Reggae · October 31, 2006
Exclusive: Surforeggae interviews Tribo de Jah, who talk about the new album "The Babylon Inside"!
Fauzi Beydoun talks about the new CD from Tribo de Jah, the tribute to his hometown (Assis and region, Iepê, etc.) and also the mentions of
Fauzi Beydoun talks about the new CD from Tribo de Jah, the tribute to his hometown (Assis and region, Iepê, etc.) and also the mentions of Trindade, Prainha Branca and much more.
Surforeggae: This is the twelfth CD of his career. Interestingly, the Tribe that talks so much about Maranhão now appears talking about São Paulo and especially Assis, its hometown. Why only now?
Fauzi: The Tribo continues to sing Maranhão as it always did, after all, the band is also the result of the entire intense reggae scene in Maranhão, of the Maranhão reggae movement itself. The fact of making a song talking about Assis also coincides with a recent return to the region. I didn't visit the city for a long time and when I did, it's natural that there was an emotional impact because I still have the map of Assis completely drawn inside my head. Every corner, every street, brings memories and emotions that are very present. Iepê, a small town close to Assis which is my mother's town, where my sister was also born and where I spent wonderful times at my aunt's house, also had a big impact on my childhood and adolescence.
Surforeggae: In addition to talking about Sampa, who is also on the cover of CD, are the mentions of passages by Trindade and Prainha Branca really autobiographical?
Fauzi: In reality, the Tribe has lived in Sampa for a while now and already feels fully integrated into the metropolis. It's at least eight years in São Paulo. It's almost inevitable to talk about the city. In the case of Trindade and Prainha Branca it is really an autobiographical mention but from a time when I didn't even know Maranhão yet. I'm talking more or less about the time of 80 or 81, when I used to go camping on these beaches and, of course, they were much more preserved at that time. Rio-Santos didn't even exist and there were some sections of the road where the bus leaving Bertioga had to follow a good stretch along the beach itself and then it was a very precarious dirt road until it reached São Sebastião. All there were small, isolated fishing villages. Trindade so there was almost nothing except the stunning nature of the place. And it is also clear that only the "very crazy people" arrived in these places. What I say in the song was really true; We went out without money, hitchhiking, and got by as best we could, but there was always a guitar at the stop. There was a "ride" on the freight train, but sometimes we took the passenger train and as we didn't have the money for the ticket, when the conductor came by we got on the train. Those were more "romantic" times, so to speak.
Surforeggae: And why the title The Babylon Inside? The band recorded some songs in English again this time.
Fauzi: Songs in English have now become essential because the band has really traveled abroad a lot and there is a need for more direct communication with the public abroad. It is important that we are understood by the message that the band has always tried to convey here at Brasil, but in a more comprehensive way, to the whole world. There are a lot of German, Japanese, Swedish reggae bands, etc. who sings in English and ends up having a reasonable international projection. The title track approaches the concept of "Babilônia" in a totally different way. In this case, this is not an oppressive system, but simply the negativity that surrounds our heads, such as inferior feelings of hatred, envy, revenge, etc.; like a negative frequency polluting the air that we have to avoid. It's that story of you changing the world starting with yourself. Free your head from all evil, cultivate good, love, and so, if everyone does the same, naturally the world will be better. It's a different approach, but one that also reflects a natural evolution of the band in its themes and ideology.
Surforeggae: How do you and the band evaluate this new work now that you are completing 20 years of your career?
Fauzi: Fortunately, the band's evaluation was completely positive, in fact, we finally managed to do CD as we wanted and perhaps that's why the result was highly rewarding for the entire group. It gave us the feeling that the passage of time has made the work more polished, more refined. This is not always a rule as many musicians or artists sometimes decline over time, and are unable to reproduce quality work like those at the beginning of their career. This goes for many Jamaican reggae bands, including those who made many classics in the 70s or 80s and then lost quality over time.
