ALBERTA BOUND TATTOO & ARTS FESTIVAL PREVIEW : Steve Peace interview

Preview 2012:  

ALBERTA BOUND 

TATTOO & ARTS FESTIVAL

  -- Interview & Article by Christine Leonard

 

ONE OF THE WORLD’S OLDEST ART FORMS 

RAISES THE BAR 

ONCE AGAIN

Say “sayonara!” to Sailor Jerry, the modern tattoo parlour doesn’t rely on crudely drawn catalogues of nicotine-stained flash art to earn its bread and butter. Pushing the dimensions of this age-old form of body modification into new realms, today’s tattoo artist deals in transcribing their client’s dreams into ink-under-skin reality. Having come further in the past hundred years than it has in the entirety of its 6,000 year history, the art of pushing pigment into the epidermis still has its share of perilous pitfalls. As far as the reputation of the barb-wired and be-anchored goes, society’s attitudes have been slow to evolve. As it stands, even the most accomplished and talented of ink-jockeys must defend their honour against ill-reputed tattoo schools, who churn out graduates on a bi-monthly basis, not to mention racks of soft-coeur industry zines that read like a high school drop-out’s yearbook of regrettable fascinations.

“We like to think of tattooing as the second oldest profession,” muses Calgary Tattoo and Arts Festival coordinator Steve Peace. “Festivals like ours give people a chance to seek out a tattoo artist that’s really compatible to their own personal style, someone they can see themselves being comfortable working with for eighteen or twenty hours at a time. Price should be your last consideration and never pick your design off a wall. If your favourite artist is booked solid, you should definitely wait. Some people don’t want to wait for an appointment. If they did, there would be a lot less cover-up work going on. It’s a pain in the ass, so wait.



“Now, if you’ve got a piece you are particularly proud of, our tattoo competition is open to anyone. We have awards for ‘tattoo of the day,’ as well as a unique ‘tattoo challenge,’ where six artists will go head-to-head for a $1,000 purse.”

Peace and his fellow organizers, under the Alberta Bound banner, endeavour to provide a showcase of top quality artists combined with some of the best tattoo supplies available in the business. Competition is stiff, but a double-blind audition process and an apolitical stance to providing vendor and artist access assure fairness and objectivity in the process. This measured approach has earned Calgary’s colourful skin show a golden reputation amongst artists and enthusiasts alike, and not just because of the seasonally appropriate autumnal theme.

“Our desire to put on the best run, most organized festival possible to our exhibitors comes from our own personal experiences going to other shows around the world,” Peace explains. “I’ve taken a $49 dollar cab ride to get paper towels. That’s why we make sure to provide all of our artists with any supplies they may require, right down to gloves and sterile water. Our show is cleaner than your average tattoo shop and our booths are five feet larger than the booths you’ll find at similar shows. As far as our invitees themselves, we try to set the talent bar high. We can’t promote people who aren’t ready. There’s no politics to it. It’s up to the artist to work harder and get better.”

No stranger to putting the needle to the groove, Peace advises would-be grinders to develop their skills by diversifying their portfolios. Galleries across Europe and North America are opening their doors and their arms to tattoo artists who have made the leap from living flesh to linen canvas. As in previous years, the autumnal theme of 2012’s showcase will encompass a display of oil paintings and other non-human artwork generated by portrait, script, colour and grayscale experts who are usually known for their corporeal creations.

“A lot of artists are switching over to oil painting,” he confirms. “You can learn so much more about colour and composition by branching out and, in turn, you will bring that depth of knowledge over into your artwork as a tattoo artist. The results can be quite mind blowing.

“Lots of people who are attracted to paintings aren’t interested in getting a tattoo. Artists who can develop their own style and transition between the two are better able to support themselves in their professional careers. As an artist working in the field, I expect to tattoo just about every day, and then I go home and spend hours drawing designs for the next day,” Peace elaborates. “All of the work I do is custom. The top artists will always be spending as much time drawing as they do tattooing.”

Of course, it’s not all work and no play for the ink-slingers and their admirers. Peace believes that variety is the key to keeping the festival fresh and entertaining. And adding an adult aspect to the proceedings seemed like the perfect way to compliment this year’s contingent of international artists and bod-mod celebrities.

