Samy Redjeb in Khartoum by Souheil Ben Redjeb

Ten years after its launch, the Frankfurt-based record label is one of the top references for vinyl miners and african music lovers : well-selected compilations and extended liner notes are two of its trademarks. It is now time to go through the complete story with Samy Ben Redjeb, the mind behind Analog Africa… Have a good musical trip.

 
 

When did you start digging records?
Around 1995.

What Lps did you buy at first? Do you still listen to them?
Mainly Zimbabwean and South African records, some I still listen to today.

Do you have a particular style or favorite period and why?
I believe there is good music in every genre. There are phases in which I have to concentrate on a particular country and I listen to all the styles from that place hoping to find the “special tracks” without having to stick to a genre or another. Music I disliked a few years ago I tend to like now, the ear, like the rest of the body, grows and matures, and taste changes with time also. Each person have their own signature when it comes to selecting music and that’s what makes the difference between record labels.
For me personally in sub sahara african, the best period starts after the independence in the mid-60s and last until circa 1982. With independence comes self-confidence, pride, a special energy and that’s something one can clearly feel in the music that was recorded during those years. Relatively good structures where also still in place and generally the governments that had come to power at the time were people that had fought for independence. It seems, although I might have a romantic view about that period, that these people had a real interest in preserving and promoting their cultural heritage and I am thinking of Leopold Sedar Senghor in Senegal, Sekou Toure in Guinea, Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, Jomo Kenyatta in Tanzania. Tunisia my country of birth, is another example.
In many West African countries, orchestras would be employed by the state, musicians would obtain a civil servant status with a monthly wage, proper musical equipment at disposal, good rehearsal facilities – in other words respect and dignity. That period would see the birth of phenomenal orchestras such as Bembeya Jazz of Conakry, Rail band and Les Ambassadeurs from Bamako, Orchestre Poly-Rythmo from Cotonou in Benin. Most African countries had such bands called « Orchestre National », which says it all. In Ethiopia, musical directors of Armenian origins were sent from Turkey to teach musicians who would later be employed by the army and the police forces. Recordings done by these guys are having tremendous impact 40 years later. the northern hemisphere has bumped into that stuff and it felt like music from out of space. At least that how it sounded to me. Such an incredibly hypnotic music. Sun Ra would have moved to Addis Ababa had he known.
During the 60s and 70s many things were favorable for developing skills and talents that just needed a little push to flourish. Is there anything that equals what had been created in Africa during the 70s in terms of originality and diversity of sound? I very much doubt it.

Orchestre Poly-Rythmo circa 1977… Idavi!

With the 80s comes political instability in various african countries; military coup, dictatorship in some places, mind-blowing corruption. All this has a direct influence and serious consequences on the musical scene. Two countries that I know well, Benin and Ghana, are prime examples of such a scenario. The Curfews that were implemented had paralized nightlife, often the only way for musicians to earn a living. Adding to that a shortage of prime material to manufacture vinyl and the whole music industry took a huge hit. Musicians had a hard time making hands meet and in the case of Ghana, many musicians left the country. With the lack of means to keep an orchestra afloat come Keyboards who make their big entry and start replacing drums, percussion and horns. The keyboards invasion was a planeterian phenomenon but while it might have worked well with the new wave sound coming out of the UK and Germany, it certainly didn’t work well with highlife. Some places like Cabo Verde though managed to make the best music during the 80s, where Keyboards were used in an intelligent way, not as a tool to replace other instruments but just to be what it is, a keyboard.

Are you still digging’, buying vinyl, visiting record shops?
I still arrange two to three “record safaris” per year just to look for music. Shops, very occasionally.

