CULTURELINX PRESENTS: "No Boundary".

MOHAMED SOULIMANE

2010-12-09T12:09:00.005+01:00

Mohamed Soulimane from Arab Orchestra de Barcelona

on a cold day in november we record violin tracks with Mohamed from the Arab Orchestra de Barcelona. His parts will be layered and fragmented over the same track that features Selva De Mar and Max Wright, and in keeping with a disjointed and dislocated theme (and the fact it's cold outside) we decide to use an empty flat and play with mirrors to get layered and fragmented shots. we also get a great arabic solo from Mohamed for the middle of the track.

JUANLU AND DAVID FROM CALIMA

2010-12-07T13:24:00.008+01:00

we took a couple of days to drive up to Cap de Creus and Cadaquez to shoot David and Juanlu from the latin grammy nominated band Calima. cold and windy but amazing views and some stunning shots... and the sun came out right on cue. some technical problems made it hard work but it was well worth it. thanks guys!

JuanLu 'el Canijo' Leprevost - bass, composer (Calima, Ojos de Brujo)
www.calimacolores.es

David Porta Senz - voice, guitar, songwriter (Calima)
waterfly69@hotmail.com

Thanks to Chris and all at Restaurante Cap de Creus (www.restaurantecapdecreus.com / 97 2199005)

SHOOTING SELVA DE MAR

2010-12-07T13:04:00.003+01:00

we made a trip up to Breda, a town on the edge of Montseny Natural Park. Our friends, Sasha and Pablo, from the improvisation group Selva de Mar, have a workshop and rehearsal space there in the countryside. They play baroque Cello and Hang (an unusual metallic percussion instrument that looks like a U.F.O.)

Next to their workshop is a scrap metal dealer, and so we found an interesting location amongst the junk. Pablo also recorded some interesting sounds banging the metal drums and scraping bits of metal against the old machines. Wonderful material.

We then had a nice picnic of country farm produce bought at the local market. a great day out.

Pablo Wayne - hang, percussion
Sasha Agranov - cello

www.selvademar.com

SENEN FLORENsA, DIRECTOR OF ieMED

2010-11-11T17:43:00.004+01:00

We arranged a meeting with Senen Florensa, the general director of the ieMed - (instituto europeo mediteraneo) that promotes and fosters collaboration and coordination between artistic and cultural organizations to find out more about what is being done at a political level to promote intercultural understanding. We interviewed him about the work of the ieMed and the challenges that face europe and the mediterranean countries.

http://www.iemed.org/

GAMBEAT DE MANU CHAO, RADIO BEMBA

2010-07-26T14:19:00.005+02:00

Gambeat, Bassist with Manu Chao and Radio Bemba as well as producer with bands such as Che Sudaka, popped down to the studio and we made a plan to record the bassline for the misperceptions dub track on Rambla de Raval, in Barcelona.

He brought down his old upright bass "Big Lady", which has a long history (from before the II world war) and is covered in stickers and decorations from a life of street music and partying.

We also interviewed him about his experiences as a touring musician and longtime resident of Raval, the multicultural neighbourhood in downtown Barcelona.

thanks man!

(Thanks also to Kilim Restaurant on Rambla Raval for letting use their terrace for recording the interview.)
Kilim
Rambla Raval, 18, 08001 Barcelona934 41 66 88

NO BOUNDARY ON THE RADIO

2010-07-03T14:43:00.000+02:00

Descobreix el documental "No Boundary"

Ayesha was interviewed on Radio 3 about the project. you can also hear the latest versions of the tracks.

MAX MOYA WRIGHT DE "Ojos de Brujo"

2010-02-18T15:04:00.003+01:00

Ayesha persuades all round percussionist and random noise man to join in the fun. He comes round to Simon's studio to work on the material, as we will create a new track with him. The plan is a chopped up, spliced video, odd-time-signature floating track about finding your place in the world, searching for an identity. We map out a track with multiple layers of percussion parts that we can layer later in video, to reflect in the editing the message of the track.

Luis, Ayesha, Simon and Max meet up one afternoon on their motos to scoot up Montjuic, overlooking the city, to record his parts. Things go a bit wonky as Simon falls off his bike, and location plan A, the cactus garden, falls through due to fading light and (ahem) it being closed, but we carry on up to Mirador de Migdia, overlooking the industrial port, and shoot all the parts there amongst the trees.

Good stuff.

Max Moya Wright
Percussionist for Ojos de Brujo and Nitin Sawhney
http://www.myspace.com/maxmoyawright

OKONKOLO TRIO

2010-02-08T14:58:00.003+01:00

Okonkolo, the percussion trio we met during the journey, come up to Barcelona to record. Having sent them the music already to listen to, they come prepared with an arrangement of claps and cajon. A luxury...

We meet the day before the shoot in order to do a technical run-through (another luxury!) and simon discovers its quite hard to get a good cajon sound AND a good claps sound, using the typical mic position of a mic per cajon from behind.

We decide to record using the zoom in front of them as well, as a back up.

Amazingly, the weather in february is warm and blue skies, and we record on a beautiful terrace in Borne, overlooking the whole city. A very productive day.

Everyone feels great, but afterwards while having lunch we get robbed by some barcelona tricksters who distract us asking for directions while swiping sandra's bag, which had the Lumix camera in it. We lost all the photos from the session and the profile video, but luckily we were all taking photos of the shoot.

Finally, when Simon checks the audio, the simple stereo zoom recording is so damn good the rest of the takes are ditched right away.

The Zoom H4N kicks ass!

------------------------------
Pepe, Edu and Kike from the Okonkolo Trio
Percussionists (cajón, congas and more)
www.okonkolotrio.com

TEASER: "No Boundary"

2009-12-01T10:30:00.004+01:00

hi everyone,

well after going through the material, we have put a teaser together. Very much work in progress. You can hear a short excerpt of three of the songs and see some of the great shots and musical performances we managed to film in Morocco so far.