“This is our ninth year and the entire time I’ve done everything on the premise that we have to keep changing things up. One year it’s dodgeball, the next it’s classic cars, or roller derby, or Kat Von D. This is the first time we’ve attempted an Adults Night. It’s a special, eighteen-and-over evening where people can walk around with their drinks and enjoy entertainment that’s a little more adult in nature. That will run from four to midnight and then Megan Massacre of New York Ink will be hosting the after-party for our Adults Only Friday Night at the Palomino Smoke House. She’ll be performing a DJ set up stairs with her boyfriend, spinning records for the crowd. Meanwhile, downstairs we’re super excited to be presenting our special musical guests, Fucked Up, who will be featured at the Palomino Friday and Saturday night!”



Providing added value is just one of the ways Steve Peace and the festival presenters at Alberta Bound demonstrate their desire to give back to the community. The organization is currently undergoing a significant realignment that will see future proceeds distributed to those charities close to Peace’s heart.

“We’ve been lucky enough to attract an average of 10,000 people a year to our festival. Now that we’ve settled into our new October dates, we hope to be able continue as a viable annual event. I’m already working on our line-up for our tenth anniversary festival,” he surmises. “We’re still going through the registration process, but, by this time next year, Alberta Bound will be a different company. We’ll be opening our doors as a non-profit enterprise and, this way, people will know the festival operates under that official status. We’re planning to work closely with foundations which provide art supplies and tuition to children in [developing countries]. I’ve travelled to countries like Cambodia, where the kids beg for Bic pens so they can draw. I’m really looking forward to being on-side with charities that are making life better for those kids and providing them with the necessities of life.”

The Alberta Bound Tattoo & Arts Festival runs from October 12 to 14, 2012 at the BMO Centre. After-parties will be hosted at the Palomino on Friday, October 12 and Saturday, October 13 and feature Megan Massacre of New York Ink on Friday night (upstairs) and Fucked Up on Friday and Saturday (downstairs).

Originally published in Beat Route Magazine October 2012
By Christine Leonard
Photos: Andras Schram

 

Original Tiki Tattoo by Jime Litwalk (CTAC Oct. 2012)

 

 

SHOUT OUT OUT OUT OUT - It Might Get Loud

Synth City

Shout Out Out Out Out and the Calgary collection

September 27, 2012 by Christine Leonard

Shout Out Out Out Out is an Edmonton-based electronic band that believes in building one’s reputation from the ground up. Producing groundbreaking material via their own label, Normals Welcome Records, the six-piece sonic juggernaut has achieved a remarkable degree of success over its eight years without bowing to popular convention.

“We’re not a vocal band, we’re a voco band,” lead singer/synth player Nik Kozub relates. 

“I’ve always been a fan of that old vocoder sound, so we continue to use that. The gear is really important to us — one of the reasons the band started is that we have this interest in old analog synths and technology and wanted to work with those instruments. What makes us sound the way we do and have the show we do is the culmination of our backgrounds. We all come from punk bands, so that’s ingrained in us, but we’re actually decidedly focused on playing electronic music, house music, disco and techno.”

A tightly wound followup to their 2006 Juno nominated debut, Not Saying / Just Saying, the band’s instigative sophomore effort, Reintegration Time, fulfilled its promise to freeze digital wizards in their tracks. Shout Out’s next exercise in harmonious defiance, titled Spanish Moss and Total Loss, cold-cocked concert-goers and club-crawlers alike.

“I think that we have changed a bunch over the years, and I think our new album is as different from Reintegration Time as that second album was from the first,” Kozub says. 

“We’ve taken a lot of time between records and in that time our tastes have changed and evolved. In terms of extra instrumentation, we left everything really open. The new album was written entirely in the studio, so if we thought something needed a piano, we used a piano. Our song ‘Never the Same Way Twice’ has some saxophone parts that were originally played on the bass. We thought it would sound cool on a saxophone, so we brought in a saxophone player to do that for us. It was about just letting things happen naturally, and breathe, and come to life however they wanted to.”