Why did you choose this name : Analog Africa? A kind of vision of Africa in seventies ?
The name for the label came to me while in Jo´burg working on my first compilation by a band called The Green Arrows from Zimbabwe. For that project I had Gallo, one of South Africa´s major labels, as a partner. Their archive manager at that time was Rob Allingham, an american who had arrived in South Africa in the 70s to work for the railways and who fell in love with south african music. He became such a connoisseur that Gallo hired him to structure their immense archive. I first contacted him to see if he could help me find the master tapes for the Green Arrows songs to which he replied that he needed the ABC numbers which is the reference of the matrices. «You will find that number on the vinyl record» he continued. I must have been under a lucky star because shortly after that email I manage to find a warehouse that contained most of the records released in Zimbabwe. With that «discovery» I suddenly had found all of the bands input and could send all the references numbers to Rob, who a week later send me a message to tell me that all the master tapes had been found. The word Analog was constantly popping up, and since I was dealing with african music mainly, the name Analog Africa surfaced naturally. At the time I was staying at the house of legendary South Africa musician Pops Mohamed who recommended I called the label “Africa Analog” but I thought the other way around had a nicer flow.

Could you describe the Green Arrows compilation?
The initial idea was to release Oliver Mutukudzi´s first LP called “Ndipeiwo Zano”, an album that is in fact a compilation of singles released between 1977 and 1978, a common practice at that time, especially under producer Zacks Nkosi. Oliver who I met for the first time in 1996 seems to be open to the idea, but then in 1998 under a new management Oliver recorded an album which catapulted him to stardom – “Tuku Music” probably the best sold album in Zimbabwe´music history. In 1999 I was ready to start working on my label and when I tried to license the album they made me understand that they might be waiting for a bigger fish.
At that time I was staying in a hotel in Avondale, two miles from downtown Harare. I was in my room and had thrown into my deck a tape of the album “Chipo Chiroorwa” by the mythical Green Arrows band. That album – considered the first Zimbabwean Long play – was release on the 2nd of february of 1974 – my birthday. Some things are no coincidence.
Fast forwarding I finally met Zexie Manatsa the band leader and the bass player of the Green Arrows a his home on February 6th 2002. We sat down, I explained what my plans and after a discussion that lasted about an hour, Zexie stood up and said «Ok Samy, go for it!» I met the legendary musicians half dozen of times in a time span of a year or two and together we created that first compilation. Zexie felt I had that project at heart and every time we met he would give me additional informations, and more pictures, so I ended up with a 24 pages liner notes. All that process did flow naturally, I did not plan to write a «book» it just happened. But I also strongly believe that you can like music, but to love it you´ll need that extra something and thats context. Music is not only sound, it has also an organic process, made my people who have struggled to arrive where they are. If you don’t understand what they have gone thru you have only half of the story.

What could be your editorial/esthetic line?
Just good music, no matter the quality of recording.Many of the african musicians showcased in our compilation are self taught and so they do come up with ways that can’t be learned at music school. This african « treasure trove » is impacting a whole new generation of western musicians and now many bands are playing in ways that I can only describe as «Poly-Rythmic».
So even if the quality of recording is not 100% due to the reality on the ground, it doesn’t take anything away from the quality of the musicianship and the creativity – everything is there to influence and give ideas to new generations of musicians. I tend to say that the music we and other labels have released in the last few years is «music from the past that will influence the future». Our compilation The Bariba Sound – Le Super Borgou de Parakou is without doubt some of the craziest stuff we’ve released and yet it is one of the releases that had a lesser impact, probably due to the sound quality. Thats really a shame because it is a goldmine or twisted rhythms, riffs, breaks, grooves.. you name it – stuff that will only be revealed to those who are just a little bit more patient.

At the beginning of the label, you were much devoted to the music of the Gold Coast … what attracted you?
The most appealing aspect of releasing music from Benin was that it was practically unknown in the northern hemisphere. The « surprise effect » is very important and I think showcasing music from a region people know little or nothing about is exciting. You are opening a new horizon, a new window thru which people can travel, its food for thoughts and imagination.