(Note that at the moment it is subtitled for english speaking audiences only.)

There are many performances and interviews still to be recorded, but hopefully this gives an idea of where we are going with all this!

enjoy,

The CultureLinx Team

NEW TEAM MEMBER! EDITOR ON BOARD

2009-11-06T16:43:00.004+01:00

Teo's great friend Luis, from Medialabtv (www.medialabtv.com) has agreed to come onboard as editor. Perfect!

Apart from being "Edward Scissorhands" in Final Cut and having plenty of experience editing music videos, he will bring objectivity to the selection and cutting process as he wasn't on the trip - meaning he'll judge the material on it's own merit...which is important.

Now we are taking stock of all the material, working on the trailer, and in about a week we'll be able to post something.

More news very soon

DALILA ENNADRE AT THE CCCB, BARCELONA

2009-10-20T14:44:00.005+02:00

An opportunity arises to interview Dalila Ennadre, a french / moroccan documentary maker, who is special guest at the CCCB in Barcelona during a film festival. Her work is being shown over several days.

We manage to catch her for 30 minutes and talk to her about her perceptions growing up between two cultures, and how she reflects this in her work. Despite having no time, unfortunate lighting and noise issues, we manage to get some useful material. Thanks Dalila!

___________
Dalila Ennadre
Film maker (Documentaries about Moroccan life)

El Batalett, femmes de la médina (El Batalett, Women from the Medina)
Dalila Ennadre (France / Morocco)

Fama... une héroïne sans gloire (Fama... a Heroine without Glory)
Dalila Ennadre (France)

J'ai tant aimé... (I Loved So Much...) WATCH THIS TRAILER
Dalila Ennadre (France)

Je voudrais vous raconter (Let Me Tell You)
Dalila Ennadre (France)

La caravane de Mé Aïcha (Mé Aïcha's Caravan)

INTERVIEW WITH HASSAN GUEDIOURA

2009-10-09T14:36:00.002+02:00

Once back, we decided to interview our friend Hassan Guedioura, one of the first people we talked with when planning the project. He's french of algerian descent, and has a PhD in Post Colonial Identities, specifically researching into the post-colonial situation in europe and north africa, migration, inter-cultural perceptions and more.

So understandably he's got rather a lot of interesting things to say to us. From the beginning we have wanted to also include interviews that add current academic thought to the content of the project - so much of how we think about things comes from the very language we use to talk about it, and we want to get it right.

We set up an interview at a friends restaurant in Barceloneta (thanks!) and have an interesting evening listening to his angle on things.

BACK IN BARCELONA AND EDITING

2009-09-18T23:21:00.001+02:00

After almost 40 days on the road, we are finally back in Barcelona and our first goal is to create a trailer to be able to show off all the beautiful footage and interviews we managed to film on this amazing, exhausting, stressful, wonderful trip.

Here just a few screenshots of much more to come ...

more very soon!

The Culturelinx Team

day 40 - last Stop Benidorm

2009-09-17T23:09:00.000+02:00

On our way up we make a quick lunch at Benidorm - mass tourism but this time on the spanish side, mainly from british tourists enjoing their daily soap operas in the warm sun.

We thought it would be interesting to gather material from spain's own experience of tourists coming in and changing the landscape, to contrast with the same experience that Moroccans are now having...culture clashes and misperceptions!

We have a rather bad english breakfast but get some interesting photos and videos...

Day 38, 39, near Cadiz to La Alpujarra

2009-09-16T15:48:00.000+02:00

Starting our trip back north to Barcelona, we drop off for a great meal and a good night sleep at an Algerian friend's beautiful place near cadiz, placed peacefully in the middle of the mountains and spectacular views. We record some more instruments for texture.

We also record a performance of the traditional GRITO DE ALEGRIA, that not only is heard in morrocan Berber regions but also is heard in Algeria at fiestas and festive moments.

In our short stay, we also manage to interview our friend about their experience as someone from the Magreb living first in England and now in Spain, and get us some interesting insights into the cultures of the region.

Afterwards we carry on to see our friend Oliver from the music band Medusa and and his mother Gabi, and stay for a lovely lunch in their self-sufficient, solarpowered house "Los Lozanos " lost in Ujigar, part of La Alpujarra part of the Sierra Nevada mountains near Granada.

At the time of writing this blog, this amazing house is for sale
( mail: olistic@gmail.com| mob: 0034 620513666 | web: www.loslozanos.net )

Day 36 - 37 back in Tarifa

2009-09-15T22:31:00.000+02:00

Finally, we arrive back on to the mainland of Spain - Tarifa, where we meet with Jagga, a British singer and poet.

We interview him on the beach and even though he is one of the musicians that we did not have the time to record musically, we managed to capture some of his funky dance moves ;-)

Just before we head of, we manage to get an interview with Julian "Quincy" Clavijo from the musical / cultural association Puertas Abiertas on his roof-terrace overlooking Tarifa.

Asociación Cultural Puertas Abiertas
0034 606894459
http://www.mokelembembe.net
http://www.myspace.com/mokeleweb

Day 35 Tangers

2009-09-14T22:03:00.000+02:00

On what was meant to be a kind of day-off wandering around Tangers shooting a few images and resources, we come across one of the most talented musicians of the trip - Abdelwahid Sanaaji, a professional musician who also works in his little tea-house LES FILES DE DETROIT which also is the local meeting place for of arabo-andalouse musicians, right in the heart of the medina 3 steps next to the Museum of Maroque Art.

Abdelwahid Sanaaji just started picking up instruments and playing them, including the Naye, Violin, percussion and Oud. Stunning stuff, especially the Naye, a type of sufi flute made of bamboo.

Thanks for this unexpected encounter!