I think that over these 20 years the Tribe has achieved the marvel of maintaining an enviable average in terms of the level of its many CDs. Even though some are better than others, on average, the result is completely satisfactory. However, regarding this latest work I think there is a consensus among everyone in the band that there has been progress and that the final result largely met expectations. It's just that in the times when we had the record label behind us, there was a lot of pressure. Everything had to be very fast, with time running out, in short, everything was very rushed and we never had enough time to do things the way we wanted. This was the first independent work since we left the label and we were able to do it with the ideal time and conditions, perhaps that's why it's the only work with which the band was completely satisfied, oddly enough.
Surforeggae: The version of "War In A Babylon" by Max Romeo, despite seeming very well executed, deviated from the original theme addressed by the author in the lyrics of "Guerra na Babilônia". Was this casual or on purpose?
Fauzi: There was an explicit intention to bring music to our current times. Max Romeo composed the original song in the 1970s and it was banned from Jamaican radio because authorities there believed it was too explosive. However, it was directly associated with the Jamaican reality of that time, when Jamaica was experiencing a real civil war in a brutal fight between the factions of the two main Jamaican political parties. It wouldn't make sense to make a literal version to address a reality experienced so many years ago. In the version we made, we tried to reveal the curious fact that the current war in Iraque takes place in the region that in ancient times was Babylon.
From then on, we preferred to focus on a "literal" situation that the title of the song refers to, since "there is in fact a war going on in Babylon (where Iraque is today)" and, in a more comprehensive way, this is also a war that could be assimilated within the context we use to define Babylon today. In reality, I think it was a great idea, because Rastas have a different reading of the Bible and, just as the Jewish people were taken captive to the Babylon of Nabucodonosor, they think that they are also the people of God who were brought captive from Africa to "current Babylon", that is, the Western capitalist world.
Surforeggae: Finally, after this work that seems to have been a great achievement for the Tribo, what else is coming in terms of future phonographic projects? Is there something already planned?
Fauzi: A lot. There are many projects. Immediately, the band will soon release a CD all in English for the foreign market (but which should also be available on Brasil) which also features the songs in English that are already on "The Babylon Inside". This CD is ready. At the moment, the band is producing their first CD by DUB, which should be called "In Dub" (working title). It should be ready soon after the carnival period. And next year, God willing, we hope to be able to record the second DVD to celebrate 20 years of career under the title "Refazendo". There's a lot of work ahead...
THE INTERVIEW
Surforeggae: This is the twelfth CD of his career. Interestingly, the Tribe that talks so much about Maranhão now appears talking about São Paulo and especially Assis, its hometown. Why only now?
Fauzi: The Tribo continues to sing Maranhão as it always did, after all, the band is also the result of the entire intense reggae scene in Maranhão, of the Maranhão reggae movement itself. The fact of making a song talking about Assis also coincides with a recent return to the region. I didn't visit the city for a long time and when I did, it's natural that there was an emotional impact because I still have the map of Assis completely drawn inside my head. Every corner, every street, brings memories and emotions that are very present. Iepê, a small town close to Assis which is my mother's town, where my sister was also born and where I spent wonderful times at my aunt's house, also had a big impact on my childhood and adolescence.
Surforeggae: In addition to talking about Sampa, who is also on the cover of CD, are the mentions of passages by Trindade and Prainha Branca really autobiographical?
Fauzi: In reality, the Tribe has lived in Sampa for a while now and already feels fully integrated into the metropolis. It's at least eight years in São Paulo. It's almost inevitable to talk about the city. In the case of Trindade and Prainha Branca it is really an autobiographical mention but from a time when I didn't even know Maranhão yet. I'm talking more or less about the time of 80 or 81, when I used to go camping on these beaches and, of course, they were much more preserved at that time. Rio-Santos didn't even exist and there were some sections of the road where the bus leaving Bertioga had to follow a good stretch along the beach itself and then it was a very precarious dirt road until it reached São Sebastião. All there were small, isolated fishing villages. Trindade so there was almost nothing except the stunning nature of the place. And it is also clear that only the "very crazy people" arrived in these places. What I say in the song was really true; We went out without money, hitchhiking, and got by as best we could, but there was always a guitar at the stop. There was a "ride" on the freight train, but sometimes we took the passenger train and as we didn't have the money for the ticket, when the conductor came by we got on the train. Those were more "romantic" times, so to speak.
