Super Rail Band

Mali’s Supergroup Back on the Rails

Paris 

30/05/2003 - 

As their name suggests, the Super Rail Band began life as a group sponsored by the Malian Railway Board. The group, who got together in 1970, were originally created to play at the hotel next to Bamako train station, but soon went on to gain national status as pioneers of modern Malian music. After enjoying immense popularity for a decade, the Rail Band practically disappeared in the 80s. But now the Mandingpop stars are back in the news with a new album and an extensive European tour. RFI Musique hooks up with the band’s virtuoso guitarist Djelimady Tounkara and their percussionist/manager Bamba Dembélé.

RFI: Does your new album include any covers of your old hits ?
Super Rail Band: No, the new album’s full of new songs. Everyone in the group has been involved in the songwriting on this album, working according to his own inspiration. What happened with some of the tracks was that we took a traditional song and grafted our own ideas on top of that. That’s how we came up with Sada Diallo, for instance. The song’s a tribute to a local businessman – who’s sadly passed away now – who did a lot to help the Rail Band in the past. He acted as a sponsor for us really. What happened was Djelimady Tounkara took a bit of the melody line from an existing song and completely reworked it, turning it into his own original tribute to the memory of Sada Diallo.

Is it still possible to find sponsors these days ?
No, not really. There’s no money around these days - and even people who do have a bit of money are very careful about how they spend it! They don’t want to squander their capital any old how because the economic climate's unstable and the future's even more uncertain.

Your songs often seem to put across a powerful message…
Yes, and they’re intended to do so! Take Mogo Gnayé Kodola, for instance. The basic message of that song is "No matter what you do or where you go it’s no good hiding, because the day will come when you’ll be found out!" The song’s addressed to all the cheats and dishonest people in this world. And it’s a particular reference to a cancer eating away at the heart of Africa right now – all those corrupt heads of state who have been embezzling our countries’ wealth and stashing the cash away in private Swiss bank accounts over the years! They think no-one knows what they’re up to, but they’re wrong, we know exactly what’s going on. What often happens after a coup d'état is that all their schemes and underhand deals are exposed and the truth comes out! But the message of Mogo Gnayé Kodola is addressed to cheats at all levels, from high-placed politicians to the man in the street.

Why do you feel motivated to sing about moral values and denounce dishonesty and corruption ?
I think artists should play more or less the same role as preachers. When we see bad things happening in society I feel we have a duty to stand up and speak about them. Our role is to try and give people a sense of the true values of life and help educate them.

There’s something else rotten in the state of Africa right now and that is illegal music pirating, a theme you deal with on your song Pirates…
I think pirating’s another major problem in today’s society. A lot of efforts have been made to combat the problem, but I don’t think enough has been done yet. Nothing’s really changed. It’s all very well the police mounting raids on local market stalls and burning pirate cassettes in front of TV cameras, but that hasn’t really stopped the pirates – illegal copying still goes on! What’s called for is concerted action by all West African governments.

But don’t you ever get the impression with a song like Pirates that you’re sort of preaching in the wilderness, that no-one’s really listening to your message ?
We’ve all been fighting against this for years, you know, writing songs denouncing the problem of pirating, but we have to keep on bringing it up in our songs because the problem hasn’t gone away. Who knows? Maybe one day there’ll be a big thunderclap and pirating will disappear from the face of the earth! The problem is if we ever stopped denouncing pirating it would mean we envisaged it as acceptable at some point.

Djelimady Tounkara brought out an album on Indigo entitled Sigui. Is the Sigui mentioned in your song Kongo Sigui also a reference to Soundiata Keita, the founder of the Manding Empire ?
He’s not actually mentioned by name in the song, but yes, the song is about him. Kongo Sigui is an ode to Soundiata Keita’s famous generosity – the aim is to encourage our present-day politicians and economists to take a leaf out of his book and share !

What’s your opinion on the current campaign to wipe out Africa’s debt to the West ?
Well, it would be fantastic if they managed to get that decision pushed through. Things have taken too long as it is! I think it would be good if people bore in mind just how much Africa's been exploited in the past. Everyone knows there was slavery, but there was plenty of exploitation after that too. There was colonisation which imposed the idea that we should accept the Gauls as our ancestors. We were taught not to wear cotton robes any more, but dress 'properly' in trousers and shoes. Westerners came along and inculcated us with their lifestyle and their education schemes. And, at the end of the day, they made us deny our own identity.
You know, the best way to colonise a people is to start by teaching them your language. And that's exactly what they did - we were made to learn French and English. There were all these campaigns on radio and television which ended up persuading some of us that not speaking French or English was a sign you weren't emancipated. Meanwhile, our country's wealth and resources were siphoned off to the West. Once we'd been sucked dry, they threw us into the sea without a life jacket, saying "OK, you're on your own now. Swim to the other side !" And for all those reasons and many others I think the cancellation of the African debt is a totally legitimate move.

Who exactly is Balla Moussa Keita, another person you pay tribute to on your album ?
Balla Moussa Keita was a leading figure in theatre, film and radio. He did an enormous amount to promote Malian culture. And let me just say that when men of that calibre disappear we artists can only pay tribute to them in the hope of inciting others to do as much as they've done or even better.

What does the hunter represent in Malian society ?
Hunters understand animals, they can speak the language of birds and they know how to use medicinal plants. Before the arrival of Western medicine - and right up to the present day, in fact – hunters have played a crucial role in healing people and curing all kinds of disease. And people shouldn't forget that! That's why we included a song about hunters on our album, Sory.

Are there any messages of hope on your new album ?
Yes, of course there are! There's Dion Mansa for a start. That's a song where the basic message is "don't despair, as long as you're alive, there'll always be hope!" It's terrible to think there are people out there who are in such a state of despair they end up committing suicide. That's something you often see in the West, but in Mali suicide's not a common occurrence at all. People never get that isolated. When someone starts to go down a bit there's always someone on hand to help him back on his feet.
Malians have very extended families – and they keep on extending them right up to the day they die! The woman who’s married to the same husband as your sister, for instance, and all her children, they’re your relatives. And your wife’s brothers and sisters and all their children are your relatives too. The list is endless! Malian tradition is you can’t turn a relative away if they come knocking at your door. That’s the way society works here. In the West when people are depressed they end up sitting alone in their room; either that or they go and see a psychoanalyst for the slightest problem. Let me tell you, there’s no call for psychoanalysts in Mali. Even if they did exist, no-one would go and see them !

Super Rail Band Kongo Sigui (Indigo/Harmonia Mundi) 2003

Tour dates: Vandœuvre 31 May, Poitiers 6 June, Angoulême (Musiques Métisses) 7 and 8 June, Ile de la Réunion 9 and 17 June, Brest 19 June, Fontenay Sous Bois 20 June, Mulhouse 24 June, Verdun 2 July, Chalons en Champagne 3 July, Besançon 4 July, Angers 8 July, Vitré 9 July, La Roche sur Yon 10 July.

Patrick  Labesse

Translation : Julie  Street