You worked on both sides of the black Atlantic: what are the aesthetic links between the two continents of music? what are the differences?
This is a difficult one. The intermingling of rhythms and beats that has occurred between these two continent is difficult to pin down and even specialist are still puzzled by its complexity. Brazil and Colombia are the two South American countries I´ve travelled to and I can give you my two cents. In the case of Brazil I can see strong parallels with Benin, they share common ground musically. It had developed not only due to the slave trades, but also thru the Agoudas, which are slaves that had bought their freedom and had returned to Benin bringing with them new musical flavours and spices. Thats the reason why you have family names such as De Souza and Rodrigues.
Some traditional Brazilian rhythms such as Tambor do Mina or Tambor Criolo are very close if not identical to the music you hear in Benin. There is also a strong connection between Brazil and Angola and some believe that the roots of Samba, the one sound that unifies all of Brazil, lays in the Angolan Semba, but I am not a historian. Due to its proximity to the Caribbean, the northern part of Brazil is heavily influenced by music of Cuba, Haiti, Suriname, Guyana, martinique, countries that in turn are heavily influenced by African music.
In Colombia the obvious example would be the palenque direct descendants of Bantous who are people originated from the central african region – very probably from the congos. Palenques still speak african tongues and play african rhythms rooted in bantou traditions. What is surprising with Colombia is the impact of «vintage» african music on the musical scene of the Caribbean coast. While in the african cities young people have no or very little interest in music from the past, young Colombian are just going crazy for that stuff.
In a region where Prince Nico Mbarga is a godlike figure, vintage african music is something you hear everywhere and all the time in the cities along the caribbean coast.

Vincent Ahehehinnou circa 1981… Best Woman!

There were francophone artists (Benin, Togo) and English (Ghana, Nigeria). Do you hear a difference between these two post-colonial parts of Africa?
In terms of traditional music I see more resemblance between Nigeria and Benin and Togo and Ghana, since they share borders where common people live. When it comes to the influence of their former colonies I want to say that the Francophone african countries have been more influenced by Cuban music, probably due to the similarity between spanish and french and its common latin root. But thinking about it I think that Nigeria and Ghana had also been influenced by cha cha cha, Mambo and Pachanga although, and that might the main difference, it was very rarely or never sang in spanish. There is a stronger similarity between cuban son and highlife then one would expect at first. In countries like Senegal and Benin cuban son was less diluted with traditional music although a senegalese band playing cuban music will very much add their own touch and in so doing reinventing the style. Who wants to hear a copy of what exists already? Not me! The same can be said about the «congolisation» of Cuban music or the Beninese take on Cuban music.
The reason why Cuban music was so influential back then, I was told, is because it was the first genre of music that had strong resemblance with their own traditional music and which bands we allowed to perform at ball rooms and festivities during colonial times. It spread like wild fire.

Can you tell us how you found and selected the brilliant Amara Touré LP you had released this year ?
Amara Touré has been a favourite of mine for a long time. He is one of these rare musicians that is loved by all the people collecting african music. I can say without doubt that I never heard someone saying that he didn’t like Amara Touré, which says a lot. Speaking about the influence of Cuban music in Africa, his version of ‘Lamento Cubano’ is one of these songs that I have been listening for many years and it still enjoy it immensely each time. I´m convinced that Its music created to last an eternity.
Amara had immortalised 4 records under his name – three 7inch singles and one Long Play. The three singles were recorded between 1973 and 1976 with his band Black and white in Cameroon. He then moved to Gabon in 1980 and recorded his only LP with Orchestre Massako which contained 4 songs. 10 songs in total and those are the tracks I compiled. I can’t recall where exactly I first bumped into Amara´s music since his record had travelled well, especially in Francophone countries, but my guess is that I might have found them in Cotonou.

What was the importance of the Poly Rythmo in the development of your label?
Hugely influential, as far as I am concerned the grooviest band to ever scrapped the surface of the earth. Who could have competed with these guys? Its is still unreal that less then 10 years ago that band was still totally obscure.

Ignace de Souza circa 1968… Asaw Fofor!

