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Simon Emmerson of Afro Celt Sound System
by Jon Lusk (January 2002)
Q: What are you going to perform at the awards ceremony?
A: We're going to play Go On Through which features Emer Maycock, who¹s a top young female uilleann pipe player, and a new singer called Pina. Then they wanted us to finish off with a bang so we¹re going to do Shadowman, and that features amongst others Demba Barry who's Senegalese.
Q: What is your opinion about the category of 'world music'?
A: I think world music is such a broad based term that it¹s become almost meaningless. I appreciate that back in the 80s the term was constructed to basically get roots music from around the world into the shops but as a category now it's used by rock journalists as a stick to beat bands like the Afro Celts. They won¹t write about us because we're 'world music' and it¹s a term I find a little bit meaningless, really. We are a multicultural band that¹s trying to create new music for the global village, so in that sense we have got a global message and a global theme. At the end of the day though I don¹t really care as long as the music's getting played and getting recognised.
Q: You talk about a global village, but do you have any thoughts on the evils of globalisation?
A: We have thoughts on it all the time! You know, music for the globalvillage, not music to globalise the village. World music could very easily become the backdrop for the globalised world economy. If we make money, it goes back into [kora player] N'Faly's little village. Through the success ofthe Afro Celts he's managed to get electricity put on at the school in his village. I would like to think that what we represent is a very strong forceagainst globalisation.
Q: Do you think it's important that people understand something about the different cultures you represent in your music?
A: I think it¹s incredibly important. We don¹t go on stage and make political statements, but the fact that we exist is really a kind of statement against the rise of European racism ... but what we don't wanna do is get dismissed as worthy. We¹re doing it for the music.
Q: Is there a danger of introducing too many elements into your music?
A: Yeah, I think that's a constant danger with us and personally I think Volume Three is overcooked. If you want to draw an analogy with cooking, there are probably a few too many spices. But we write collectively and you've got to remember there's a lot of us. It started off as my idea and now it¹s blossomed into a very powerful writing collective, and keeping that focussed is at times very difficult.
Q: What would you say to those who think that fusion is 'killing' world music?
A: I think world music is fusion. The idea that there's a pure form of world music exists in the minds of academic ethnomusicologists and over-protective upper middle class world music journalists. Sure fusion doesn't always work, you can end up with this horrible beige-coloured corporate music that's used for advertising, but the idea that world music is somehow pure and 'untainted' and free from fusion is a highly suspect one.
Q: Iarla Ó Lionáird sings his first full song in English on your latest album, though he normally sings in Gaelic. What sort of response have you had to that?
A: We've had very positive and very negative responses. Iarla wants to sing in English, he doesn't want to be type-cast as a sean nós singer. He's a songwriter and a lyricist and he wants to give it a go and good luck to him. I guess part of the magic and mystery of Iarla for me is the fact that he sings in Gaelic but I'm not gonna turn around and stop him from trying other areas if I think it works.
Read our Afro Celt profile.
ÌýÌý//ÌýÌýRadio 3 Awards for World Music
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