The Teahouse:
Ciercle de Musique Arabo Andalouse,
Rue Ibn Abou no. 1
Al Kassaba
Tanger

Day 34 Ceuta

2009-09-13T16:16:00.006+02:00

We arrive early in Ceuta (the small Spanish town / enclave on the Moroccan coast), after passing through the exhaustive frontier check. It's like suddenly being catapulted into mainland Spain. It's even raining sharply as we park, and we feel like we are in another world. After eating a full spanish lunch menu (no ramadan daytime eating problems here!) and taking a well needed siesta, we meet with the guys from "Ceuta Hiphop Culture", a youth hip hop organisation with a super positive vibe who are up for doing something.

As we only have from 5pm till sundown, it's really quite a mission to get them to write 5 verses, memorise them, find a location, and record all 5 rappers. They step up to the challenge and come up with some interesting rhymes and pull off some decent performances, despite not having much time to memorise the words and having to do it all on camera! The wind and fading light at the viewpoint over the city where we decide to shoot also add to the pressure... Only once we are back in Barcelona and can watch the footage will we know for sure what stuff came out but hopefully we have some good material. Anyway thanks guys for all your efforts!

After dropping the gang off, we take a moment to make some production notes about mistakes made and lessons learned for next time, and decide to head straight on towards Tangiers as we have a full day ahead of us there too. Right before leaving, we catch a quick drink with Yomi and he tells us that the rhythms of the track we have been working on remind him of Nigerian rhythms he learned when he was young, and so we spontaneously record a vocal performance of Nigerian "talking drum rhythm" styles to add to the mix.

Many thanks to Cielo Club, Pablo Petrus, Yomi and the guys.

DAY 33 - RIF MOUNTAINS AND CHEFCHAOUEN

2009-09-11T16:55:00.001+02:00

We realise that we have a lot of images of "old" morocco (the amazing markets and medinas that every visitor is enchanted by) but not so much of "modern" Moroccan life, so we start amending this by pass through Fes to record footage of the modern "Ville Nouvelle", also recording some haunting footage in the cities old cemetary as in the twilight it looks amazing. We then head north on the road to Chefchauoen.

We stop near the road for the night, and the next day are greeted by bemused locals who are filling their tanks with water from a roadside public tap and taking it away by donkey. These amazing animals are still the backbone of much of rural Moroccan life...

Heading into the stunning Rif mountains, we arrive at Chefchauoen, which is a very pretty village, a beautiful mixture of pale blue and white streets. We spend a lovely day shopping for bits and pieces, wandering around the streets and enjoying the drop in temperature as we are heading north. The people are really quite relaxed and happy, and it makes a change from the more hectic medinas of Fes, Meknes and Marrakesh. (Maybe it has something to do with all the Marajuana grown round in the region??). Simon gets a shopping mania and gets the pants charmed off him by a particularly clever salesman who spots him a mile away. You certainly learn something about the art of negotiation in Morocco!

We head north towards Ceuta, and even though we could cross over the border right away, we decide it might be more interesting to cross during the day, especially if we can get some footage of the vibe on the border.

We camp right on the water's edge in a very upmarket Marina with expensive looking boats that reminds us of the south of Spain. The local guard cheerily allows us to stay the night, which is a nice surprise.

Day 31, 32 Sefrou

2009-09-10T15:08:00.000+02:00

After hectic Fes, we head to Sefrou to meet Jess, an artist friend who runs a cultural association called Culture Vultures. She cooks a wonderful meal for us and tells us of her experiences living in Morocco.

She arranges for us to record with Siross, a local musician and a real character. We meet with him the next day and record some arabic flute and Oud, with views over the rooftops of Sefrou from the yellow ochre terrace of the hotel we are staying at. Siros finds the rhythm of the track initially a bit challenging (there is an odd cajon sample in the mix), and its interesting to see him respond to a musical style he hasn't worked with before. But within one listen he has it and on the subsequent takes he nails it down perfectly.

Speacial thanx to:

Hostal Dar Attamani
414 Bastna
31000 Sefrou
MAROC
Fixe :0(0212)535969174
Maison GSM :0(0212)645298930

http://www.darattamani.com

Siros - Flute and Lute ( Sefrou)

2009-09-10T14:55:00.002+02:00

Siross
flute and Lute ( Sefrou)
mob: 066 11 26 012

Day 28, 29, 30 Fes

2009-09-09T21:19:00.010+02:00

Its only a short trip over to Fez from Meknes. We camp outside of town and spend a morning relaxing and taking stock of what we have achieved so far. Using the powerful words and imagery from Hassans poem as a natural midpoint, we start to map out a possible structure for the documentary and make lists of musical material, locations, lyrics and visual ideas that we still need to find.

In the evening we head into the medina to Cafe Clock, an arty cafe and oasis of calm (not to mention providers of some quality camel burgers). We meet with Annas Habib, a singer that Ayesha has worked with before, who sings in many languages and specializes in sacred music from all over the world. Within minutes of explaining the project he has already come up with a classic text that he would like to record on the same track as Moona, and comes up with a location - Riad AlKantara (which means "the bridge"), one of the most beautiful Riads in Fez. We arrange to do this in a couple of days.

The next day, we meet up with Adil, a rapper from Fez who has written a rap for the project. We film him in the middle of the hectic medina just before sundown (what we now call "crazy hour", the moment of hectic madness just before sundown and the feast to break the daily ramadan fast). Later, we head to the studio of JP, a french producer living in Fes who works with Adil. We record interviews and more footage there, and Teo kindly pulls some energy out the bag to shoot some footage for their own music video in return for their help and input to our project.

The following day, we meet Annas and go to Riad Alkantara, and with the kind permission of the owner, we decide to record Annas singing in the main room. Its a majestic three floor courtyard open to the sky with an amazing acoustic. Despite some initial concerns about wind and noise, we manage to come away with a series of excellent vocal performances, with Annas singing a text that says (roughly) "he who looks inside himself with find his god".