You’ve just released a selection dedicated to Cape Verde, funaná years, and you will drive out the Bitori, a legend for that music. How do you explain the current success of this music, when ten years ago nobody cared about it in Europe?
I think we have reached a point where people understand the diversity of rhythm and beat that come from the different corners of Africa.
Maybe due to the internet people have access to so much more information so you can’t just bait them with a term like “world music”. For them to “swallow the hook” you will need to be a little more creative than that. People are curious and hungry to learn about the various sounds and genres that exist and so every year or so there is a new trend; few years ago it was Cumbia, then Compa, now its Funaná, next year its gonna be Forró… and so on.
In the case of Funaná some people such as Paulo Goncalves, Alex Figueira, Alma Negra and Celeste/Mariposa have started promoting that style heavily by recording mixes that had a strong impact on listeners, me being one of them, or by organizing funaná parties or doing remixes. The internet, as much as it has erased the music industry as we knew it, has created other ways to promote and market music. These are wired but also exciting times.

You have published some records on the South American scene (Siria from Brazilian NotherEast, Ritmo del Diablo from Colombia…). Were these one shots, «coups de coeur», or do you expect to develop this further in the future?
In both cases it was a « coup de coeur » as you rightly said. Colombia is a country that gave me so much that I felt the strong urge to give something back and its the same in the case of Brazil. The music from the north and the north east of Brazil, heavily influenced by african music, has been marginalised by the music industry based in the south of the country. Brazilians themselves know very little if nothing about the music from that part of the country so imagine the rest of the world. This is something I am looking into at the moment. So coup de coeur at first yes but love at first sight can sometimes lead to a wedding!

Is it more difficult to work with Latin American producers/publishers?
In the case of Brazilian music it is more difficult if you want to do things the official way because a lot of the material is owned by majors record companies who in most cases do not license their music. My guess is that they just do not have the time to deal and negotiate with independent label like ours, its not financially interesting. I have tried to convince some of them that this music is culturally significant and I must admit that I could picture whoever was ready my message, smiling at my naive view.

Voz de Sao Nicolau circa 1971… Nha Antonia Engracia!

On the other hand these majors often don’t really know what they have in their catalog and certainly no clue about the music we are interested in, so you might think « why awaken sleeping dogs »? And logically if they don’t have time to deal with you when you are offering to pay money for the music why would they´ll go after you for release a song by Messiah Hollanda which for them mean nothing in terms of financial might. So I have licensed a few Brazilian songs directly from the artist and I believe it is the fairest way but you are putting yourself in a delicate situation. In Colombia its easier since the few mighty labels are keen to work with us. They’ve also realised that the independent label have done an mammoth job in promoting Colombian music which has been very beneficial for their own business. The very rarely give exclusive licenses thought.

Is deejaying an important part of your business? And does it affect your research as a digger?
I like DJing because it allows me to travel and to discover places I wouldn’t have the chance to visit otherwise. It also a good way to test songs I am thinking of releasing.

You spend a lot of time searching for information on the ground. Is it the editorial quality that makes the difference between reissue labels? Is this the price to pay to keep existing in a crowded market ?
In the long run, the labels that will be remembered, the ones that will leave a legacy are probably the labels that make extended research about the material they release, maybe that just wishful thinking but I believe in that. It is a very time consuming process to release a proper compilation but on the other hand it is rewarding and an honor to have the chance to meet the musicians who created the music you love. And a sign of respect.

What could be the label’s leitmotif?
I don’t think I have one.

You have a stronger collection of Ethiopian music… How come you have not released anything yet?
I started working on an Ethiopian compilation around 2004. One of the first artists I met was Alemayehu Eshete who I went to see in Addis Ababa to showed him the list of the songs I was interested in. He was very positive and enthusiastic and even encouraging me to «take» more songs. Anyway, I ended up licensing and paying for 4 tracks only to see them being released, a month later, by Buda music on Ethiopiques No.28, if I recall properly. That was a setback since these 4 songs were the base for the compilation. What I like doing most is showcasing music from countries that didn’t have so much exposure and I think after more then 30 Ethiopiques there is no really a need for one more compilation… although I do have a few things up my sleeve but I´ll wait a bit, maybe for Analog Africa No.40!

Bitori circa 1997… Nha Bibina!

