From folk to funky
Etnika, the local folk/ethnic band headed by Andrew Alamango together with Francesca Grima and Andrej Vujicic, took a break from their annual edition of the show Etnikafe last year. This year they are back with a bang - literally. Yes, the various...
Etnika, the local folk/ethnic band headed by Andrew Alamango together with Francesca Grima and Andrej Vujicic, took a break from their annual edition of the show Etnikafe last year. This year they are back with a bang - literally. Yes, the various instruments used to create the ethnic sounds of their music will be played in such a way this year that the sounds are being reinvented. The show is original and there is also some reshuffling of artist formation.
However, what also changes is the concept behind this art project. Well, it doesn't exactly change but it evolves because the team of musicians is dynamic and their "year off" served them as a "reflection period" in which they came up with new things - new sounds, new themes and new artistes. The concept is not merely the reawakening of folk music and traditional instruments but now they target a wider audience, they compose songs to increase socio-economic awareness, they involve dancers, rappers and also a scratch artist in their music. "We are confident this will be our most daring, imparting from the past yet taking all that which makes Etnika relevant and successful as an art project", they claim.
Etnika are inspired to be creative by everything that moves them. In this case, they are currently feeling influenced by the latest international music trends. As Mr Alamango explains, by infusing the band with fresh music and new styles they will appeal to wider audiences. Traditional music and instruments are being kept alive but this can be done in different ways. Having reached their sixth edition of Etnikafe, they must reinvent themselves to pass on their music to a whole new generation.
"If you look across the world most styles which are currently internationally appealing, have had a cross-pollination of music styles through mixing with other musical cultures particularly with gypsy or African culture. This has left a strong mark on the ethnic and popular music in each region mainly to do with enhancing the rhythm section and also a particular energetic and emotive interpretation of melodies. Obviously gypsies never made it to Malta so in a way we are 'gypsifying' the Maltese traditional styles; infusing rhythm and energy, and mixing other music styles," adds Mr Alamango.
Innovation is the word that describes Karavan Petlor, this year's show. The show's title is a mocking pronunciation of the title of a popular Neapolitan song by Renato Carosone in the early 1960s. It reflects the urban and rural theme. Etnika will be featuring eight new songs; some from the standard repertoire have also been re-arranged. A visual element will be added with the use of projections. Environmental issues like immigration, hunting, urbanisation and over-development are being considered in numbers such as Kollox tal-Plastik, Il-Merill Bang Bang, Siçça Ska, Bejgh u Bejgh and Klandestini Rock, a sample of which can be checked out at www.myspace.com/etnikafe. It is up to Mr Vujicic and Mr Alamango to come up with new ideas and tunes, after which they rearrange these tunes together with Sandro Zerafa and other band members. There is a substantial amount of research that precedes these ideas... research into popular life and reinterpreting it in a new and artistic and creative way - in a nutshell, Etnika's job.
Changes in band formation are thus a consequence of the sounds that need to be created. This year, the line-up consists of Mr Alamango on a range of guitars, Walter Vella on saxophone and Maltese reed and wind instruments, Oliver Degabriele on double and electric bass, Mr Zerafa on guitar and percussion, Mr Vujicic, Jason Fabri and Michael Galea on percussion; there is also a brass band, consisting of Roger and Effie Azzopardi on trumpets, Jonathan Abela on trombone and Chris Spiteri on tuba; Ms Grima on dance and percussion; Alison Galea of Beangrowers and Mario Vella (ex-Lumiere) of Brikkuni on vocals; IQ rapping in Maltese and scratch artist Black Jungle; Annabelle with a group of dancers and performance artistes and Daniel will be doing sample sounds and sound effects.
Etnika's work throughout the years has placed a wide array of ghannejja (folk singers), traditional musicians and even brass bands in contact with a wider audience so that this type of music would gain its due respect. As the group points out "such artistes have gradually been introduced to audiences that would otherwise have had very little or no contact at all with this other facet of Maltese culture. What would previously have been perceived as 'low' culture, and treated with something akin to disdain, has now found its way into the mainstream.
"More importantly, Etnika have succeeded where others have failed in removing the traditional from a museum/showcase setting and turning it into something dynamic, vibrant and alive - not merely a sterile study of our past, but a natural continuation of it into the present as well as a template for the future. Overall awareness has increased exponentially, especially among those considered to be the 'educated' classes, and this can only bode well for the survival and strengthening of traditional Maltese music in the years to come".