Attracted to the concept of using technology to enhance and inform their artistic virtues, the ensemble benefits from musical experiences on both sides of the turntable. Kozub and founding member/co-record label executive Jason Troock both moonlight as DJs. The two sneak in DJ sets while on tour and whenever they’re not busy navigating a universe of sawtoothed waveforms with bandmates Lyle Bell (synth/bass), Willie Dieminzz (bass), Gravy (drums) and Clint Frazier (drums).

Slated for a hometown performance on Whyte Avenue in celebration of Alberta Culture Days at the end of the month, Alberta’s de facto disco kings are still reverberating with excitement after participating in a weeklong artists-in-residence program at Calgary’s hallowed National Music Centre.

“There are few things we enjoy more than pushing voltage around and filtering it and manipulating it,” says Kozub. 

“People don’t think of analog synths as being organic, but to me they really are. Calgary is very lucky to host the NMC. It’s a stunning and fantastic facility and collection. It’s absolutely amazing. We were essentially in there 12 hours a day, just recording and making sounds with all the gear. We wrote and recorded six songs exclusively using the one-of-a-kind instruments from their collection. The result of that is going to be an EP that we’re going to release as a stand-alone project. It’s very different, but it turned out good. I’m really happy with how we rose to that challenge. Our whole summer was really inspiring and creative.”

BIG FREEDIA BRINGS THE BOUNCE : interview by Christine Leonard

More bounce to the ounce! 

Big Freedia brings the booty shaking 

 Big Freedia from the Big Easy 

 A one-woman pageant of fabulousness, bounce sensation Big Freedia (pronounced “Freeda”) has a special place in her heart for her fans. Rightly accredited with blowing the doors off of hip-hop music’s gold-plated closet of sexual stereotypes, the Queen Diva, like fellow sissy-rapper Katey Red, booty-shaker Cheeky Blakk, and electro-queer ragamuffin Sissy Nobby, represents the glittering future of an infamously homophobic corner of the music industry.

“I’m so excited to be coming back and playing at the HiFi, baby! Oh, yeah!” she says. “I’m touring with my dancers and I’ll probably have my DJ with me too. No matter what, we’re going to give it all to you. We settle in pretty quick when we’re on the road; we’re used to going at it hard.”

Celebrated for her bombastic Mardi Gras-inspired bounce workouts, the gender-bending icon’s explosive performances attract throngs (and thongs) of good-time seeking female admirers. Shaking one’s thang is pretty much mandatory at any Big Freedia show, as the spicy videos captured at her live appearances with big-band, funk maestros Galactic attest.
  
“I had so much fun touring with Galactic when they brought me on the road with them,” Freedia says. “It was great to do something different and funk things up really good. They love to rock with me. They my boys. When I do my own shows I like to switch it up and engage the crowd as much as possible,” she continues. “I actually love it when they have us headlining on the same bill as a rock band, or punk band, or straight-up hip-hop, or whatever. I love introducing people to the amazing contrasts between genres, giving them something completely new that they’ve never experience before. It’s very exciting to be a part of this movement; I’m very grateful to be associated with the origins of bounce. How do I define bounce? You could say we consider ourselves uptempo and bass-heavy with a lot of call-and-response chants.”

 

Liberating the masses with heady beats and invigorating rhymes, Big Freedia identifies with her audience members on an ecstatic emotional level. Beyond the roof-raising drag-rap ruckus and hedonistic sampling that are the hallmarks of a Queen Diva joint, the singer harbours an uncanny sense of resilience and self-worth. There’s no question that both qualities link the capricious rapper to her avant-garde music and her deep New Orleans bloodlines.

“I’m happy to have a role in letting people be free to be themselves. For the most part, I think the guys who come to my shows find me approachable. I’m not just about empowering women. I encourage everyone to get onstage. Not just women; anyone who wants to dance and feel freaky at that moment. I’m giving them their moment to rock how they rock, and I don’t judge how they shake they ass. Everybody has their own ability and Big Freedia wants to help them out in a major way and get them tearing up the dance floor.”