Ten years after you started running this label, do you feel an evolution in the music market, in what they called world music?
What I have noticed in recent years is the way new african/tropical recordings are sounding, especially those produced by european labels. I have little doubts that they have been very much influenced by the kind of sound the independent reissues labels have been releasing in the last few years. Listening to recordings by bands like Jupiter, Vaudou Game, Bixiga 70, Soul Jazz Orchestra, Jungle by Night just to name a few, you sense that these guys have listened to a lot of Poly-rythmo and Mulatu stuff. Many of these projects have also being recorded in conditions similar to the way bands used to record decades ago with a lots of hypnosis going on, psyched up guitars, twisted keyboard sounds a la Poly-Rythmo, things that were not common 10 or 15 years ago. That the impact reissues labels have had I think. Artist like Ebo Taylor, Poly-Rythmo, Bitori, Mulatu Astatke, Pat Thomas, Anibal Velasquez, forgotten legends who have now started a new careers after being released by independent labels. These are the few things that have evolved since we have started 10 years ago.

Is it more complicated to put out compilations today?
No.

Nowadays, there are many reissue labels which follow this model, I mean more quality even if it means being more expensive…but at the same time, there is also another market for LP reissues, with majors and other labels coming back, preferring to sell cheaper. Is it the (re)creation of two opposite sides for releasing LPs ?
I don’t know. I don’t really have a response to this since I don’t have enough insight of what is going on in the market. I also have little time to check what others labels are doing but I do come across and buy music by labels like Sahel Sound, Sublimes Frequencies, Finders Keepers, Light in the Attics… I like what they are doing.

There are more and more reissues of old LPs, and more and more record labels (major or indie) now release their new artists on LP, or EP. Do you think that the LP reissue market could ever reach saturation point?
Time will tell. I am not sure. In the case of afrobeat for example that’s a style of music I rarely listen to these days. Once you´ve digested Fela´s catalog do you really need more afrobeat LPs from bands using Fela´s formula? So when it comes to Afrobeat, for me personally we have reached saturation. But what about someone that has just discovered that style? I think saturation can occur within a generation but once there is a new one the reset button is activated.

Have you received many negative answers on some of the LPs, artists, unreleased tapes, you were trying to reissue?
A few. Generally the response is positive. The music has been created to travel thru time and space and in most cases artist understand that his music will have a second chance, even if it is 30 or 40 years later – its never too late for good music. So generally I meet proud artists that welcome the idea with open arms. That also one of the reason why I would encourage everyone do avoid buying bootlegs, despite the strong temptation.

What is your next release ?
After the compilation “Space Echo” I´m releasing the music of Bitori a 78 years old accordionist and the last standing legend of a music style called Funaná. Funaná is the most african of all styles from Cabo Verde. It was a symbol of independence and african identity – it was also very hot and sensual, so the portuguese colonial rulers banned it. If they catched you performing Funaná you would be arrested, jailed and tortured. It was also never played on radio, they made sure that style was buried – it was slowly but surely disappearing, until independence in 1975.
The first musician to record a funaná song was Norberto Tavares in the late 70s but the band that really put that music on the map was Bulimundo. The accordion was replaced by keyboards and the ferrinho, a metal bar scrapped with a knife, was replace by the drum. The modern form of Funaná took the whole country by storm and people from Cabo Verde themselves were amazed of that style they had never heard about, that how well that genre was oppressed. The traditional form of Funaná though, as it is meant to be was only recorded much later. One of these recording was by Bitori who in 1997 set foot in the studio for the very first time and has recorded what many consider to be the best Funaná album of all times. So that’s the album we will be reissuing in July 22nd.

What is the LP you dream of reissuing?
Can’t tell….I am working on it!
 
 
 

TO GO FURTHER
 

Each month, we are focusing on a record label founded by an active digger. This month, Julien Lebrun from Hot Casa, the french label created in 2002 with Djamel Hammadi. This hot label is behind many releases by forgotten artists with a speciality for uncovering rare vinyl gems but also new talents. Julien talks about his passion : music, from west African road trips to French backstages.

