DJ Gregory on African inspirations

DJ Gregory on African inspirations

10 August, 2010 | 5.13AM

• Written by: Justin Jack
• Filed under: Music News: africanism, angola, dj gregory, fawa combo, kuduro, yellow productions

The French touch has given way to the African touch. Once upon a time, producers all over the world emulated the Parisian filter-disco sound, but these days, it’s the sounds of places like Angola and South Africa that are having some of the greatest influence on house music. You can hear traces of African forms like kuduro and kwaito bubbling up through the underground and all the way to the pop charts.

French producer DJ Gregory anticipated this shift by a decade, at least. After turning out any number of classic French house records in the late ‘90s, he brought together African rhythms and deep house for his Africanism project for Yellow Productions; Africanism’s runaway success led to Gregory’s Faya Combo label, released through Defected. Recent Gregory productions like ‘Vem Rebola’ and ‘Canola’ continue to find new ways of putting together house beats, rolling drum grooves, and call-and-response chants.

Gregory recently traveled alongside Frederic Galliano to Angola, the war-torn nation that created kuduro, where they recorded a number of musicians and vocalists and soaked up inspiration from the culture. Read on to find out what it was like, and what Gregory is up to next.

DJ Gregory, ‘Canoa’ [Defected]

You recently traveled to Angola to work with musicians there. How did the trip come about, and what were the highlights and lowlights? What surprised you the most about it?

Last year I had a call from Frederic Galliano, who used to travel in Africa and Brazil for more than ten years. I knew a bit about baile funk (aka funk carioca, the original electronic music from the favelas in Rio), but I didn’t know much about kuduro (youngsters’ music from Angola). Actually he had to go Rio to record singers in the favelas and he proposed to go with him. We went for three weeks, then two months after he went back for three weeks more, I joined him again, spending time with his friends from the favelas, recording in the daytime and the nighttime. Then a month after he had to go to Luanda, the capital of Angola, to finish an album. As I was on the wheel I couldn’t miss that.

For those who don’t know, Angola had a very violent civil war that just ended ten years ago, so you don’t go there on holidays, and getting a visa is kind of a mission. Luanda’s infrastructure hasn’t moved since the ‘70s and Luanda is supposed to hold 300,000 people where there are actually over a million. Ninety percent of the population lives on $100 U.S. per month. In certain areas Mousseque (Angola’s slum) you need gas generators to get electricity, it’s one of the most violent cities in the world.

As Mister Galliano is used to traveling the real way (no fancy shit here), we spent three weeks in the Mousseque recording Kuduro singers, being helped by the connection that he has with people such as Tony Amado (creator of the kuduro) and DJ Serafim (hot newcomers).

The highlight is having the chance to hang and work in such places, seeing what it’s all about. The lowlight is being robbed with a gun pointed at your head head, violent scenes, being scared—as simple as that.

What surprised me the most is the amount of amazing music you get in Africa that we just never hear about.

DJ Mankila, Dama Pancha, DJ Gregory & Gregor Salto, ‘Vem Rebola’ [Netswork Records]

What do you think European musicians and producers could stand to learn from the musicians in Angola?

What happened is that for a few years now some countries who didn’t have access to new technologies are now on the map and they are able to deliver their creativity, so it’s kind of fresh. I really do think that all those people in Africa, Brazil, Colombia etc. show us that sometimes we miss a bit of craziness, which makes sense, as we have been making music with computer for so long, while it’s brand new for them.

What is it about kuduro that excites you musically? And are there other musical styles that you see having the potential to bubble up on an international level the way kuduro has?

Kuduro, like funk carioca or reggae or so many styles of music, is a social thing. That’s what I like about it, it’s real ghetto music with no compromising. It’s quite interesting to see how over the last three years underground and mainstream artist have been inspired by those grooves—M.I.A., Fergie with ‘My Humps’, which is clearly a baile funk groove, etc.  It’s very much there already.

Sidney Samson, DJ Gregory & Gregor Salto, ‘Dama S Salon’ [Defected]

Some of the beats on your new material (like “Dama S Salon,” “Canoa"), as well as on your Africanism material remind me a little bit of what they’re calling “UK funky"—funky has a similar love affair with those swinging snares. Are you paying attention to that scene at all?

Yeah of course, quite often I check tracks and mixes. I have the feeling that what they call UK funky has always been there with slightly different grooves but with the same spirit—it’s more about the spirit.

Are you still based in Amsterdam? What drew you there, and how has the city inspired or influenced you musically?

I just moved to Amsterdam two years ago, so it’s still brand new for me. I had a studio in Paris with several friends such as Julien Jabre and Michell who left the location after 10 years; I felt I needed a change, and Amsterdam was the place for me.

They took the sound I launched in the early days to another level and I wanted to check it out. I really have to give props big-time to Gregor Salto who has been a guide to me. Amsterdam is really a great place, so many parties, so many styles of good music represented by so many talents, a great place.

The French house scene has seen a lot of change since you came up. What’s the state of the scene now, and where do you see it going?

It’s actually very nice to see that the French are still on the wheel big-time, so many newcomers in so many styles of electronic music. The French were always involved in electronic music; lucky for us we had DJs such as Laurent Garnier or DJ Deep (among others) to show us the way through so many years of radio shows. Before the internet this was the only way to get connected.

DJ Gregory, ‘Block Party’ [Yellow Productions/Africanism]

It’s been a while since Faya Combo has released anything. Are you continuing the label? And will you ever return to the Africanism project?

The success of Africanism in 2000 (Vol 1) was an unexpected event. Then I started Faya Combo in 2002 because I felt that we would never do the same again with that spontaneous touch. Now I never stopped Faya Combo, all the releases are licensed by Defected so maybe there won’t be any more vinyl, but they put out the releases as Defected/Faya Combo, so it hasn’t gone away.

By the way, speaking of Africanism, it’s so cool to see that in France there are some newcomers that took that touch to another level. I’m thinking of French Fries, which is really a hot flavor at the moment to me.

Are there any chances of your early tracks like ‘Take the Cash and Run’ being remixed and re-released?

It’s kind of funny because a lot of people think that ‘Sunshine People’ was my first release, and actually it was ‘Take the Cash & Run’ back in ‘96, which had a little buzz in Paris. As you may know it includes a Cerrone sample, it was way before everyone was jumping on Cerrone tracks to sample them. So around 2000 he asked me to give him back a track (’Fair Enough’) and I thought about giving him a call to do a revamp, so it looks like it may happen quicker than I thought.

Cheek, ‘Sunshine People (DJ Gregory Remix)’ [Versatile Records]

How has your career changed for you since working with Simon Dunmore and Defected?

The first release on my label Faya Combo in late 2002 was ‘Tropical Soundclash’, and back then Simon Dunmore had been the very first one who bet on my work. Since then he has picked so many of my tracks, like ‘Elle’. It’s been a love affair for quite a while, so I don’t really see changes here.

DJ Gregory on Beatport

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