Lastly, just before leaving Fez, we manage to squeeze in one last shoot for the music video, on the main hill with breathtaking views overlooking the whole city. After a few days scurrying around in the labyrinthine Medina, weaving in and out of the stalls with equipment and hunting locations, its a nice way to say goodbye to the city as the sun goes down.

thanks to:

Cafe Clock
7 Derb El Magana
Talaa Kbira
Fes Medina
www.cafeclock.com

Riad Alkantara
24 Oued Souaffine, Dough
Fez, medina
www.riadalkantara.com

ADIL, rapper (Fez)

2009-09-09T18:08:00.002+02:00

Adil from Fez, who we recorded rapping in the medina.

Mostafa Ben Cherif - Bouzouki ( Meknes)

2009-09-05T22:54:00.000+02:00

Mostafa Ben Cherif
Bouzouki (Meknes)
Band: Tayfa

Hassan Ben Cherif - singer, songwriter (Meknes)

2009-09-05T22:44:00.002+02:00

Hassan Ben Cherif
singer, songwriter (Meknes)

of the group Tayfa
(tradicional musik of Meknes)
cherif07@live.fr

DAY 24, 25, 26, 27 MEKNES

2009-09-05T20:48:00.002+02:00

We head straight to Meknes to meet up with a London contact, Simon Webster and his wife Moona. They are both musicians (percussion and voice) but have also just opened a brand new Riad (old mansion) hotel in the centre of Meknes called Riad Lahboul. We explain some more the project to them, and we make a plan to record them and some of their band over the next few days.

Simon goes first, on the terrace of their Riad, and lays down an amazing bongo groove on our hiphop track that uses traditional moroccan rhythms - ones that he confesses that have taken him some years to get his head around, despite the fact his CV includes playing with Natasha Atlas and Yasmin Levy.

For Moona's vocal performance, we head out of town to Volubolis to catch the sunset over the stunning Roman ruins there. Amazingly, despite our worries, no wind noise enters the mic and we get some fantastic stuff.

The next day brothers Hassan and Mustafa (voice and bazuki) record with us. Mustafa records some great bazuki flavours andHassan has written a poignant poem about the pain of emmigration and the men and women who die braving the seas to cross over to Europe, dreaming that it will solve all their problems without realising what they leave behind. Teo has a great idea of filming it in total darkness with only his face. Looks like the final result might just be amazing.

Along with the fantastic hospitality at Riad Lahboul and all the great food, we leave Meknes excited for what comes next in Fes.

Mouna Eddrou - traditional singer and percussionist (Meknes)

2009-09-04T21:36:00.001+02:00

Moona Eddrou
traditional singer and percussionist (Meknes)

Haleshla, Duo of traditional Moroccan music with Simon Webster.
http://www.simonwebster.org.uk/about/mouna.htm
http://www.beats-work.com/

current proyect:
http://www.riadlahboul.com

Simon Webster - percussion ( Meknes)

2009-09-03T21:51:00.001+02:00

Simon WebsterPercussion ( Meknes)

http://www.simonwebster.org.uk
http://www.myspace.com/simonwebsterdrums

current project:
http://www.riadlahboul.com/

DAY 21, 22 & 23 - CASCADES D'OUZOUD TO CEDAR FORESTS

2009-09-03T01:15:00.015+02:00

DAY 21 - Holiday break
We head for the Cascade D'Ouzoud and are overwhelmed by the beauty of the place. A worthwhile stop. Simon jumps off the 6.5m high rock, Sandra ponders for a long while and jumps while Teo sits legs trembling and finally bottles. Ayesha sits filming the whole sequence (and using this as an excuse not to jump herself), courage takes hold and suddenly she runs up and without looking, jumps! Adrenalin is high and the water fresh. We stop at a chiringuito-esque place and record Abdu (our guide) playing the Ginbri with the falls behind. Yes I know this is supposed to be our day off but we are workaholics and the place is too beautiful not to shoot. He invites us back to his family home for tajine so we race against time to get him there (Azilal) before sunset. We are still on the road when the sun goes down, so we stop the car in a layby and give him all the food and dates we can find. Although we have not fasted today, we are thirsty and famished too, so we 'break bread' together and watch the light fade of the middle Atlas mountains. Spectacular.

In the evening, we are in dire need of a siesta, we shop for tajine ingredients, snooze and then wake up at 12.30 to eat with Abdu and his sister in law. Zzzzzzzzz.

DAY 22 - Azilal to the Cedar Forests
We wake up boiling (as Abdu's suggested sleeping spot was smack bang in the middle of a huge open square/ building plot). Sandra gives up her mobile as a gift for Abdu's time yesterday and his generous invite. He asks for some clothes too, so Ayesha gives him some tracksuit bottoms and we are on our way. We drive through pictoresque scenery to the beginning of the Cedar Forests. Poor old Si is feeling super queasy and we pause for a puke stop. Soon after we find a great spot in a clearing in the forest, perfect for morning shade. A yummy meal on the magic blanket and a nearly full moon make it a more than pleasant evening.

DAY 23 - Forest recordings and drive to Meknes
We wake up inspired and go for a cuatro-vocal session in the forest with Ayesha. We film the local surroundings and talk about ways to go about making the most of the trip and project and not falling into the same traps as previous projects in Morocco. We drive the unsurfaced roads through the forest and stop at the Sources Oum er Rbia (incredibly clean water!) for a picnic lunch.

The views here are spectacular and Simon, Sandra and Teo get on the roof to film the vast valleys and local farmers while Ayesha tackles the bumpy roads. We arrive in Meknes before nightfall and are welcomed by Simon Webster (percussionist for the likes of Natacha Atlas, Yasmin Levy) and his wife Mouna, a percussionist and singer. We chat, snack and enjoy a fantastic rehearsal session with their band.

