'River Yarra x Ausecuma Beats' / Interview with Boubacar Gaye
Boubacar Gaye on Ausecuma Beats, River Yarra’s “Keleh” remix and cultural connection to music
The newest release from Music in Exile’s REMIXED series sees local producer River Yarra add a contemporary spin on Ausecuma Beats’ “Keleh”. The song dissects the ramifications of the misuse of power, and River Yarra’s remix explores such a sentiment while making parallels with the artist movement of Situationism. I had the chance to talk on the phone with Ausecuma Beats band leader Bouba where we discuss the track in more depth.
How did your musical journey begin?
Well I’m from Africa, from Senegal in West Africa. At home I come from a music family. From the age of eight I started to tap anything from tables to mothers hands. My father and uncle also really influenced me in the way of music, especially by the music they used to listen to. At home there is also a lot of instruments available for me to play with along with my brothers and sisters. There was no escape to not play music.
Do you recall having any musical inspirations you particularly looked up to as a child?
Yeah, where I come from there’s so many famous musicians. The dream I was having when I was young was that I wish to one day play with Youssou N’Dour or Baaba Maal or one of those famous musicians. That was the dream that I was having but then after time to time, music doesn’t change but the way that I experience music doesn’t show me more than what I was dreaming in this day.
And how do you think you experience music now that’s different?
Well, now it’s beautiful. You know, when you are watching TV it is not the same as when you are an actor on TV. You know, it’s different. Now I am living music when I compose and write and organise concerts or shows. That’s very fun and it’s fun to get to know other people from different backgrounds and share knowledge with them, teaching and learning. I am very happy to be in that position in life at the moment.
Definitely. So I’m aware that the name Ausecuma Beats formed to depict that you were a group of musicians from Australia, Senegal, Cuba and Mali. Can you tell me a little about the beginning of Ausecuma Beats and what brought you all together?
I just used the family oriented approach. I am from Africa and I am from a very big family and we always like to get together in the weekend and play music and eat and laugh. That’s how Ausecuma formed. I called my friend called Rodolfo Panga from Cuba, who is the congo player. And I also called my friend Bassidy Kone from Mali who played the balafon and we just met in my house in Dandenong and started playing and the music was getting really tight and beautiful. The three of us could see that this was beautiful and then I said that we have to take it to the higher level. Not just playing it fo my man cave.
Then I contacted Oussou, who is also from Senegal. I tell him that we got an idea what do you think. And he said I will give you Sunday at Bar Oussou. You know that day is not easy for a musician, you will not see anyone. Especially in Winter. But we started to give it a go organising. First we called it a percussion night. In Melbourne people love to dance. When they hear drumming they just cannot hold themselves. They just wanna come and look, there is a lot of curiosity. People are always looking for somewhere to go.
And how have you seen the band change in these last two years since you first formed?
The band has changed a lot. When you have nine people from all different backgrounds who are professional musicians everybody has their way of playing their instrument. They are looking for something new. New things to play. The composition always has the taste of the flavour from Africa, Australia, from everywhere around. The band is a good experience for all of us. I can sing a song and send it to the chat and someone may say that’s a great song, what does this singing mean? And they can take the melody and create something. You know what I mean. The rest, that’s a guy that’s doing professional work, which is not only me. It’s like you’re cooking and you try to put more ingredients to make the food more tasty.
That’s a great way to describe it, I like it.
That’s Ausecuma Beats.
Is your creative process usually like that, someone sends something in your chat and then you all interpret the meaning on your own instrument?
When we meet there is a lot of improvisation. But there is also a lot of traditional music from Africa too. We got those those instruments like the kora or the balafon or the djembe or dunun or the conga. So we have a lot of traditional music. When the balafon or the kora play the chord we know what the song say. Because it is straight from where we are from so then it’s easy for us. So we know the timing is going to be 4/4 6/8 9/8. You know, different complex timings can make it a problem to play this percussion. But the members who play the guitar, those guys, are very smart. Because they have been playing with us for a long time. So we would like to cook and they eat. And they don’t say spicy, they don’t say more salt they just say tasty. That’s it.