Big Freedia is a successful interior decorator by day, and her keen eye for beauty and irrepressible joie de vivre has put her artistic skills in demand.

“I’m used to having a job, and usually return to doing my design work whenever I’m back home. Interior decorating continues to be one of the great sources of happiness in my life. I look for sources of inspiration every chance I get. I recently met one of my idols, Ru Paul. We just shot a video for a new song called ‘Peanut Butter’ together a week ago. It was a dream come true.”

by Christine Leonard

Originally Published in Fast Forward Magazine Sept. 2012 

 

Hard Drugs save lives

Vancouver, meet Brooklyn 

Hard Drugs party through a long-distance relationship

by Christine Leonard


Hard Drugs with Deadhorse & Mahogany Frog
Palomino Smokehouse - September 8, 2012

Hard Drugs is a labour of love that was initially conceived so that singer-songwriter-guitarist Jeffry Lee might make beautiful music together with his then-girlfriend and now wife Jenni Lee Nelson. The rootsy, ramblin’ project has since blossomed into a sunset-hued, love letter worthy of addiction. Recently invited to display his ink drawings at Vancouver’s Project Space art gallery, wily frontman Lee struck upon the idea of creating a 52-page book of his artwork. This, in turn, triggered the burgeoning multimedia performer to intertwine his tome of black-and-white portraits with the semi-autobiographical songs he had been amassing.

“I was offered the opportunity to do the book and from that I came up with the whole sort of art project that is a twofold journal of reflections upon the experiences we had living for a couple of years in Brooklyn,” Lee explains. “The title of the album is a take on the idea of partying beyond forever. I think it’s an apt description of the New York scene. There’s always so much to do and see.”

Grounded by the emotional weight of the married couple’s trials and tribulations while straddling a bicoastal relationship, Party Foreverer takes a sobering look at the consequences of an overindulgent lifestyle. Panged by a career-related separation, Hard Drugs’ first new release since their four-year-old self-titled debut spills out of the partners’ heartfelt musical correspondence between Vancouver and New York.

“The time we spent apart was definitely a low point for our relationship,” Lee says. “It was tough, but in the process we did garner some good art and music out of a bad experience. I would never trade that even if I knew what I know now going into it.”

Lee translates rebellious fracas into imaginative harmony, conjoining his penchant for creating visual art with his ongoing musical dalliances. Refined by perspective and softened through the travails of love, the compelling vigour of his former band Blood Meridian still pulses through the poignant core of the rocker’s bedroom project.

“In some ways, I see more parallels between late Blood Meridian and my earlier works than compared to what I’m doing now,” he says. “It was strange recording with a producer, because I’ve never worked with one before. Michael ‘Mama’ Tudor made a big difference as far as the process went. Even though this is in no way a commercial it’s probably the closest thing to a pop record I’ll ever write.”

Recorded with the aid of his “New York crew” of local musicians, Party Foreverer became the Hard Drugs album that wasn’t supposed to happen. Rather than moving on to formulate a fresh ensemble after returning to the black-and-pink peaks of their beloved British Columbia, Lee has rallied a cross-section of the original ragtag rotation of Hard Drugs players to perform their new material under the old banner. Blood Meridian’s Shira Blustein chimes in on vocals and piano while guitarist Pete Dionne (Lord Beginner) and bass player Jake Goodman string up organ arrangements by Colin McKill. Meanwhile, Lee’s better half has taught herself a new trick — playing the drums.

“I feel like we’re moving backwards through the catalogue of music history as we start branching out into stuff we haven’t gotten into before,” he says. “Party Foreverer, for all intents and purposes, is a punk rock album that retains a lot of country influences. There’s a lot of CCR in there, but also a lot more Ramones and Black Flag. The songs talk about the polar opposition between the East and West Coast, between Canada and the U.S., and between New York and Vancouver. Some of those differences are subtle, others are black and white. I certainly dig the contrast.”

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVENS - Interview with TJ Blair

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVENS

 

O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?

