Warren Galea, Alan Portelli and Manuel Pulis are three of Malta’s younger musicians who have been leaving a strong mark on the local jazz scene. Now, they are launching their debut album as the F-Trio. Ramona Depares catches up with drummer Manuel Pulis ahead of the launch.

Jazz might sound like a strange choice for a young drummer in Malta – what attracted you to the genre in the first place? Was there ever a time when you ‘didn’t get’ jazz?

Of course, that’s exactly what attracted me in the first place. Not understanding what was happening on stage was just exhilarating for me, but what really inspired me to get into jazz is the way drums are able to move from the normal time-keeping role to take on a more expressive and instrumental sound.

How did F Trio come about?

This was more of a project at first. The three of us used to meet at my rehearsal space in Marsa and we would spend hours on end figuring out tunes and even giving them twists of our own. It was never something steady, much less a band, until last year. Then we started to gig a bit when I came to Malta for the Christmas holidays and I guess things evolved from there. The fact that all three of us were inclined to improve ourselves on our individual instruments helped us to push each other and break our comfort zones.

At any given time, at least two of you were based away from Malta. How does that affect the dynamics of the group?

Funny question. I was in Italy for the past three years and Alan was in Amsterdam, so we could not meet up for as many rehearsals as we wanted. But we always stayed in contact. There were times when we could not rehearse for a gig, but we would do our homework and when we met we would just leave it to flow where the music wanted to take us.

Now that we are both based in Malta, Warren is in the US, so I guess we have a few years working like that. But it all works out. We send the music scores to each other and develop the music together and on our own. Then, when we meet up it’s just a matter of putting everything in place and letting those ideas run freely in the music. It’s fun and fresh.

Bearing in mind even the above, what is the creative process like for the trio?

Well, usually we work on songs and arrangements that we wrote in our own time as individuals and then during the rehearsal we discuss form and dynamics. It’s fun to work like that, but at times also frustrating because there is not enough time for that ‘chemistry’. So, we have to work harder to get that band sound.

At first, when we were in the studio it was evident that we had not yet gelled together as a whole; we were still playing as three individuals. It does take a lot of ‘give’, as a musician, to give up what you think is good and doing what is right. It’s something that not a lot of people are doing these days, but it is necessary.

What really inspired me to get into jazz is the way drums are able to move from the normal time-keeping role

There was a time when jazz and young people, even genuine music-lovers, simply didn’t mix. Now, things seem to be changing locally. To what do you attribute this?

Jazz, for the majority of its existence in Malta, was seen as something elite and out there. An excuse to socialise over a nice platter and some local white wine while whispering across the table about what happened during the week.

Now that’s all well and good, but that’s just a small fragment of jazz. We are lucky enough that some people are moving away from that mentality and moving towards the real definition of jazz, which is expression.

Expressing oneself on a form, listening to what the others guys are doing on the bandstand and reacting to that… that is the definition of Jazz today.

To give you one example. If you get your average Maltese guy and put him in a race car, does that make him a racing driver? No. It’s the same thing with jazz. If a guitarist plays Autumn Leaves or Chameleon, that does not mean it’s jazz.

We live in a generation where formality is not as it was and that’s what the younger generation want; a fun gig to go to while seeing musicians give 110 per cent onstage. That’s why things are changing, because the younger generation is listening not only to the musicians but also to the audience. And it looks like things are going to keep on getting better and better.

And why does jazz have a bit of a reputation as ‘the bad guy’ in music? Many claim it’s inaccessible/boring, etc…

As mentioned before, it’s the formality that defines that image not the style. Jazz can never be boring because it’s too vast to categorise. Any style of music that exists can be merged with jazz; this is because you can improvise on any type of song you want to. I’m involved in a project called Malta Jazz Collective and we improvise on Oasis’s Wonderwall. It’s not the ‘what’ that’s important, but the ‘how’ and the ‘why’. That is jazz.

The public just need to be more exposed and open to new music, that’s all, instead of always listening to the same tunes on the radio. All they need to do is type in ‘jazz festivals’ on their web browser and check out the line-up. Usually, those who are headlining are worth a listen or two; Google the artists and let technology do its work, simple.

How long have you guys been working on your upcoming EP?

The music has been written for a while but the actual finalisation of the structures and sounds took place over a few weeks.

What was the biggest challenge to put it all together?

Logistics were the most difficult, because they take up so much time from practising, and our busy schedules, gigs, university lectures and so forth don’t help, either. Not to mention the fact that we were not in the same country for the majority of the time.

Will the album appeal to a mass audience (or rather, any audience interested in music) or is it more of a niche affair?

We have no idea what to expect. Throughout the whole album there is more of a mellow side, but at the same time we have some ‘out there’ stuff as well. It’s us, being who we are, at that time under the circumstances we were in.

Actually, by ‘us’ I would like to include Jimmy Bartolo as well. He was a big part of this recording and he did some spectacular work in the album.

What can we expect from the launch?

Well, Warren came down from the US a mere two weeks before the concert and during this period it’s just so chaotic, what with family obligations and so forth. It’s going to be intense. So to sum it up, expect the unexpected.

What other projects are you involved in?

The Malta Jazz Collective, which I mentioned before. We play at the Electro-Lobster Project in St Julian’s every Thursday. Then there’s our own funky band, you will hear more about that towards Easter.

I’m also part of Brikkuni, with the new album just round the corner and, lately, I have also been working with Maltese rocker Mikaela Attard. But there’s also a bit of a special project that has yet to be started with Alan Portelli and that’s something that I have no doubt is going to be generating some hype.

Apart from that, I do a lot of session work with all kinds of bands, musicians and DJs. This year looks like it’s going to be a good year and I can’t wait to get my thesis over and done with so I can focus more on my career.

The F-Trio EP launch takes place on Friday at 9pm at Django’s in Valletta.