I like what you said about how you know exactly where it’s going. It reminds me of the Middle Eastern instrument the Oud. I remember hearing that to do taqsim on the Oud, you need to be aware of the culture, history and spirituality of the places of its birth. Is it the same for traditional African instruments?
It’s the same. Same.
And how do you think it is different here?
The condition is different. Even coming from a family of musicians, you have to learn the music the proper way. I am from the street, you know, I had education at home but my father wanted me to learn the music in the street. Because music in the street has more flavour. And life in the street has more flavour too. I am not coming from a school of music. I am coming from the hearing of music. When you are from somewhere you are always listening to music, everything is all percussion. Hearing people drum, weddings, birthdays. Every weekend you hear the percussion outside playing because that is the tradition to play on the street. And people come and sit down and dance.
We don’t have that in Australia. In Australia you can learn the drum, but you have to learn the drum from the master. Patience is also part of it. To learn an instrument takes time. The technique, making your hand strong enough. Getting over it so that your hand is very tough. That is what it is. That is the way to learn. Not only to learn the drum, but the history of where the drums come from. In that case you can’t just meet the right teacher who says A, B, C, D. You have to learn things slowly slowly. You cannot just wake up and fly. It is always step by step.
Definitely. And how have you been maintaining your practice in lockdown?
In some ways it has been difficult but in some ways it has been good. I think for musicians we are struggling that there is now no live performances at the moment. We did everything we could before the second wave: we were trying to do live streams at home, we played and played music. It was good to finally sit down and do a show, showing musicians who are usually at the back of the stage. Sometimes you see just one person at the front and everything is focused on that person. But why does the music then sound so good? Because there are some people behind that person who are cooking this music. So this lockdown was telling me that it is time to now introduce, for example, the guitar player only or the sax player only and talk about them. Plus the new good compositions that we are making. I don’t think that we would hav time to do this before COVID-19. We would rehearse, of course, but didn’t have time to compose.
Speaking of compositions, let’s talk about the recent remixed record that features a remix of “Keleh” by River Yarra. How did that come about?
That song comes from Ausecuma EP. Joe had the idea to pick one song from the EP to make a remix. I didn’t tell him which one and River Yarra picked “Keleh”. Joe sent it to me and I said that the guys had to hear this because “Keleh” can’t be something different, we are live performance musicians [laughs]. It’s wonderful, it’s nice. Thanks to Music In Exile. We hear about Ausecuma Beats doing well with a lots of creation because of our partner Music In Exile. We get along well.
A great label with great musicians!
Yeah, that’s what we need. Some musicians being represented in the good way so that people can hear our musician and what we are doing. River Yarra hears the message in “Keleh” which is fame, money and power. How fame can destroy you. How money can destroy you and how power can destroy you too. Our message is there and we hope that everyone hears that. Which is also the message deep inside River Yarra.
Can you tell us a little about the upcoming album? Was it something created in isolation?
No, there is album already made. But this is something very different to what Ausecuma used to play. The idea was to bring a few guests. For example, we have Henry Hicks playing the bass. It is good to bring the guys together and share a lot of music. Us as musicians need to get together and mark this time. We need to say: you know what, I remember 2020. There was this thing called COVID-19. Man that was crazy. And actually this album comes from that time. Everything needs to have a meaning. I don’t like to just live a life in the air. Sometimes it’s good we put a mark. We say I remember this time, I remember this year.
Don’t worry, no one will forget this year.
Yeah, you know what I mean? I think our generation has never experienced something come so powerful and make sure that there is no plan flying, no ship running. Close the ocean. Close the air. This is something powerful. We will have to think about it. And learn something about it! And also change. Because now the air pollution is getting better, the ocean you can see, the nature is growing. You know. Humans need to wake up. We are human beings. We are sometimes too tough in the head to see the reality.
Interview by Margarita Bassova
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