 An interview with TJ Blair by Christine Leonard

Drawing their name from director John Sturges’ bandit-besieged Western classic, The Magnificent Sevens (or, Mag 7s for short) are Winnipeg, Manitoba’s answer to the eternal question: “O Brother, where art thou?” Road-hardened and battle-proven thanks to four years spent performing on stages from Gimli to Gastown (cutting a 7” with schlock rocker BA Johnston along the way), the DIY five-piece takes a certain pride in knowing they’re introducing a whole new generation to the earthy wiles of bluegrass music.
The Magnificent Sevens : Red River Beaver Feaver from The Mag 7s on Vimeo.


“It’s not that I’m a big Luddite!” says TJ Blair, guitarist/banjoist for the Mag 7s. “But we live in a disposable world and, for that reason, just being in an acoustic band statement is making a statement against the digital revolution. Let’s just say that when the apocalypse hits and there’s no electricity, we’ll be the most popular band around and will still be ramblin’ right along.”


High plains drifter Dirty Roads, released in 2008, was the Mag 7s’ first attempt at corralling the essence of their alt-country jams. Wanted for covering everyone from anar-punk pundits (and fellow Manitoba-ites) Propagandhi to Kentucky crooner Bill Monroe, TJ Blair and accomplices, including banjo/Dobro player David Nishikawa, vocalist/guitarist Matt Magura, fiddler Andy Bart and requisite high-heeled hottie/second fiddle Ida Sawabe, revel in treating today’s chart toppers like precious heirloom antiques.
“We’re into good art whether it be film, painting, music or some other form of artistic expression,” says Blair. “I could rant about avoiding commercialism and creating music for the right reasons, but when it comes right down to the nitty gritty, our aim is to produce songs that are well thought-out and that is what makes them beautiful.”


As unexpectedly satisfying as a Slurpee in December (Winnipeg sells more of those slushy drinks than any city in the world), the understated sophistication and chilly regard conveyed by the ensemble’s freshly-hatched 2012 release All Kinds of Mean brazenly interposes old school values and modern sensibilities.
“The new album captures our most recent collection of songs,” Blair confirms. “About 90 per cent of it was live off floor in Winnipeg. It’s about giving the recording that sense of a live thrill. We know what works for us by now and that method seems to be the ideal way to maintain the energy that you’d experience if you saw us at a festival.


“I’ve gotta admit it’s nice to play festivals with all that fresh air and those appreciative audiences,” he continues. “We get a lot out of performing alongside other folk acts, but the reality is that those types of festivals are literally dying out. And, as much as the bluegrass purists may protest, they don’t get a lot of younger musicians. So, they need bands like us — whether they agree with the direction we’re taking things in or not!”


Even with a generous dash of punk rock gusto throw into their rootsy brew, the Mag 7s display a remarkable degree of respect for the history behind their time-honoured, albeit ever-so-humble, genre. Able to attract and hold the attention of a wide range of music lovers including those Blair describes as “Suburban baby boomers and college crust punks,” the hollow-bodied quintet has found plenty of room to roam within the confines of their unplugged Appalachian asylum.


“Come September we’ll be heading down to a big bluegrass fest in Nashville,” Blair enthuses. “Canadians don’t pay much attention to bluegrass music but, in America, there’s a real musical snobbery to preserving the art form. Down there, we might not even be considered part of the movement at all.”
Shying away from laser light shows and pyrotechnic embellishments (apparently the vapour exuded by smoke machines wreaks havoc on the string slingers’ instruments), the Mag 7s hold true to the precept that just because you’re an acoustic outfit doesn’t mean you’re incapable of playing hard and fast with the Baptist big boys.


“We can definitely pull that stuff off, but at the same time I’m a little worried that they might think we’re bastardizing bluegrass by presenting our own take on the traditional. Fortunately, in my experience, the fans don’t discriminate. They just appreciate good music and that has kept us going. We’re still writing new songs and exploring new territory. At this point, it’s safe to say that we use country/bluegrass as a foundation but that we’re always searching, as artists on front lines, for possible new directions to take that music in and shine some new light.”

