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An unusual trio
Gerald Toto, Lokua Kanza and Richard Bona
Paris
28/05/2004 -
Once upon a time there was a producer who vowed to break free from the restraints of clichés and music pigeon-holes. This young pioneer, by the name of Laurent Bizot, went on to do just that, setting up the No Format label (with the support of Universal). As the name suggests, this label works outside all kinds of frameworks and preconceived ideas, giving artists carte blanche to pursue their own musical dreams. Even the covers of No Format albums reflect this artistic freedom, featuring impressionist paintings where the individual colours in the work make up their own frame.
In the wonderful world of Bizot, the same label manages to showcase everything from the wild swing sounds of Nicola Repac (a talented multi-instrumentalist who has worked with Arthur H) to the experimental sound landscapes of Marcel Kanche and Akosh S. Now Bizot has given Richard Bona, Lokua Kanza and Gérald Toto – all used to working with other artists in the studio or live on stage – the chance to let their hair down and create exactly what they want. And the trio's album is a veritable treasure trove of surprises, featuring a cappella vocals, harmonies from Africa and the French Antilles and minimalist arrangements. RFI Musique caught up with the three big music stars who answered our questions in unison, each taking up where the other left off. Now that's what we call fusion!
RFI Musique: When you embarked on this project did you have any kind of direction or guiding ideas despite the fact it was called "No Format"?
Lokua: When we went off into the studio we didn't have any kind of formula or format. Toto and Richard are both artists who are used to functioning outside a framework…
Bona: But it's not like we were militating against the idea of a format, either, fighting against it all costs or anything. We weren't trying to be out-and-out radicals revolutionising the way music's made. We always take a pretty free approach to things. The "No Format" project sprang more from a desire to play together, have fun together and learn stuff from each other and be a bit spontaneous about things.
Toto: It's more of a posture we adopted, it's about freedom and getting together with like-minded artists we respect. What we were trying to do is carve out our own poetic furrow and find an alternative way of talking about stuff like love, happiness and the trials and tribulations of life. One thing we particularly wanted to do was prioritise one essential instrument: the voice, a crucial means of expressing emotion and affairs of the heart. In fact, at times we ended up breaking out of the structure of a song to give our voices more freedom of expression.
One of the interesting things about this project is that you also break with language and express yourselves in a sort of nonsense 'baby' talk…
Toto: It's an intuitive form of expression. You have to learn music the way you learn to walk, in a totally spontaneous way. The way we worked was we started off babbling like a two-year-old kid who hasn't learnt to talk properly yet, but who's worked out how to make himself understood nevertheless. What we were trying to do was step outside the reassuring structure of language and let out emotion and share that emotion with others through the music.
Bona: As a bass-player I always try to approach music the way a kid would. When I was growing up I could sit down and play any old instrument with the greatest of ease. But these days I'm a bit more impatient about things. I have to locate C major or G minor rightaway. With "No Format" it was like going back in time to the way I used to play. I played sax, trumpet – and even the bazooka – with no trouble at all because I went back to that simple method of playing, taking things step by step like a little kid.
Lokua: Sometimes you work with people who don't say anything out loud, but you know they're expecting an album to sound one way or another. But Art, by definition, means venturing into the unknown. You don't know what's going to go down well with listeners so you might as well do what you want! With this project the three of us ended up doing what we'd normally do on our own at home – or in the shower!
What kind of mood are you in when you're about to get down to working on a project like this?
Lokua: Well, I've been involved in a lot of different collective projects in the course of my career, but this one was special. When you go into the studio to play on someone else's album you more or less know what to expect. But with this project I was a bit more apprehensive, a bit more scared about things. Anything can happen when you hook up with someone else and there's that emotional charge of being in the studio together. When we went into the studio together something magic happened. We all brought along demo tapes of stuff and then went through them together, making a selection of what we could use. I see this album as a dish cooked up by three different chefs, each busy adding a touch of garlic, a pinch of salt and a bit of spice and colour… The result is like a nice collective cake, but a plain simple one without any kind of pretension!
Bona: When I go off and play I'm always ready and raring to go (laughs) I can understand Lokua's apprehension, though… We're all used to playing with other artists, but it's true that on a project like this we were more apprehensive about the way our sounds would work together. But we ended up having a lot of fun actually!
Toto: When I work with artists like Faudel or Marcel Kanche I really enjoy bringing the other person out of himself and helping create the album he's got in his head. We don't make a big deal out of working with other people – it can even make you a bit humble about things. Working with someone else can be a breath of fresh air after working on solo projects where it's more about assuming your own desires and telling your own story… It can be a real source of pleasure, too.
What other projects have you got in the pipeline? Will they also be No Format-style?
Lokua: Yesterday Richard and me were in the studio by 8 working on my next album which is due out next January… Richard played some really good stuff, totally throwing himself into things as usual… All I can say about my next album is that it'll have more recognisably French lyrics than this one!
Toto: I'm also busy in the studio working on my se
Richard Bona Gerald Toto Lokua Kanza Toto Bona Lokua (Emarcy) 2004
Elodie Maillot
Translation : Julie Street
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