DAY 19 & 20- MAD MARRAKESH

2009-09-03T00:45:00.012+02:00

DAY 19
A morning of sorting and preparing audio tracks (and a quick swim at the campsite of course). We head into town for our meeting with AbdelJalil Kodssi, a well known Gnawi Melem (master) who has been resident in Barcelona for 20 years and is now back in Marrakesh after some gigs in Italy. He missed his flight and therefore has had no sleep and nothing to eat for 48 hours. We therefore let him off his slightly abrasive manner and decide to call him the next day, post the Ramadan feast! We then hit 'la hora loca' (the hour before the fast is broken) in Djema el Fnaa and it is totally mad. Talk about culture clash. Tourists, performers trying all sorts of (aggressive) tricks to get as much money out of you as possible, and crowds of very hungry, sweaty, thirsty good Muslims gasping for sunset. We half talk about getting out of Marrakesh as soon as possible but decide to give it a second chance.

We call Amin, friend of Fatiha (Ayesha's wax woman) and he brings along Rhizlaine to the Glacier Cafe terrace overlooking Djema el Fnaa. She is a godsend and gives us contact details for all the up and coming hip hop acts in Morocco. We call Komy (of Brada and Fnaire) immediately and he jumps at the chance. Ahhh thanks Marrakesh!

DAY 20
We head to Komy's French girfriend's house and film him rapping a snippet of one of the songs from his upcoming album. We have a full day ahead but Komy is very professional and well-prepared. We then head to his family home and go up onto his terrace for a fantastic 360 degree view of the rooftops of suburban Marrakesh. He records a couple of raps, fill ins and shout outs in the gorgeous golden light. "Everyone knows that our problem is that nobody listens, let us sing so we can empty our hearts".

One hour before sunset and we fit in an interview (in Darija with French summaries !!!) We are all fried but happy with the results. We break the fast with the whole family and feel very privileged to share this moment with them.

9pm and exhausted, we call AbdelJalil on the off-chance he has had a change of heart and he agrees to meet us for an interview. He is a relaxed and cooperative interviewee who says some lovely things and we are glad to have recorded him. We hope to have the chance to record him back in Barcelona, pending permission from Ventilador Records, of course.

We head out of the city and pull of the road to sleep under the shade of some trees.

Abdeljalil Khamssi - Singer, Songwriter ( Marrakesh)

2009-09-02T22:00:00.000+02:00

Abdeljalil Khamssi
Singer, Songwriter ( Marrakesh)

http://www.myspace.com/atlasaustriaexpress
Label: Ventilator

KOMY - rapper ( marrakesh)

2009-09-02T16:03:00.011+02:00

KOMY
(rapper )
www.myspace.com/komybeat
lil-komy@hotmail.com

DAY 14, 15, 16, 17 & 18 - ESSAOUIRA

2009-08-26T17:31:00.015+02:00

DAY 14
We drive to baking hot Marrakesh and enjoy a welcome break in the air conditioned airport lounge to update blogs, sort photos and audio files. Teo arrives happy and well-prepared for the ride. We drive on insanely hairy roads to Essaouira and arrive late for a nice (slightly tourist priced) dinner. We discuss our modus operandi and ways to work around the new challenges of working with audio and visual in parallel.

DAY 15
We meet our couch-surfing contact, Simo, a guitarist and singer-songwriter from Safi and Essaouira who, in the last 9 months, has already received 80 visitors from all over the world. For someone who has never been out of Morocco, his contact with so many cultures makes him a very interesting person to interview, so we organise a session with him for the following day. He is also playing at the restaurant Chez Les Freres that night, a nice cosy place that turns into a mad jam that lasts half the night. A veritable melting pot of styles, American alt-Rock covers juxtaposed with Gnawa basslines, crowd chants and funky flute. We meet Yassine, a percussionist from Safi, Robi, a French - Columbian flautist living in Essaouira and another Yassine, a charismatic Moroccan Ginbri player, living in Switzerland.

DAY 16
Much sorting to do. Audio editing etc. Ramadan has hit Simo hard and a no show sees us wondering if we need to search for other options today. Yassine (aka the Moroccan Richard Gere) serendipidously turns up and is up for recording some djembe so we head for Chez les Freres (thanks again!) to record a very rhythmic and smiley session with him. A few technical hitches cause us some frustrating delays, compounded with the fast-breaking feast time drawing near and the light fading fast, we end the session and head for the van for a steam releasing secret glass of wine and set about putting things in order for the next day. Our meeting with Robi in the evening brings up some interesting issues about musicians rights, the origins of Gnawa music and the state of affairs regarding visas for musicians. Very informative. We present the project to him and explain our situation, our intentions and that we are aiming to give the musicians a voice and a face rather than robbing their music and disappearing. He likes the idea and agrees to record with us the next day. We are of course very happy, he is a quality musician with lots of experience and we look forward to it.

DAY 17
We interview Simo and talk about his experiences as a couch surfer who has welcomed several foreigners to his home. Our location is superb, the walls of Essaouira overlooking the famous bastion and we are happy with the results. We arrange to record a guitar and vocals session later on the day. In the meantime we head for Bob music for a darbooka session with Abdulhamed and record some street scenes. The afternoon we meet up with Robi at Casa Vera (a beautiful terrace top restaurant run by (uncannily a friend of Teo's, Thais). He is also doing the Ramadan and is exhausted but still full of enthusiasm and creativity. We record a great interview full of charismatic smiles and food for thought and then film him playing flute on the track known as git pick at the moment (yes, we will change it). The sunset over the sea as a backdrop and his great licks make for a superb session. In the evening, a delicious and insanely well priced meal and drinks on the terrace of Teros to see the band Gnawa Family. A full and productive day.

DAY 18
Simo is finally inspired to jump on board and a lyric, melody session with Ayesha results in a catchy verse-chorus in Darija Arabic: "You look at me, all black and covered and you think I'm useless, but I am a book full of food for thought". We record in the cafe Dar Ayour and despite time pressure from the waitress, she is patient enough to let us get our last killer take and we are satisfied. Simo is very photogenic, with a characterful voice and we are happy to have collaborated with him. Before we head off, we stop for some freshly grilled fish at the famous fish market and are serenaded by Abdu and AbdeReza on the violin and traditional drum. Big smiles and a handsome tip for the musicians make our Essaouira goodbye a sweet one.
We drive to mad Marrakesh and arrive at the campsite at midnight ready for the next chapter.