Originally published July 3, 2012 · by beatrouteab ·


Interview & Article by Christine Leonard

BLACK EARTH - An Interview with AJ Skull

BLACK EARTH

 

NIGHTMARES LAID DOWN TO WAX 

 

Article and interview by Christine Leonard

Breaking up (with the dead) is hard to do, but for Anthony Janicki (a.k.a. AJ Skull) a parting of ways with his Calgary-based horror punk band, Conniving Cadavers, was just the motivational shot in the arm he needed. Primed to match his mettle against that of bassist Glen Murdock (Sanity in Numbers) and, shortly thereafter, drummer Steve Richter, lead singer/guitar player Janicki launched a new outfit under the ominous moniker, Black Earth.

“If you look at my CD collection you’ll see over 600 selections running the gambit from Meat Loaf to Tegan & Sara,” Janicki reports. “When we started Black Earth, back in October of 2009, I just wanted to make rock and roll badass and cool again. When Steve came on board, his style allowed us to open up and experiment with that dirty rock sound. We all liked ‘80s hard rock so we thought we’d try our hands at mixing that genre with punk to see what happened.”

What happened was that Janicki realized he’d be better off devoting himself to his musicianship and letting someone else sit in the band’s hot seat. Moving away from his initial role of lead vocalist and all-around frontman, Janicki began to ease Black Earth’s hard-driving ethos towards something a little sweeter. Enter singer Erika Leah. Marrying her feminine vocals to Black Earth’s fecund rhythms, Leah has set the band ablaze with her idealism and creativity.

“Erika and I both appreciate that the paradox of rock and roll. The simplicity of the thing is what allows you to do so much within its architecture,” he explains. “We all have our own vision for the band. For example: if I had it my way, we’d look exactly like Judas Priest!”

He continues. “At first our stuff was all coming out of the extra material I had written when I was in other bands. Gradually, Erika started taking over on the writing, which is what I’ve always wanted. She’s a much better singer than I am. It’s awesome having her on the mic so I can focus on my riffs. I’ve always preferred the idea of being a mysterious, badass sideman, like Boba Fett!”

Regulars at local cantinas such as The Distillery, Broken City, Vern’s, Dickens and Mos Eisley, Black Earth garnered enough support to release their debut EP, Fingers Crossed, recorded with Casey Lewis at Echo Base Recording Studios, in June of 2010. This was followed by a critically-acclaimed, self-titled, full-length album in August of 2011. Refitted with rock-steady percussion, a femme fatale and a songbook full of freshly-penned nightmares, Black Earth has spent the past year diligently constructing an opus that accurately reflects the depth and breadth of their metamorphosis into a multifaceted, heavy-hearted, punk-rock entity.

“I think our new album, Dreameater, shows just how far we’ve come as a band,” observes Janicki. “It’s a more cohesive production. You can hear that we’ve kind of figured ourselves out, which is all the more impressive because haven’t been together for too long. Erika is a very talented and knowledgeable singer and pianist; she brings her own personal sound our concept. Her lyrics tend to be more personal while mine are more straight-forward rock tunes, but we bring the same passion, energy and execution to every song. We actually tried to get her to sing like Brody Dalle from The Distillers, with that sexy smoker’s rasp, but her voice was just too pretty to be punk rock.”

Like flies to honey, fans of Black Earth’s edgy, yet completely relatable, aesthetic have embraced Leah’s onstage presence as a welcome alternative to the usual four-guys-from-a-garage formula. Strutting their collective stuff alongside performers like Buck Knife, Caught Off Guard and The Vibrators, the feisty quartet has come out of the shadows into its own. Poised to celebrate the release of Dreameater, Janicki has plans to visit his neighbourhood pawn shop in search of a Saturday night special to put the perfect exclamation point on the end of Black Earth’s life sentence.

“It’s super exciting to be releasing this new album,” Janicki confirms. “We just completed a very successful mini-tour of B.C. and Alberta and had a chance to try out different stage shows. Erika likes to dress up fancy and the rest of us will wear all red and black, or dress up like post-apocalyptic Mad Max warriors or something like that. I always enjoy throwing some visual appeal into our performances; I guess it’s a vestige of my horror rock past. I worked at Dairy Queen in my youth and spent a lot of money on collecting sub-par guitars, so now I’ve got a bit of a reputation for smashing instruments on stage. I’m running low on guitars these days, but I love buying old televisions for $30 and putting them behind us while we play. The flickering static-light they cast is the perfect hypnotic, atmospheric lighting for our shows. Plus, they’re a helluva lot of fun to destroy afterwards.”