But how do you keep traditional Maltese music alive while mixing it with other music genres, that is, without deviating from "tradition"? - Etnika's answer: "Tradition is that which is accepted by general consent and will then be repeated... Miles Davis had said the only danger to tradition is the traditionalists".
Etnikafe - Karavan Petlor will be staged at the Opera House on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as part of the Malta Arts Festival.
However, what also changes is the concept behind this art project. Well, it doesn't exactly change but it evolves because the team of musicians is dynamic and their "year off" served them as a "reflection period" in which they came up with new things - new sounds, new themes and new artistes. The concept is not merely the reawakening of folk music and traditional instruments but now they target a wider audience, they compose songs to increase socio-economic awareness, they involve dancers, rappers and also a scratch artist in their music. "We are confident this will be our most daring, imparting from the past yet taking all that which makes Etnika relevant and successful as an art project", they claim.
Etnika are inspired to be creative by everything that moves them. In this case, they are currently feeling influenced by the latest international music trends. As Mr Alamango explains, by infusing the band with fresh music and new styles they will appeal to wider audiences. Traditional music and instruments are being kept alive but this can be done in different ways. Having reached their sixth edition of Etnikafe, they must reinvent themselves to pass on their music to a whole new generation.
"If you look across the world most styles which are currently internationally appealing, have had a cross-pollination of music styles through mixing with other musical cultures particularly with gypsy or African culture. This has left a strong mark on the ethnic and popular music in each region mainly to do with enhancing the rhythm section and also a particular energetic and emotive interpretation of melodies. Obviously gypsies never made it to Malta so in a way we are 'gypsifying' the Maltese traditional styles; infusing rhythm and energy, and mixing other music styles," adds Mr Alamango.
Innovation is the word that describes Karavan Petlor, this year's show. The show's title is a mocking pronunciation of the title of a popular Neapolitan song by Renato Carosone in the early 1960s. It reflects the urban and rural theme. Etnika will be featuring eight new songs; some from the standard repertoire have also been re-arranged. A visual element will be added with the use of projections. Environmental issues like immigration, hunting, urbanisation and over-development are being considered in numbers such as Kollox tal-Plastik, Il-Merill Bang Bang, Siçça Ska, Bejgh u Bejgh and Klandestini Rock, a sample of which can be checked out at www.myspace.com/etnikafe. It is up to Mr Vujicic and Mr Alamango to come up with new ideas and tunes, after which they rearrange these tunes together with Sandro Zerafa and other band members. There is a substantial amount of research that precedes these ideas... research into popular life and reinterpreting it in a new and artistic and creative way - in a nutshell, Etnika's job.
Changes in band formation are thus a consequence of the sounds that need to be created. This year, the line-up consists of Mr Alamango on a range of guitars, Walter Vella on saxophone and Maltese reed and wind instruments, Oliver Degabriele on double and electric bass, Mr Zerafa on guitar and percussion, Mr Vujicic, Jason Fabri and Michael Galea on percussion; there is also a brass band, consisting of Roger and Effie Azzopardi on trumpets, Jonathan Abela on trombone and Chris Spiteri on tuba; Ms Grima on dance and percussion; Alison Galea of Beangrowers and Mario Vella (ex-Lumiere) of Brikkuni on vocals; IQ rapping in Maltese and scratch artist Black Jungle; Annabelle with a group of dancers and performance artistes and Daniel will be doing sample sounds and sound effects.
Etnika's work throughout the years has placed a wide array of ghannejja (folk singers), traditional musicians and even brass bands in contact with a wider audience so that this type of music would gain its due respect. As the group points out "such artistes have gradually been introduced to audiences that would otherwise have had very little or no contact at all with this other facet of Maltese culture. What would previously have been perceived as 'low' culture, and treated with something akin to disdain, has now found its way into the mainstream.
"More importantly, Etnika have succeeded where others have failed in removing the traditional from a museum/showcase setting and turning it into something dynamic, vibrant and alive - not merely a sterile study of our past, but a natural continuation of it into the present as well as a template for the future. Overall awareness has increased exponentially, especially among those considered to be the 'educated' classes, and this can only bode well for the survival and strengthening of traditional Maltese music in the years to come".
But how do you keep traditional Maltese music alive while mixing it with other music genres, that is, without deviating from "tradition"? - Etnika's answer: "Tradition is that which is accepted by general consent and will then be repeated... Miles Davis had said the only danger to tradition is the traditionalists".
Etnikafe - Karavan Petlor will be staged at the Opera House on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as part of the Malta Arts Festival.