Recorded Musicians:

Yassine Aachir (drums Danga Dof)
sweatheart_2009@live.fr
tel: 0021 26 48 91 19 03

Simo Khizami (guitar & voice Danga Dof)
tel: 0021 26 75 45 12 15
www.myspace.com/

Robi George ( flute)
robilor@hotmail.com
www.myspace.com/elibre

Abdulhamed Andjar (darbooka)
bob_music2000@hotmail.fr

Abdul & AbdeRezza (violin and traditional drum)
fish market musicians (no contact)

Special Thanks to:

Chez les Fréres - Restaurant
3 Bis, Rue Sidi Mgdoul - Essaouira
tel:06 72 38 88 96
(for the recording of Yassine Aachir - drummer of Danga Dop)

Dar Ayour - Restaurant
16 Rue Skala BP 626 Essaouira
www.darayour.blogspot.com
(for the recording of Simo Khizami - voice and guitar of Danga Dop)

Casa Vera - Restaurant
Placa My Hassan
www.bestrestaurantsmaroc.com
(for the recording of Robi George - flute)

Bob Music - Artinasat de musique
3, Rue Youssef Ben Tachafine
www.daftnotstupid.com

Yassine Aacher - drummer (ESSAOUIRA)

2009-08-26T15:39:00.001+02:00

Yassine Aachir
(drummer of Danga Dof)
sweatheart_2009@live.fr
tel: 0021 26 48 91 19 03

Robi George - flute (ESSAOUIRA)

2009-08-26T15:26:00.002+02:00

Robi George
(flute)
robilor@hotmail.com
www.myspace.com/elibre

Simo Khizami - voice & guitar (ESSAOUIRA)

2009-08-26T15:02:00.005+02:00

Simo Khizami
(guitar & voice Danga Dof)
tel: 0021 26 75 45 12 15
http://www.myspace.com/phettus

DAY 13 - LAKESIDE

2009-08-24T18:30:00.003+02:00

Early set off to brave the dirt tracks and get Melody to her lakeside retreat. After various wrong turnings (and some scratched paintwork.. Argh!) we find the hidden commune. The daytime heat is suffocating and after a much needed cool off dip in the lake we pass out for a few hours. In the evening, we break the fast with Yusef and enjoy a jam with the home-made djembes at the commune.
Yusef is half Moroccan half Algerian though he has never been there. We talk to him about good camping spots and take a few shots of him in the very photogenic lakeside house.

DAY 12 - ROCKY ROADS TO THE KASBAH

2009-08-24T17:19:00.008+02:00

En route we miss a turning and a quick consensus leads us to explore the hinterlands of Casablanca to Marrakesh. Our nose takes us to an abandoned kasbah on a rocky outcrop, past market villages and it is here we feel we have gone back in time and come to the heart of Morocco. Donkeys loaded up with water tanks and gas bottles carry wrinkled, toothless men across barren harvested fields. We are grateful we missed that turning as the kasbah turns out to be a magical spot which we have all to ourselves and we finally get into recording some loops and video images overlooking the gorges below. Truly awesome.

DAY 11 - TANGIERS - PLAGE DES NATIONS (RABAT)

2009-08-22T17:00:00.015+02:00

Whilst waiting for the van to be prepared, we meet a very interesting 'man from Rome' who ended up being a half Algerian, half-Italian diplomat, who grew up in Barcelona, and Italy, lived and worked in Belgium and had now returned to Morocco. His search for his real mother and therefore his identity was a driving force in his life and we are left with much food for thought.

We thank and cheer our van spray 'artistes' and take the spanking van down the coast, past the supermarket and a beautiful bird sanctuary lake and finally haul up between Kenitra and Rabat, outside a very kitsch 1970s hotel on Plages des Nations.

DAY 10 - TANGIERS - ASILAH - TANGIERS

2009-08-20T01:14:00.001+02:00

Ahmed prepares a wonderful breakfast and then we take the van to be resprayed.

We take the bus to Asilah for the afternoon, a beautiful, whitewashed seaside town 40km down the coast. We also pick up a 3G mobile internet connection which is stupidly easy to install. This will make arranging everything far, far easier now. Back in Tangiers, we wander the markets while Simon records a load of soundscapes from the hubbub of the vibrant city evening.

DAY 9 - TARIFA - TANGIERS

2009-08-19T01:03:00.009+02:00

Having found a really cheap ticket straight to Tangiers from Tarifa, open return, we head to the port to even find they can stick us on the earlier boat. Then on the other side they wave us through with a smile and we are into Tangiers in ten minutes. Easier than we thought...

After a little bit of lunch in the old town, we arrange to meet up with Ahmed, a mercedes mechanic that Ayesha met in Barcelona while preparing the van. He is on holiday with his family in Tangiers and has said that he could arrange for us an unbelievably cheap respray for the van with a friend. goodbye Black, hello "Taxi Tangiers" - light and colorful and far cooler in the sun.

On top of this, Ahmed incredibly invites us to stay at his house while the van is being worked on, and we spend a fascinating evening talking to him and his family about life in Tangiers, Barcelona, and bask in his amazing hospitality. He even takes a moment to fix a couple of nagging errors with the motor and the van is purring like a cat. We cannot believe our luck. His daughter Manal shows us the 360 degree views from their roof over Tangiers as the sun goes down and we film some snippets for our collection.

DAY 8 - TARIFA JAM

2009-08-18T00:40:00.002+02:00

Spend a day organising ourselves on the internet in a Wi-fi bar and arrange to meet Adam Budofsky, who DJ's at Cafe Del Mar Tarifa and organises live music events at Banti. We meet him at Associacion Puertas Abiertas, a cultural association with an open air bar hidden in the mountains right at the southern tip of Spain overlooking the lights of Morocco.

