 |
  |
Daby Touré at peace with himself
Diam, The Debut Solo Album
Paris
09/09/2004 -
RFI Musique: One of the interesting things about your new album is that you don’t just sing on it, you also play guitar, bass, percussion and melodica! Why did you want to be involved in so many different aspects of the album? Was it a case of ‘if you want something doing well, do it yourself’ ?
Daby Touré: I think that compulsion to have a hand in everything basically stems from my love for music. I’ve played percussion instruments all my life, you know. I grew up playing percussion as a little kid. The guitar is a harmonic element that came along a bit later in my life. Both instruments – percussion and guitar – acted as a trigger for me, making me want to go on and discover other instruments afterwards. After a while I came to realise that you compose differently according to which instrument you’re working with. Different instruments open up different possibilities.
Another thing is, it’s true that I’ve often run into difficulties with musicians I was working with. It was tricky to explain exactly what I wanted and I think things sometimes got to the point where it was heavy going for them and it got on their nerves a bit, too. That's why I gradually began moving towards the idea of working solo.
At what point in your life did music really begin for you ?
I can’t answer that because I don’t even remember; music’s always been part of me, right from the moment I was born in Nouackchott, Mauritania. I’d say the moment I became conscious of existing in this world and I became aware that melodies could provoke such strong feelings, I knew I wanted to be a musician.
I started out playing music on my own, it was just me doing my thing in my corner. But it wasn’t all that easy to launch a career because, in Mauritania, music is seen as the monopoly of the ‘griots*.’ Traditionally, you can only be a real musician if you belong to the ‘griot’ caste, but I come from a family of shoemakers.
Your father, Hamidou Touré, is a famous musician in his own right, of course. In 1989 he joined his younger brothers, Sixu and Ismaël, in Paris as part of the group Touré Kunda. Would you say it’s been an advantage or a handicap for your career being "the son of Hamidou Touré" ?
Both, really... The thing that bothered me most when I formed my own group, Touré-Touré, with my cousin Omar in 1992, is that people just kept going on to me about my father and Touré Kunda all the time. That made me really want to break away from the Touré Kunda reference and get people to listen to what I was really about. In fact, being the son of someone famous works both ways really. It can be an advantage and it can be a handicap. But I think in my own personal case it acted as more of a handicap than anything else.
My father got me to go with him (when he went to Paris) in 1989. That was the year of some truly tragic events in Senegal, but that’s not the reason my father left. We were totally integrated over there and even if there were problems in Senegal at the time, we were ready to stay and confront them. In fact, what happened was there was a sort of crisis in our family within the group and the way tradition works with us is that it tends to be the elder brother who gets sent to sort out that kind of conflict. It was under the force of family pressure that my father ended up in France. He was sent over to try and get the group Touré Kunda back on its feet again.
Do you still have Mauritanian nationality ?
Yes, I certainly do. And just a few months ago I decided to put in a request for French nationality. The reason I only just got round to filling in the forms was I was waiting until I was ready. I didn’t just want to automatically ask for French nationality, without it having any real meaning for me. It’s got to
I know you made the first demo for this album while you were in residency at the Paul Baillart Cultural Centre in Massy (in the Paris suburbs). What does being "in residency" actually mean in concrete terms ?
I’d already started work on the album before taking up my residency in Massy, actually. Then I had three weeks at The Paul Baillart Cultural Centre where I benefited from a grant which paid the musicians I worked with. I also had a stage at my disposition for three weeks which meant I could prepare a live show, too. I have to say, being in residency makes for very pleasant working conditions !
Listening to the songs on Diam, it sounds as though you attach great importance to melody. And you seem to prefer soothing, enveloping melodies to faster, energetic rhythms...
I admit, I do think of the music before the lyrics. Actually, I love really rhythmic music as much as I love soft, calm melodies, although it’s true I do tend to work with the latter more. As far as Diam is concerned, maybe the softer sound to the album stems from the fact that I was working on the album in a period where I felt pretty much alone. I didn’t feel like I had a lot of encouragement from anyone - apart from my nearest and dearest, that is !
Well, I’m equally at home speaking in Soninké, Pular and Wolof, three languages which are used in both Senegal and Mauritania. The word "Diam" exists in all three languages. It means "peace" - in the sense of "inner peace and serenity" – and that’s something I think we’re all terribly in need of !
You also throw in a bit of English on your new album, too. But there’s no hint of French. Why is that ?
English just came to me naturally really; I didn’t stop and think about what I was doing. But I’m quite capable of covering a song by a French artist like (Alain) Souchon – whom I love – for a radio programme, for instance. And on my next album I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of writing and singing in French. Maybe the reason I didn’t do that this time round was because the record companies I sent my demo to originally immediately tried to impose French on me !
Daby Touré Diam (Real World / Virgin) 2004
Patrick Labesse
Translation : Julie Street
08/03/2007 -
