THE BEATING HEART

MUSIC

Feb 23

Written By

Music

THE BEATING HEART

The Beating Heart is a project designed to connect the past and present, drawing on the vast collection of field recordings housed in the International Library of African Music, it allows contemporary artists to incorporate field recordings into their work. It facilitates the sharing of knowledge between generations, cultures and genres in an attempt to build cultural bridges between Africa and the West. Over the years it’s seen the likes of Goldie, Rudimental and My Nu Leng use its recordings along with contemporary African pioneers Floyd Lavine and Faizal Mostrixx. In our interview, we caught up with the project’s founder and two of the artists currently using the Beating Heart in their work.

Words:
Luc Hinson

Imagrey:
Tom Shotton

BB: First off, could you introduce the Beating Heart to our readers, what exactly is the project?

CP: Ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey was my wife’s great uncle and he recorded the world’s largest collection of African field recordings between the 1920’s and the 70’s (35k+ recordings). Beating Heart was born from the idea of remixing the music he recorded.

In 2014, I visited the International Library of African Music (ILAM) which Tracey founded in 1954 in Grahamstown SA. On the trip I had discussions with the ILAM directors about how to reinvigorate interest in traditional sounds.

After a chance meeting in Malawi with Ollywood, who had just sold up at Black Butter, a plan was hatched to commission African and global producers to create new electronic interpretations of music from this traditional musical treasure trove.

BB: How and why did it come about? What was the impetuous behind the project?

CP: Personally I wanted a fresh musical experience, I felt disenchanted by western music so went on a journey of discovery to find out about African music. I fell in love with the sounds that I heard at ILAM, it was abstract and from another era, the music in the recordings was a function of everyday life. Linguistically I didn’t understand what any of it was about, but the vibes were strong, On top of that, I learned about the history of ILAM I was enchanted.

As an institution based at Rhodes University in Grahamstown South Africa, ILAM were looking for ways to activate the next generation with traditional culture and find fresh approaches to bring energy to music conservation.

ILAM liked our idea and allowed Ollie and I to work with them to help introduce the sounds to a global dance floor and Beating Heart was born.

I considered how my interest in jazz/soul music started by listening to hip hop tunes by Tribe Called Quest, De LA Soul and producer J Dilla, looking into the jazz they sampled. When I dug deeper into the music I learned so much more. It was our intention that Beating Heart could have a similar rabbit hole effect. I still have a dream that maybe Kanye or Dr Dre might find some inspiration and sample the ILAM archive one day.

BB: Why is cataloging music, especially from the content of Africa important?

CP: I’m no expert on this but as far as I can tell cataloguing and documenting can help civilization progress, passing on knowledge is part of evolution. As Dr Lee Watkins director of ILAM said, “…. the ILAM archive gives African people a sense of dignity because apartheid was supposed to destroy all of this…”

In Europe we take for granted that our history is documented, there are museums and institutions everywhere. However, in schools we only hear the side of the story that promotes national interests.

Musically I was intrigued by some of Allan Lomax’s recordings of English folk music, I felt thankful that he came from America and made those recordings. On reflection I thought maybe people would also be glad that Tracey made his recordings in Africa back in the day.

Founded in 1954 by Hugh Tracey, ILAM is one of the world’s great repositories of African music. A research institution devoted to the study of music and oral arts in Africa, it preserves thousands of historical recordings going back to 1929 and supports contemporary fieldwork. Its journal, African Music, is into its seventh decade. ILAM aims to discover, record, analyse, archive, teach, publish and promote music of sub-Saharan Africa, with the object of establishing a theory of music making in Africa and assessing the social, cultural, and artistic values of African music. ILAM is attached to the Music Department at Rhodes University and coordinates its Ethnomusicology Programme which offers undergraduate and post-graduate degrees in Ethnomusicology that include training in performance of African music.

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SAMPLING IS AN INTEGRAL PART OF MODERN MUSIC AND TOUCHES MOST GENRES, WE LIVE IN A WORLD OF CROSS-POLLINATION.