Getting to Puertas Abiertas involves following our noses, interpreting some hastily scribbled directions, passing through abandoned army check points and bumping down a dirt track for a couple of kilometres. We arrive to find a great live funk, reggae and samba jam taking place until late. Make more connections for recording on the trip back and have a bit of a jam under the stars...

DAY 7 - TARIFA

2009-08-17T12:56:00.002+02:00

Wonderful beach day, surfing and chilling out. Ayesha's dad (who turned up by surprise for her birthday) teaches us all to windsurf. Into Tarifa town for the evening mojito.

DAY 6 - CASTELLAR TO TARIFA

2009-08-16T16:05:00.001+02:00

We drive off towards Tarifa, and in around an hour we are setting up camp right on the beach overlooking all the windsurfers and kite surfers. Ayesha and Simon do an intimate little concert at one of the beach bars as we enjoy the sunset.

16.8.09 CULTURELINX SETTING UP CAMP IN TARIFA from culturelinx on Vimeo.

DAY 5 - GRANADA TO CASTELLAR DE LA FRONTERA

2009-08-15T15:54:00.001+02:00

From Granada we head for Castellar de la Frontera, a tiny hilltop Andalusian village built around a castle with spectacular 360 degree views. We meet up with Antonio Carrasco who is singing in the Castellar Flamenco Festival that evening, alongside world-class dancer Noelia Sabarea. We film and record parts of the festival and make arrangements to collaborate with them on the way back.

15.8.09 Antonio Carrasco and Noelia Sabarea at Castellar Flamenco Festival from culturelinx on Vimeo.

Pepe Abellán - Percussion (murcia, spain)

2009-08-14T15:52:00.005+02:00

Pepe Abellán
( Percussion with the Okoncolo trio)
www.okonkolotrio.com
www.myspace/okonkolotrio
tel. 0034 - 606 666 749

14.8.09 PEPE ABELLÁN from OKÓNKOLO TRIO from culturelinx on Vimeo.

DAY 4 - COBATILLAS TO GRANADA

2009-08-14T15:26:00.001+02:00

By bizarre coincidence, our first musician contact, Pepe Abellán of the Okónkolo Percussion Trio lives only 1km away. We will get a full performance and footage of the Trio on the way back north with Teo in september, but we want to record a demonstration of fundamental cajón rhythms for loop material. He explains the concepts behind Buleria, Tango flamenco, and also jams out some funky, 5/4, 7/8, and North African Tanguillo beats. Exciting and informative.

14.8.09 PEPE ABELLÁN from OKÓNKOLO TRIO from culturelinx on Vimeo.

Next stop Granada, where we roam the streets in search of the best Tapas and sample some street musicians playing in the jardines overlooking the Alhambra.

DAY 3 - ALICANTE TO COBATILLAS

2009-08-13T15:25:00.000+02:00

Head for Cobatillas near Murcia where we take the opportunity to record some stunning dance material from the flamenco concert that takes place that night in the pueblo square.

Also have a lovely chat with Jinx, a British man of Polish descent who was born in a refugee camp in the UK. Stimulating discussion about 'hidden immigrants': an immigrant who passes by unnoticed as they "look the same", and the differences to the experience of being an immigrant of a different ethnic race.

DAY 2 - SIURANA TO ALICANTE

2009-08-12T15:23:00.000+02:00

Stocked up with wine and olive oil, we slowly head out of the Priorat region along more tiny winding roads but often with no safety barriers...stunning views but scary shit. Stumble upon the only stretch of wild beach near Alicante, to realise Melody's morning vision of barbecued fish in olive oil from Suirana as the moon rises over the Mediterranean.

DAY 1 - BARCELONA TO SIURANA

2009-08-11T15:21:00.001+02:00

So....we pack the van, send the final round of contact emails and head out of Barcelona.

11.8.09 LEAVING BARCELONA from culturelinx on Vimeo.

Stop in IKEA to buy a couple more things and run into some friends who are also studio van veterans who wish us luck and give us some last minute tips... head south on the winding road past Sitges, visit Ayesha's old house in the country to say hello to the dogs.

Decide to spend the first night in Siurana near Tarragona, a tiny cluster of houses which was once a Moorish enclave on a cliff ledge with stunning views over Priorat wine region. Obligatory wine tasting follows...

SO HERE'S THE PLAN...

2009-08-07T15:15:00.000+02:00

We are starting in Barcelona, and travelling down through Spain and into Morrocco and will be back for the Merce Festival towards the end of September in Barcelona.

We've lined up a number of musicians along the way and are picking up more and more contacts every day.

Three of us - Sandra, Simon and Ayesha - are heading down in the van with our friend Melody, while Teo, our cameraman and director, is going to fly out to Marrakesh on the 24th August - so all the serious recording and filming is going to take place from that point on.

This gives us time on the way down to make more contacts, get some rough footage and audio material together to start building tracks, iron out technical wrinkles in our mobile set up and get into life on the road and a working groove.

Getting ready...

2009-08-05T17:39:00.008+02:00

so we've been going non-stop to get the van and all the kit together. We are trying to keep the kit down to a minimum, without comprimising the quality. We will be taking studio mics, laptops, hand held recorders for field recording. For filming, Teo will be working with a decent Sony HD DVcam and some battery lights.

The van has been refitted, sleeps 4, new sound system (including speakers for mixing!), fridge, hammocks, awning, and more...

About us

2009-07-19T15:19:00.036+02:00

Culturelinx is a project to visit cross-culture musicians with mobile recording equipment and cameras, to film musical collaborations and interviews. We want to explore concepts of identity and connections between cultures.

With the musicians inspired by previous recordings, layer by layer, we are creating a body of music, videos and lyrics in a mash-up celebration of 21st century life.

Out of all the material we will create a musical documentary that will weave together songs, jam sessions, performances, interviews, road-trip landscapes and soundbites from all of the places we visit.

We have a website that is growing as the project unfolds, showing video and audio clips, maps of the journey so far and even allows for online participation in the project.