Originally published August 20, 2012 · by beatrouteab
 

By Christine Leonard
Photo: Sara Mohan

BOMBINO'S AGADEZ, THE MUSIC AND THE REBELLION : Ron Wyman Interview

BOMBINO'S AGADEZ, 

THE MUSIC AND THE REBELLION

: an interview with filmmaker Ron Wyman

-- Interview & Article by Christine Leonard-Cripps

 

SUB-SAHARAN HOMESICK BLUES

It’s a one of those universal truths: whether you’re cruising the cactus-studded Pearblossom Highway, snapping your fingers to the dulcet rockabilly-laments of Heavy Trash’s latest, or camper-waltzing through the majestic Rockies while the score to Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange blares from the rear speakers, no road trip is complete without the appropriate musical accompaniment and it’s all the better when that soundtrack chooses you. The highway of human consciousness certainly had an auditory detour in mind for documentary filmmaker Ron Wyman when he visited Africa back in 2007. Introduced to Wyman via his Berber guides, five wobbly, homespun guitar jams would become the accidental score to his next storytelling saga.

“I was working on a film about Tuareg nomads and wound up going over to Africa with an NGO that a good friend had been involved with,” explains Wyman. “I spent a month driving around this spectacular desert, 100 miles from the nearest road, building a narrative about them. They had one homemade cassette with a handful of recordings on it by a guitarist called Bombino. That tape was all that we listened to for two weeks straight and I never got tired of it. It was the perfect soundtrack to that incredibly magnificent region.”

A longtime fan of rock and blues music, Wyman was hooked. He knew he had to find a way to contact Bombino, who is also known as Omara Moctar or Goumar Almoctar, and to capture the enigmatic guitar maestro’s exotic artistry on film. Unfortunately, this was during a period of terrible social and political upheaval for Bombino’s homeland of Niger. Known as The Guitarists to the government of then-President Mamadou Tandja, Bombino and his fellow Berber bards were condemned as cultural propagandists for the rebelling Tuaregs. Following the murders of two of his bandmates, Bombino fled to Burkina Faso in order to escape the growing threat of violence. For Bombino, this episode was tragically reminiscent of his family’s flight to Algeria during the first Tamasheq rebellion seventeen years earlier.

“It took me the course of a year to track him down,” Wyman recounts. “By the time I got to Niger, he had left the country because he was being harassed by the military. When I finally caught up to him, he was at a home that belonged to some of his fellow Tuareg ex-pats. We hit it off immediately. He was sweet and shy. He had been driving a taxi between gigs and didn’t have a lot of confidence about his abilities. He started playing some music at the house and I saw him transform into this amazing, confident, beautiful entertainer. When I heard that music got a chill, and by the time I was done filming that song I realized, ‘Wow! He is more extraordinary than I thought!’ ”

Casanova of the Sahel

Bombino’s hypnotic manipulation of the high-and-airy West African guitar style parlays hardship into harmony. Multi-textured forays into the Afro-rock genre, which call upon progressive references to Clapton, Hendrix and Page, challenge any notion of geographic or spiritual isolation. Like Malian world music sensations Tinariwen, Bombino’s timeless voice echoes the ongoing struggles of his people (who call themselves as the Kel Tamasheq) whilst celebrating an inner strength and a heritage that is as boundless as the dunes.