We also had the opportunity to speak with some of the contemporary African artists using the recordings of the ILAM in their work. We spoke with Faizal Mostrixx of Uganda, and Floyd Lavine of South Africa to learn a little more about the role that sampling plays in their musical practice, and the connection between the past and present facilitated by the Beating Heart’s archived recordings.

BB: What are the benefits of working with the Beating heart project?

Faizal Mostrixx: “As an African producer, so many young people are looking for a reconnection back to their roots, a connection that can blend with the way we operate as Africans in today’s modern society… so being given a chance to access the archive… it brings me back to the part that I feel more connected to and the voices in the recordings are giving me a chance to re-own and start to question the world I’m living in today. Being part of Beating Heart is giving me a chance to see more, to see beyond music and to see beyond life. It’s an amazing opportunity.”

BB: What impact has working with archived recordings had on your creative process?

Floyd Lavine: “This is a collaboration that is close to my heart and as a proud African I find that our history should never be forgotten but be celebrated. When working with the archive material I wanted to create a mixture of ‘ritual meets machine’ with my music, a future African techno interpretation, borrowing from the past while looking into the future. It’s an honour to be part of the Beating Heart project.”

The Beating Heart label is at the forefront of African-electronic sounds, revising forgotten folk recordings for the global dance floor with the help of some of the world’s most innovative electronic artists. Since launching in spring 2016 on the shores of Lake Malawi, Beating Heart has released over 60 tracks splicing Afro flavours with house, techno, soulful beats and bass music, remixed by the likes of The Busy Twist, Auntie Flo, Nabihah Iqbal, Ibibio Sound Machine, Muzi, Luke Vibert, Rudimental, Goldie, Clap! Clap! My Nu Leng and the legendary Angelique Kidjo. The unique Beating Heart sound stems from the label’s exclusive access to sample and remix the world’s largest collection of vintage African field recordings, housed at the International Library of African Music (ILAM) in Grahamstown, South Africa, unearthing ancestral sounds for the dance floors of today. Beating Heart’s ongoing series of releases, including the Afro Bass, Afro Chill and Afro Deep compilations, continue to create a stir with tastemakers throughout the international electronic music scenes. Performing under the name “The Beating Heart Project” the label founders’ hugely hyped DJ sets have also been smashing dancefloors across the globe, everywhere from Rocking The Daisies, South Africa to Kilifi NYE, Kenya, from WOMAD and Glastonbury to SXSW and Lake of Stars, Malawi. Beating Heart is progressive sound curation and represents the future of music without borders. www.beatingheartproject.com

BB: Are there any post-colonial tensions around the use of the recordings by contemporary western musicians?

CP: We have never felt tensions while working with African producers, just a sense of pride and excitement. Authentic western musicians are respectful and enchanted. However, if a western artist feels post-colonial guilt, they will choose not to contribute to the project. Some people carry that deep in their souls.

Since Beating Heart’s inception in 2014 we have worked closely with ethnomusicologists African, English and American to scrutinize our development. Although we are mindful to be culturally sensitive, it is possible to lose energy and momentum it we get bogged down with those issues. On occasion we refer people with these questions to the ILAM directors as they are the rights holders, they sign the contracts and benefit from our transaction.

99.9% of new creations (across all art mediums) take ideas from the past. In the 21st century digital age all recorded sounds in public domain are up for grabs. Sampling is an integral part of modern music and touches most genres, we live in a world of cross-pollination. Beating Heart does this by the legal procedure of official license from ILAM.

When Kanye sampled Curtis Mayfield and Dre sampled David Axlrod, they approached the rights holder and came to an agreement, we work in the same way with ILAM. All humanity originates from Africa, now Beating Heart provides humanity with a unique opportunity to hear Africa’s traditional music in a fresh context.

BB: What are you hoping to achieve through the Beating Heart project?

CP: To continue building cultural bridges between Africa and the West and to reconnect today’s generations to a rich heritage that colonialism tried to wipe out.

BB: What are your hopes for the Beating Heart in 2020 and beyond?

CP: As the producers we work with continue to be inspired by the ILAM archive, the ears and minds of global audiences will continue to open. We have also signed some amazing brand new artists, with lots of great releases and events in the pipeline!