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ELECTRODUNES 



cover "saharian vibes" ELECTRODUNES











ElectroDunes live



Hafid Douli



Barbes.D


Next concerts:

Jan 04, 2007  Beni Abbes (Algeria) - festival de la saouara
Jan 10, 2007  Alger (Algeria)

Links:

http://www.myspace.com/barbesd
http://www.myspace.com/electrodunes
http://www.nuits-metis.org/electrodunes.html
http://www.patate-records.net/

ELECTRODUNES is an actual french-algerian music-project in the tense of algerian folklore and riddims inna dub-reggae style. December 2006 their first longplay-production "saharian vibes" sees the light. 

An interview with BARBES.D 

history

Dub-o-rama: Hello David, your informations about your new project “ElectroDunes” made me very interested. But first some Qs about yourself. Grown up in France with an arabian background: What kind of music influenced you in your youth?

Barbes.D: I was born in north part of France, in Lille, where there's also a lot of arabic people. By the way my first band ZONE MASQUE (1985) was already a mix of arabic & french musicians. After that, I spent a little time in Paris (in squatts) before I went to Marseille fifteen years ago. Since all this time I always have been a fan of jamaican music.

Dub-o-rama: In Marseille you joined JAMASOUND.

Barbes.D: This band started in 1997, we made lots of gigs and we were popular in France at this time. There was a lot of good moments: making the auto-produced recording for the CD, a good live gig in Italia in front of 5000 people, and a little tour in Guinea in the Konakry area. We released one CD in 2002: "Superpanoramas" (Patate Records) and we also appeared on lots of compilations. When I decided to move away in 2004, the band did not survive...

Dub-o-rama: You´ve changed your musical development from being a guitarist in a band into starting a solo career as DJ, programmer, keyboarder and composer. A radical cut!

Barbes.D: That's the point! After leaving the band, I wanted to make music of my own. I bought first a MPC60, after that a computer and I started to produce my very own sound. I however still play guitar (in ElectroDunes recordings and live gigs, and in my other productions as well). I sometimes play guitar for other artists too (TOKO BLAZE).

Dub-o-rama: How and in which way was your last band important for your music now?

Barbes.D: With JAMASOUND I play for seven years the role of musician and (tour) manager at the same time. This was a good experience for learning to be serious with few money.

Dub-o-rama: Is your story "black"? (following a tunes name of Barbes.D called "black is my story", a dubby thing)

Barbes.D: My skin is white, but I live since many years in a lot of cultures and like to mix them. "Black is my story" is a sentence from RAS RUDY GAD, a Jamaican singer from JAH OBSERVER SOUND SYSTEM (playing in UK since 1973) who likes my sound. By the way, he played some of my riddims at the Notting Hill Carnival this year.

ElectroDunes

Dub-o-rama: Now you started your new project "ElectroDunes". What´s about the history of the project?

Barbes.D: In 2004, an association from Marseille, Nuits Métis, contacted me to meet a traditional band from Beni Abbes (Algerian Sahara). I went there at the first time with my guitar for rehearsal, and after that the algerian singers came over to France and we made the first gigs together. I returned to the sahara in 2005 for one month and half to work music and we played live in a festival there. In october the band came to his final configuration: three singers: HAFID & HOUARI DOULI, SAID TOUATI and myself. Now ElectroDunes is a project supported by a cultural association for creating meetings between north and south.

Dub-o-rama: As I know you like the steppers style, I think the tracks could might be 10 bpm higher as they are. In this tempo they sound more "traditional" but they don´t invite really to dance on.
 
Barbes.D: You can dance on a slow motion, ina winie winie!! Wether yuh wine wether yuh grine. Also some mixes are totally different on live show, the traditional drums (karkabou, darbuka...) make their own effects.

Dub-o-rama: Are the tracks all based on your own riddims or have you made the tracks all together?

Barbes.D: I did it all by myself but the singers decide wether they like it or not! That´s why there is not too much steppa in dis yah record.

Dub-o-rama: What do the algerian singers think about the project, about reggae and dub styles?

Barbes.D: First they appreciate the project because it's a way for them to play their music out of their country. They usually play this traditional music in local events: weddings, burials etc... so it makes a little change for them. About the dub-reggae music, it was a discovery for them, since they just knew a few artists like BOB MARLEY, ALPHA BLONDY... before I made them hear more modern reggae sounds (like JAH WARRIOR, ALPHA & OMEGA, LEE PERRY and many others).

Dub-o-rama: Are the lyrics traditionals or written by the singers?

Barbes.D: "Zine Lamama" is a traditional. The others are written by themselves with their cultural vibes.

Dub-o-rama: What is your special intention about "ElectroDunes"?

Barbes.D: We'd like to work more for making a bigger repertoire. It's not so easy because they still live in Algeria and it's difficult for them to obtain visas. We hope to make a tour in Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, and why not in Germany, too, a country I'd long like to discover.

Dub-o-rama: Where is "saharian vibes" of ELECTRODUNES available?

Barbes.D: "Saharian vibes" gets now released as the very first production on the new Label Metis (distributed by Mosaic Music and available in shops of Fnac,Virgin France) starting Dec 3rd. For people outside France it is available on Label Metis [switch on the link left side] directly or at Mosaic Music Distribution via IT. In Algeria we will  release it in January 2007, edited by Belda Diffusion (Alger).

Dub-o-rama: Do you plan other projects beside this release?

Barbes.D: I prepare a 10" on Belleville International for Patate Records, that will feature RAS RUDY GAD & MO' KALAMITY on my "never say never" riddim and a version with another dub on the flip side. The release is planned for January 2007. This riddim will also appear with a toast of TOKO BLAZE called "Le Monde Englouti" on his CD "Ruff Tuff", that'll be availabe on AfricaRecords for the October 12th. For the future I like to prepare a live dub set with my personal produces.

Dub-o-rama: Thank you for the interview, David! Blessings for your musical future!

The interview was led by Bernhard Groha