When did you start digging records?
Djamel and I come from a Funk family culture. My brother introduced me really young to Soul and Funk but I can say that I was introduced to “digging” through Hip Hop culture: we had to find the unknown loop, the rare record that nobody could find or had already used. It was the perfect link between all the soul culture from the past and the turmoil of this present culture. At the beginning of the 90’s in Paris, labels like Pure or Big Cheese were also organizing great underground soul parties, they played amazing rare soul records and, as a teenager, you tried to be part of it. So we were a small crew of collectors who ran all over record fairs, started travelling to London or NYC to dig, trying to professionalize ourselves, organizing parties in locals clubs such Café de la plage back in 1995. We also travelled to Japan to sell French jazz, would wake up early to go to flea markets in the outskirts of Paris or in the East Village in NYC. DJs like Gilles Peterson or parties like Giant Step in NYC during the 90’s had a big influence on our generation. The principle of playing rare grooves was also part of the digging process or mentality: finding the perfect and unknown LP.

What Lps did you buy at first? Do you still listen to them?
My brother introduced me really young to Funk, so it was mostly mainstream artists like George Clinton or Roy Ayers. But the first records I bought were all the James Brown productions: Lyn Collins, Marva Withney… then we went further and further with soul 7 inches, traveling to the Camden Town market in London to buy rare jazz and soul or waking up early to attend the Paris (Porte de Champeret) record fair.

Did you have a particular style or favorite period?
Latin, Brazil, jazz, soul, funk, and all the funky breaks from the world that is the beauty of music, Soul is everywhere from Peru to the Philippines.

Are you still digging, buying vinyl, visiting record shops?
The word digging can represent many things: a guy going to a record shop or an antiques market can say he is digging, but he is just buying records! The quintessence of “digging” is to find rare unknown records that have a good sound, melody or break.
Yes we are still digging, we can consider that as a drug addiction or a psychological addiction. Djamel and I traveled a lot in Africa these last years but we also went to Brazil or India in the past. Even though it has become harder to find good quality records, we still continue to look for rarities. Ebay and Discogs have changed the rules these past ten years, it’s funny to see all those new reissues done by “Youtube diggers“. It’s a lot, easier to discover new stuff nowadays. I remember the English soul compilation bootlegs in the 90s, it was the only way to discover some new stuff at that time, now everything is easier and that’s cool because it opens this “culture “ to a bigger crowd. The thing the new generation needs to learn is just to be curious.

Djamel Hammadi in action !

What was your first release on Hot Casa?
Our first release was a 7 inch by Franck Biyong, an artist that we met a few years ago at the Cithéa, a soul jazz club piloted by Superfly’s Manu Boubli where we used to DJ. He was also performing there and we understood that he was the man behind a first release in NYC, on Lenar records. The idea was to produce him in France, so we organized a home made recording session that had a limited release of 500 copies. It was sold out in a few months and was the beginning of a long work with this artist until the beginning of 2010.

How did you meet Djamel? And what did you have in common? And what were your differences (background, vision…)?
We met each other in 1997 during a radio show hosted by DJ Bronco for the Generations 88.2 radio station when the radio was still really independent and played real soul and Hip Hop. We found the same affinity and approach about music, we became friends and became resident DJ’s in Paris, we organized funk and soul parties and became resident DJs in various trendy places making a loving out of it. I think we played 150 gigs a year between 1999 to 2005. Nineteen years later, we still have the same passion for rare grooves, rarities, and music altogether.

Why did you choose this name: Hot Casa?
We didn’t want a name with groove or soul, everybody used it in the 90’s, we wanted something unique that had never been used. The idea of the label was to do it ‘home made’, with our connections, faith in soul, we don’t have big studios or money but we wanted to become producers. “Hot” was a common name in the jazz history, the radio Hot 97 in NYC was really popular also in the 90’s with Hip Hop and soul shows, the word “Casa” because it had a universal dimension to it. Our good friend Louis Davis with whom we started producing and collecting was also half nicaraguan and it was a joke between us.

What could be your editorial/esthetic line?
The label DNA could be Afro Soul from past to present. Djamel and I are both from a jazz and soul background and from a Hip Hop generation, these are our roots and both of us were in love with Afro Soul. We have this common goal of spreading underground soul culture, trying to share our passion of unknown and beautiful music with others. Without being pretentious, it was about going further, avoiding the easy way, make obvious choices just because they would sell better.