Surforeggae: And why the title The Babylon Inside? The band recorded some songs in English again this time.
Fauzi: Songs in English have now become essential because the band has really traveled abroad a lot and there is a need for more direct communication with the public abroad. It is important that we are understood by the message that the band has always tried to convey here at Brasil, but in a more comprehensive way, to the whole world. There are a lot of German, Japanese, Swedish reggae bands, etc. who sings in English and ends up having a reasonable international projection. The title track approaches the concept of "Babilônia" in a totally different way. In this case, this is not an oppressive system, but simply the negativity that surrounds our heads, such as inferior feelings of hatred, envy, revenge, etc.; like a negative frequency polluting the air that we have to avoid. It's that story of you changing the world starting with yourself. Free your head from all evil, cultivate good, love, and so, if everyone does the same, naturally the world will be better. It's a different approach, but one that also reflects a natural evolution of the band in its themes and ideology.
Surforeggae: How do you and the band evaluate this new work now that you are completing 20 years of your career?
Fauzi: Fortunately, the band's evaluation was completely positive, in fact, we finally managed to do CD as we wanted and perhaps that's why the result was highly rewarding for the entire group. It gave us the feeling that the passage of time has made the work more polished, more refined. This is not always a rule as many musicians or artists sometimes decline over time, and are unable to reproduce quality work like those at the beginning of their career. This goes for many Jamaican reggae bands, including those who made many classics in the 70s or 80s and then lost quality over time.
I think that over these 20 years the Tribe has achieved the marvel of maintaining an enviable average in terms of the level of its many CDs. Even though some are better than others, on average, the result is completely satisfactory. However, regarding this latest work I think there is a consensus among everyone in the band that there has been progress and that the final result largely met expectations. It's just that in the times when we had the record label behind us, there was a lot of pressure. Everything had to be very fast, with time running out, in short, everything was very rushed and we never had enough time to do things the way we wanted. This was the first independent work since we left the label and we were able to do it with the ideal time and conditions, perhaps that's why it's the only work with which the band was completely satisfied, oddly enough.
Surforeggae: The version of "War In A Babylon" by Max Romeo, despite seeming very well executed, deviated from the original theme addressed by the author in the lyrics of "Guerra na Babilônia". Was this casual or on purpose?
Fauzi: There was an explicit intention to bring music to our current times. Max Romeo composed the original song in the 1970s and it was banned from Jamaican radio because authorities there believed it was too explosive. However, it was directly associated with the Jamaican reality of that time, when Jamaica was experiencing a real civil war in a brutal fight between the factions of the two main Jamaican political parties. It wouldn't make sense to make a literal version to address a reality experienced so many years ago. In the version we made, we tried to reveal the curious fact that the current war in Iraque takes place in the region that in ancient times was Babylon.
From then on, we preferred to focus on a "literal" situation that the title of the song refers to, since "there is in fact a war going on in Babylon (where Iraque is today)" and, in a more comprehensive way, this is also a war that could be assimilated within the context we use to define Babylon today. In reality, I think it was a great idea, because Rastas have a different reading of the Bible and, just as the Jewish people were taken captive to the Babylon of Nabucodonosor, they think that they are also the people of God who were brought captive from Africa to "current Babylon", that is, the Western capitalist world.
Surforeggae: Finally, after this work that seems to have been a great achievement for the Tribo, what else is coming in terms of future phonographic projects? Is there something already planned?
Fauzi: A lot. There are many projects. Immediately, the band will soon release a CD all in English for the foreign market (but which should also be available on Brasil) which also features the songs in English that are already on "The Babylon Inside". This CD is ready. At the moment, the band is producing their first CD by DUB, which should be called "In Dub" (working title). It should be ready soon after the carnival period. And next year, God willing, we hope to be able to record the second DVD to celebrate 20 years of career under the title "Refazendo". There's a lot of work ahead...Category
#Reggae