the Touareg people, and how did you form the band?
O: We all went to the same school in Tinzaouetene, a small town in the middle of the desert. I dreamed. My dream was to become an advocat and fight for a better situation of my people. But soon I saw that it would have probably become an impossible issue. As an advocat, my voice in the world would not be big enough to solve the problems. We all loved the music of the Ishumar, represented mainly by the band Tinariwen. They spoke to the world and they had an influence through their music. So we all decided to become professional musicians and spread the word.
P: Which are your main influences? Are there bands you owe something in shaping Tamikrest’s style?
O: Of course, we all started with the traditional music of the Tuareg. As I said, the influence of the Ishumar movement (unemployed and homeless nomads of the desert) represented by musicians such as Tinariwen, Terakaft etc. brought us to music. But cassette players and later mp3 players gave us the possibility to listen to « Western » music, represented by Bob Marley, Mark Knopfler and Jimi Hendrix. So, we as the younger generation tried to integrate these styles in our music too.
P: When we first listened to Adagh, we were surprised by the fact that your music, though geographically and culturally “far” from our Euro-American standards, was actually not that far, also embodying what seemed to be a “Western touch”, especially in guitar riffs and in the rhythmic section. Is it a coincidence or did you have influences also from Western music?
O: In 2008 we met the australian/american band Dirtmusic at a festival in the desert. They invited us to back them as the rhythm section on their next album. So we did, and we learned a lot about the western music. After recording our first album Adagh we made a long European tour in 2010 together with Dirtmusic. We all listened very carefully to their style and riffs and of course we learned a lot from western music. Also we had the chance to listen to well-know Western heroes like Pink Floyd or Neil Young. All of this influenced us, but we've never forgotten our basics.
P: Probably your relationship with Glitterhouse Records has provided you with much more means than before to bring your music and your message outside Mali, beyond the desert to Europe and the world. Was it difficult to find a label interested in your music? How did your partnership with Glitterhouse start?
O: Our relationship with Glitterhouse happened by fortune. As we met Dirtmusic in the desert, there was a representative of Glitterhouse with them. We became friends and suddenly we had a german manager. He took over all the business responsibility and offered us a contract for 2 albums and the touring in Europe.
P: Let’s now turn to the actual content of your music. What are the main claims of the Tuareg people? Which issues would you like to stress, to make our readers understand better your situation? In particular, given the importance they have in your lyrics, which kind of problems do the “children of l’Adagh” (that we can see in a beautiful photo in the booklet of your album), face?
O: The younger generation of Tuaregs have no chance to create and live their own culture. Our culture is one of the oldest in the world. Nowadays we live in ignorance, poverty, no chance for education. Our nation is spread over 5 countries and in each country we are strangers without a voice. You can read more in the statement I made for our website.
P: Interviewing you, I cannot avoid asking about what is happening in Northern Africa. I'm sure you followed the development of events in Tunisia, Egypt, Lybia... What do you think of those liberation movements? Do you feel that they can help, in some way, your battle for rights and freedom?
O: I respect their fight for freedom, especially to get rid of dictatorship. But it has nothing to do with our fight. We are fighting to keep our culture alive. We are fighting to have a voice for our people. We are fighting for our own political representation. We are not a revolution, we are not terrorists, Islamists, or fighting against a political party. We just want to keep our culture and people self-determined.
P: Back to music now. Adagh was an extraordinary debut, both for its excellent songs and its ability to let us have a journey through central Africa and make us taste a bit of the flavour that life has in the desert. What can we expect from your next album, Toumastin, that soon we will have the pleasure to listen to? Did you change something, for example, in the way you write music, or in the way you arrange songs?
O: You can expect more of the same... It is still the basic Tuareg sound, but maybe you can listen what we have learned in Europe. A little rock-riff here, a little bit of Pink Floyd sound there... our producer Chris Eckman also added some snippets played by European musicians, but in the end it's the continuing development of our own Tamikrest sound.
P: Thank you very much again, we wish you all the best.
O: Thank you for the good questions and for the interest in Tamikrest
Tamikrest
Domande in Inglese di Enrico Finocchiaro; tradotte dall'Inglese al Francese, e inviate ai Tamikrest dal manager della band, Peter Weber. Intervista telefonica, trascrizione delle risposte e resa in Inglese di Peter Weber. Articolo curato da Enrico Finocchiaro.
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