Roger Damawuzan and Les As du Benin
Wait For Me

Djamel and you were both DJs before creating Hot Casa. Does that give your label a special color?
Everybody knows that the dancefloor has its own rules and they can be different from the records that you like to appreciate on your sofa. Because we are still DJs, we unconsciously try to link those two worlds with a series of edits that brings nu beats on old rare grooves and can open a younger audience to this kind of music. This was the idea behind the Afro Soul edits and remixes when we asked DJ Vas, Umoja or Alma Negra to share their vision of 70’s sounds. We are also friends with Nickodemus, Rich Medina or Osunlade and really appreciate this movement, where you can mix Fela with new afro or electronic breaks. On the Melllotron radio show or on 22 tracks, we try to playlist tropical news to remain connected to the new scene. The label is not only about reissues, it is also dedicated to production and remixes.

Is that the reason why you chose to release 7 or 12 inch singles?
Yes 7 and 12 inches are more dedicated to the DJ audience, the format is really important. It’s a way of paying tribute to the past and perpetuate the tradition. In this era of dematerialization and streaming, we keep fighting even though it was hard in the beginning of 2000 to release vinyl. Even if we are living with our time, we put our music in digital, Spotify or Deezer and we also DJ USB. On the dancefloor the most important is music, skills and sound quality.

How do you decide on the choice of reissues?
First of all, the fact that it can be licensed. We don’t bootleg even though it can take years like for Francis The Great in Cameroon the Ivory Coast Soul compilations. Obviously other criteria are the music itself, the rarity, the history and the cover artwork.

Which Hot Casa reissue are you the most proud of?
Pierre Antoine, because it is physically and musically rare. Afrobeat had its own music standard with Farfisa and Rhodes synths, but Pierre Antoine backed by the Vis à Vis used a piano which gave a perfect fusion of jazz, soul, funk, and traditional Ivorian and Ghanaian horns, kind of a quintessence of the best musical elements.

Orlando Julius
Disco Hi-Life

One of your specialties is to produce forgotten artists, rare records… Is it something still possible in 2015?
Finding unknown and rare will be more and more difficult due to the fact that the generation of producers have started to become old or the dust on the record itself. Reissues are long sellers, we’re not as worried as for new albums. For a new artist if it has not worked after 5 months, you know it will be hard. For reissues, they can sell forever.

Recently, you were in Togo. What did you find there? Could you tell us more about that trip…
We are working hard on a Togo Soul compilation with an aim to release it around spring. I went there twice, first to find records even if Djamel had already a lot of the selection, and a second time to finalize the licensing process (agreement, money, interviews, photos). Our dream is to make a movie or a short documentary about all this process because Togo is so beautiful, its people, history… and the musicians and producers that I met are so powerful and beautiful that the “world” has to see them. It will be a 13 track compilation about the Soul and Funk scene in Togo from 1971 to 1981 with amazing music from deep soul jazz to crazy psyche funk synths at the end. We had the chance to work with Roger Damawuzan that we also reissued and featured on the Vaudou Game album. He helped us find a lot of the musicians and producers for contract purposes.

After supporting the Setenta band for a long time, you produced other new bands among which Vaudou Game in 2014. They became really famous. Were you surprised by this success? And does that give you other ideas for the future?
We didn’t work with Setenta on their third album, they decided to do it by themselves, but it was a beautiful adventure. We traveled to Lituania, Ireland, etc., and went on stage with Erykah Badu in Amsterdam. The Vaudou Game story has been amazing since the very beginning and we are very happy to work on a second record due for release in September 2016. They toured all over France and Europe, they did more than 120 concerts last year and were one of the bands that toured the most last year. They deserve it and it helped us a lot, because living of the only sale of records is very hard nowadays. They also had a smash hit which crossed all the regular borders, they had a “pop” destiny with a really underground Afro Funk style all recorded analog with a pure philosophy : Togolese speaking. And the day the speaker on the big national radio sang it live, we understood the song, the sound of the band had worked and marked their time.
Working as an independent structure is way cooler because you bring the artist in the project, we almost co-produced sometimes to be fair with them and shared the profit. We want it to remain a family adventure. Most of them understand that the music industry has crashed and that we need to find a solution, new ways of producing records.