Ayesha Gabrielle Mendham _____________________________

Born in Southampton, UK to an Algerian mother and English father, brought up and schooled in Saudi Arabia in an international and multicultural environment, university educated in Brighton at Sussex University (BA Hons Social Psychology) Ayesha then moved to Barcelona, Spain (after a 6 month bout on the Italian island of La Maddalena) where she is now happily living and working as a singer, translator and voice-over artist.

She is manager of DIVA media (www.divamedia.eu); a translations, voice talent and audio production company, co-manager of Xiringuito Music, organising events and managing talent and collaborates with several projects (Lecool publishing, Lust films, Devoraran, Ling magazine, Enpositivo) on a freelance basis.

She is lead singer of band Misnoma and will soon be releasing her first solo album “Of that ilk” which shows influences from North African rhythms as well as Western pop music and utilises her knack for technological experimentation. She sings with professional choir Voxalba and has toured extensively on choral exchange programmes, sharing musical ideas and techniques with choirs from Venezuela, Hungary and Spain, to name a few. She has also collaborated with several bands from all over the world as guest vocalist (See NOVO, Acoustic Cuts Experiment, Syndi-K, Noise Shaper).

Ayesha has always been interested in the idea of identity and social processes and through an untiring lust for life, an interest in Humanistic psychology, extensive travel, and cross-cultural musical collaborations, she has surpassed problems in defining her own identity, to transcend and include everywhere she has lived and loved. A world citizen. Now, as co-founder of Música Sin Fronteras, she has encompassed all her passions in one and hopes to foster more understanding between cultures and help those still in the stage of identity ‘crisis’ to form new ways to see their place in the world.

Simon Smith _____________________________

Musician and producer from the UK, living in Barcelona since 2002.

Before moving, he was working as a professional musician in London. He released records as "Oddtoot" and toured worldwide, most notably as drummer for The James Hardway Quartet. Parallel to this he studied for a Masters degree in Composition from Goldsmiths College.

Now in Barcelona, he runs BCNSOUND, (www.bcnsound.com) a production studio where he composes music for media projects, cinema, advertising and multimedia, working with clients such as Volkswagen, Mediamarkt, Nissan and Red Bull.

He also has many years experience as an educator, teaching at several universities and with the charity Beat Dis in London providing award winning, industry recommended music and internet technology training for the unemployed in Notting Hill's famous Tabernacle Centre.

Being fascinated not just by music, but more generally by technology, the creative process, languages and people, Simon always hopes to use his skills to do something interesting, fun, and above all worthwhile.

"Music has this unmatched power to speak across divides, and thanks to the internet this ability is stronger than ever. The internet has brought about along the unbelievable changes in the cultural landscape over the last few years.

At the same time, in the current critical financial climate, the sooner we mix to learn and understand about each other to breeds tolerance and dialogue (instead of mistrust and fear) the better."

Sandra Weese _____________________________

Sandra grew up between Germany and Bulgaria, with a German father and Bulgarian mother, then went to London, England, to study Graphic Design at Goldsmiths University. She gained her first expieriences in her field working with leading design agencies Die Gestalten in Berlin and VASAVA in Barcelona, amongst others.

After living for relatively short peroids in various European cities like Athens, Paris and Berlin - she finally settled down in Barcelona, Spain, where she now works as a freelance web designer under the name of Stylofoam for selected brands and creatives in the field of music & media. (www.stylofoam.com)

She will be responsible for all the visual output, web and "packaging" of all the projects initiated by Música Sin Fronteras.

"The idea to form this association came initially out of the urge to travel with a purpose, as apposed to traveling as a tourist; to take part and connect with the countries you travel to and in the best of cases to leave something of value with the people and communities you meet.

Even though I do not come from the musical world, I believe music can be a beautiful way to share cultural experiences since it is a colaborative exercise, as supposed to the visual arts which don't have the same capacity for sharing the process."

Teo Campos _____________________________

Teo started his professional career in Argentina ten years ago, working as a producer for América TV y Canal 9. Having worked on a wide variety of productions, he has had the opportunity to work with many different cameras and production formats: BetacamSp, DVcam, HD; today he is a freelance camera operator & editor with his own equipment for handling the whole process of pre-production, realisation and post-production.

Teo lives and works in Barcelona under the name El Gato Visual ( www.elgatovisual.net ) , where he is involved in a variety of proyects from theater ( Teatro LICEO, Sala Muntaners) to TV & Advertising (Mango, Eastpack) and music-videos (Filippo Landini, Menuda).

As an all-rounder, we are glad to have him with us.

Luis Lungarini_____________________________

16 years ago Luis started working in the production department of various argentinian TV channels (TELEFE, CANAL 9, CANAL 13, TYC SPORTS), in different areas such as entertainment, late night and sports. He was always interested in learning from all the people around him - cameramen, editors, producers and more. A few years later, what started out as a hobby (filming and editing) became his profession.

He moved to Barcelona 7 years ago, first working as a producer for production company here, making "Empresas en Expasion" for Expansion TV, part of Bloomberg.

Soon after he decided to open his own production services company, MediaLabTV.

For the last five years he's been making programs and shooting interviews for channels such as Localia, Cuatro, MTV, Canal Plus, and as cameraman and editor he's worked on many music videos and clips (ELS PETS, MEZCLAT, FESTE FOTRE, FILIPO LANDINI, PLANETA LEM), shorts, corporate videos for clients including La Caixa, IBM, La Camera de Comerç de Barcelona and Ajuntament de Barcelona. He has also kept up with the latest advances in technology and new recording formats, with professional training in digital cinema and High Definition TV. He has worked on various shoots as HD technician.

Luis is a longtime collaborator with our cameraman Teo, so he makes the perfect addition to the Culturelinx team.

MAP

2009-07-05T19:43:00.005+02:00

We will be posting photos and videos to this map as the journey unfolds...

Ver Al-Andaloop Summer 2009 en un mapa más grande