“Omara (Bombino) brings in whole new elements to the tribal songs of these traditional stewards of the Sahara. There’s 100 years of history behind his music, but it was the way in incorporates modern guitar licks that blew me away,” Wyman explains. “Up in the Northern regions of Niger, the people are very poor, but everybody has clamshell cell phones with a couple of megabytes of stored music. They walk up and down the street playing these tinny reproductions and the music spreads by way of phone, cassette and word-of-mouth. They love to hear their own stories as reflected by their own musicians, so guys like Bombino and the other Tuareg musicians have a cult-like following. You could see people’s eyes light up when you mentioned Bombino. He represents something to the youth: a new breed, a new generation. That’s how he got the name. They called him, ‘the bambino, the young one.’ ”

Founder of ZeroGravity Films, Wyman has produced and directed numerous documentaries about global issues and the performing arts. 16 years of experience with CNN’s political division tempered by freelance work with media rogues like Michael Moore and Bill Maher has given Wyman a powerful directorial skill set that balances intellect with romanticism. Focusing his camera obscura upon Bombino’s provocative yet utterly appealing creations, he has successfully revealed the nomadic troubadour to a global audiences with the release of his film, Agadez, the Music and the Rebellion, in 2011. Sensible enough to capitalize on an all-too-rare opportunity, Wyman and Bombino also crafted a complimentary soundtrack CD by the same name, filled with the vivid biopic’s mystical, psychedelic, desert-rock.

“Every now then, you find yourself in the presence of someone and you know you’ve got something special. Bombino is like this. His guitars aren’t the best, but he’s got these long, adept fingers and a voice that really strikes you every time you hear it!”

Wyman continues. “I was convinced that in addition to a film we’d have to make a CD. That’s how Agadez came about. Agadez was my first CD production, although I have done several docs on musicians, including Tunde Jegede and Babatunde Olatunji. I am a musician myself, so music plays a big role in all of my work.”
Calmer conditions in Niger have facilitated this Prince-in-Exile’s return, but Bombino’s work is never done. An ambassador for change, the now 32-year-old desert bluesman continues to encourage his Tuareg tribesmen to push back against a rising tide of pro-extremist sentiment spilling over from neighbouring nations. Embracing his role as an influential figure on the international stage, Bombino (a boy who grew up admiring Western guitar gods) looks forward to touring the world and, one day, his own country.

“Even with an enthusiastic new government in place, dealing with the bureaucracy of Niger is a real headache,” Wyman acknowledges. “So, one night we rented generator and construction lights and headed 15 miles out into bush to film a live Bombino concert. We were totally amazed that so many people came out to see him perform in the middle of nowhere. That night he showed us his true soul. He played that acoustic guitar like Jimi Hendrix and John Lee Hooker, but in his own incomparable style.”

Tapped for distribution by international music label Cumbancha Records, Agadez (so named for Bombino’s birthplace) received widespread critical acclaim. The soundtrack-album debuted at the top of the iTunes World Chart in April of 2011 and the website subsequently dubbed him “Breakthrough World Music Artist of 2011.”

“Touring with Bombino, I’ve seen him accepting his celebrity status in a subconscious way. Not in an ego sense, but taking responsibility and becoming tremendously more confident. It’s in his Tuareg nature to want to run against the grain. They don’t want to be told how to worship or that their women should cover faces. Mainstream Tuareg don’t want anything to do with that, they completely reject the horrible things that have been happening in Chad and Mali. The Tuareg are trying to separate themselves from al-Qaeda’s influence and Bombino has been paying attention to their desire to secure Niger’s borders. His words have a tremendous impact, he dreams of touring to promote unity within Niger. Bombino definitely has his head screwed on right. As a Tuareg, he is very centred and self-dependant. The world could learn a lot from them.”

Relocated to exotic Nashville to embark on the recording of a new CD, Wyman confirms that Bombino plans to release his second full-length album in the spring of 2013.

“I believe that Agadez will be Bombino’s signature CD, having a certain authenticity from being recorded in Agadez,” Wyman observes. “The new CD is an evolution: it will really put him on the map. He’s really stepped up to the plate with this new material, still maintaining Tuareg themes, but exploring his own sound and taking it to the next level. He is a rare talent: you can identify his unique and beautiful style by hearing a few seconds. It is hard to know the literal themes he is working on, as all his songs are sung in Tamashaq, but if the rough mixes are any indication of what’s to come, I can’t wait to hear the rest. He’s really going for it and doing lot more with his technique. For me, it reaffirms what an incredible talent he is.”


By Christine Leonard

Originally published via Beat Route Magazine July 2012