How do you find brand new talents? On the internet? On stage? Through friends?
We have been booked the Reservoir club in Paris for the last 17 years we stay connected with new talents. We also check bandcamp or Juno frequently as well as cool radio stations like Le Mellotron.

And who is the next?
The next will be Shola Adisa-Farrar, a female jazz singer from NYC who lives in Paris now. We had the idea to connect her with our good friend and talented pianist Florian Pellissier with a view to explore an original fusion of instrumental Hard Bop and her beautiful voice. A really beautiful ten songs album called “Lost Myself”. It will be released in April.

What could be the label’s leitmotif?
Afro Soul & Tropical quality funk, good melodies, good philosophy, easy to manage, vinyl quality, no bootleg, interview the artist as much as possible.

What is the best deal/business: to make reissues or to produce new records?
The reissue market is a growing business especially with the good sales of vinyl these last few years but I think that with artists you can have a bigger audience in terms of promo, visibility, radio, licensing, media interview. Reissue is a niche market, dedicated to people who want a collectible, with new records it’s more dangerous but you can have a bigger audience, Vaudou Game made more than 110 concerts this year, in every city you have a radio, newspaper that spreads the info.

There are more and more reissues of old LPs, and more and more record labels (major or indie) now release their new artists on LP, or EP. Do you think that the LP reissue market could ever reach saturation point?
Like every music, quality will make the difference, sadly some labels still do bootlegs or shitty covers without any info and multiply unnecessarily the numbers of reissues on the market.

Vaudou Game
Lazy Train

Have you received many negative answers on some of the LPs, artists, unreleased tapes, you were trying to reissue?
It had never happened over around 50 licensing requests that we did since 2006, until last month with Ofege, the famous Nigerian band.

What are your next releases? And could you give us your feeling about each…
We are very excited, because we have almost 8 albums scheduled for release this year including a “Togo Soul 70” compilation with Afro Soul & Voodoo Soul from 1971 to 1981 including 13 tracks that we finished to license, finalized the interview, the translations, photos… It was a beautiful and long work but we’re very proud of it and we start to work on a documentary about it with a Kiss Kiss Bank Bank campaign to organize a release party in Lomé with some artists included in the compilation who still perform and play.
Francis The Great: After the success and the so incredible story of this kid from 7 years old who recorded an album, his parents decided in 1978 to produce a second volume. So we reissue his second album that we will called “Maboya”, and due to the success of the first volume and the timing of the original version we’re going to add an instrumental unreleased version, a radio edit and an edit for the DJs.
Keni Okulolo: A super rare record and brilliant one from The nigerian Bassist, who played with everybody from Fela, to Orlando Julius, to Joni Haastrup, to Tee Mac… and we had an unreleased one a bonus track. The original was sold 800 dollars last month. It’s good to share this one!
Tee Mac: a brilliant Nigerian flutist, we are going to make a best of his brilliant afro funk and good disco tracks. It will be taken from his 1978, 1979, 1980 discography. A beautiful trip between rare afro soul to Afro Funk.
Shola Adisa-Farrar: a jazz singer from Us who lived in Paris since few years now and that we produce with Florian Pellissier Quintet, who’s one of my best friend too and it’s easy to work with, focus on good music, hard bop and few soul references
Reissue of a French Afro Pop band called “DjeuhDjoah & Lieutenant Nicholson” that we produced last year and we want to deliver on vinyl format as well included three new tracks. As I said, we are going to work on a Vaudou Game second album, during this spring for a release party in September! We are very excited on that on too.

What is the LP you dream of reissuing?
We have few dreams. But we are looking for a rare album Of Orlando Julius called “Love Peace And Happiness” produced on obscure label Jungle. Baba Orlando doesn’t have any copies ! The last one was sold around 1000 dollars… If you have any tips we are open. But it will be a beautiful story that we started ten years ago with Orlando and his wife that I consider as a true members of my family.

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