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Mounira Mitchala
The "gentle panther" from Chad
Paris
09/04/2008 -
When the Chadian singer Mounira Mitchala won RFI’s "Découvertes" award in Conakry in December 2007, she impressed both the judges and the audience with her natural charm and charisma. Meeting up with the young Chadian in the lobby of a Paris hotel late one afternoon, we were immediately struck by Mounira’s air of serenity and quiet determination. Looking radiant after a singing lesson at the Studio des Variétés, Ms. Mitchala settled down graciously to be interviewed in the run-up to her forthcoming concerts at two famous Paris venues, Le New Morning and Le Satellit Café.
Mounira began by recounting the early days of her career, emphasising just how hard she has fought to get where she is today. "I started singing at a very early age", she says, "and I never gave up despite all the obstacles I encountered. By the time I reached my teens, I knew I wanted to get out there and perform live, so I started taking drama lessons to overcome my natural shyness. After that, I went on to sing. I used playback at first. But then gradually as I gained more confidence I began to use my real voice. The turning-point came in 2000 when I wrote my first song in English and started performing concerts." The rest, as they say, is history. As Mounira established her reputation performing with different artists at different venues, she also began to carve out a distinct identity for herself. She became known as the "mitchala" from N'Djamena, the "gentle panther" from Chad.
Songs of peace and unity
Interestingly enough, as the daughter of a professor of linguistics, Mounira decided to sing in Chadian Arabic. Meanwhile, musically speaking, she channelled traditional sounds from the four corners of her homeland, inventing her own unique "trad-modern" style. But however you choose to categorise her music, the one thing Mounira is intent on is getting her message across. And that means being understood by everyone wherever she goes. "That’s why on my album you hear Saï rhythms from the south of the country," she says, "as well as Bilala rhythms from my native region in central Chad."
It has to be said that in Chad (an immense territory approximately twice as big as France) unity is not exactly the order of the day. But that has not stopped Mounira from voicing her desire for peace and unity on Talou Lena, the title track from her album. "Peace and unity are not just vain and empty words for me," the singer insists, "I was born in 1979 when my country was already at war… It’s 2008 now, and Chad is still at war. I was actually in N’Djamena during a fierce battle in February of this year and I can tell you that war is completely and utterly terrible. I saw it firsthand with my own eyes. It’s only when we get peace in my homeland that we’ll be able to start building for the future."
Given the prevailing sense of precariousness in Mounira’s homeland, it is little wonder that music is viewed as a hobby in Chad never as a serious profession with any kind of future. Never mind the war, there is an evident lack of infrastructure at the heart of things that stops potential singers and musicians from turning professional. There are only a handful of live venues in N’Djamena (including the French Cultural Institute). What’s more, there is no such thing as music lessons and nowhere to buy a musical instrument should you ever get the urge to play one. "It’s true that very few artists from my homeland are known abroad," Mounira says, "But there’s just so much musical talent around in Chad! Even women are beginning to play more and more of an active role!" she says proudly, fully aware that she herself has become a pioneering role model for her female compatriots.
Mounira in court
Mounira, the eldest of her parents’ many children, got the chance to have a proper education, unlike her own mother before her. After passing her 'baccalauréat', the gifted student went on to law school where she continued to excel, working her way up to become a clerk in the N'Djamena law courts in 2004. (Incidentally, Mounira continues to practise her profession today in parallel to her singing career thanks to a special authorisation from the Chadian Ministry of Justice). In 2005, Mounira was granted a twelve-month leave of absence when the globe-trotting French DJ Fréderic Galliano invited her to represent her homeland in his multi-cultural troupe made up of modern-day divas from Ethiopia, Senegal, Mali, Guinea and Madagascar. Galliano’s elegant all-female ensemble - the "African Divas" - went on to perform a successful world tour, sweeping a following of enthusiastic admirers in their wake. By this point Mounira had more than overcome her natural timidity and had turned into a full-blown show woman, savouring every moment out on stage.
Another significant turning-point in Mounira’s career came when a singing teacher friend of hers came up with the idea of recording Mounira in rehearsal and sending the tapes off to Christian Mousset, an influential French 'world music' producer based in Angoulême. Mousset instantly fell under the spell of Mounira’s lilting, high-pitched vocals and invited the Chadian singer to France to re-record her album at the Mad Productions studio, in Charente (in western France). Here, Mousset got Mounira’s distinctive vocals to shine against a musical background provided by Emile Biayenda (master drummer and founder of Les Tambours de Brazza), Charles Kely (a guitarist known for his work at the "Musiques Métisses" festival in Angoulême) and bass-player Julio Rakotonanahary.
Last December at the grand finale of RFI’s "Découvertes" awards in Conakry, the songs from Mounira’s album Talou Lena resounded with such conviction that Salif Keita, chairman of the 2007 panel of judges, knew he had found a worthy winner. Mounira has been caught up in a non-stop flurry of activity ever since. But Chad’s "gentle panther" now has her feet firmly back on the ground and is serenely looking to the future. "In the past," she says, "I had to work really hard to get things going. Now, I just have to prepare myself so that the rest falls into place!"
In concert at Le Satellit Café, Paris - 13 May 2008
Eglantine Chabasseur
Translation : Julie Street
