Original subtitles

I'll make some more coffee.

That's why I was on the Computer, I was waiting to

talk to Maciek, we had a 9 o'clock Skypechat,

about going to Africa.

we were supposed to go to Mali together and we decided to go to Timbuktu,

and then...

lately, he was like "I don't know if I really want to go to Mali anymore"

Why? Because things are still weird?

Yeah, because people got killed in Bamako...

I don't know, I think Mali is fine, as long as you don't go to the Nightclubs.

I thought it was save?

I mean, nothing is really ever save, but...

yeah Bamako typically is save, but... -I want a knife.

You want a knife? -No I'm good.

Mark me down for 46 "Balani".

I got three "Saharan Cellphones Part II".

These are mine, these "Takamba" and "Alkibar". Oh, these are yours!

-The "Laila"? -Yes. So there are four of those.

I got a lot of this "Harafinso" record.

That's the only record you guys ever put out, either of you,

that I just don't like.

Even the "robot-music"?

You don't like the little autotune, robotic sounds?

I think there's one song, one song that's okay.

But it kind of bums me out.

I feel like that record just...

People really like it more in northern Nigeria than anywhere else,

there's a reason it's regional.

Alright...there's one,

so it's 46.

There's one of three, so 53.

The harsh toke is that, if you're going to do good work,

if the odds are good, that you won't make money.

If you want to make money, you have to do shitty work,

or screw someone over,

or do something terrible. Somebody has to die,

some blood has to be shed, in order for you to profit.

That's just the way of the world,

like "Diamonds on the soles of her shoes".

It's just…that's the way of the world.

To be unsuccessful is noble,

to be broke is noble, as far as I can tell.

I could be wrong about this, but...

I hope I'm not.

Never keep any money on your bank account and always turn it into new records.

Right now I've just written a bunch of checks

and then I looked at my bank account,

well, "as long as you don't cash it in today and wait till tomorrow…"

Because I tried to put as much in production as I can,

like everything, everything I have.

I don't want any money ever in my bank account.

Yeah, never keep money in your bank account

is the number one rule of surviving all this business.

And no fear, just assume everything is going to work out magically somehow

and then it will be fine.

I like this song.

If I had an example of somebody doing this

and really making a living from it, it would be easier.

And doing like a record label professionally and...

that's okay. But I know if I start having a family that I'm supporting to,

that I might make these decisions, that

I need to make more and I'm paying the musicians less.

And I don't want to become one of those old-school-world-music-label-guys,

in those big institutional, exploitative industries.

That's not the model I want to be on.

I think that I've continued to keep doing this, because

every year things seem to be getting better.

Not from a financial standpoint, but from a publicity standpoint, from press.

The label is been getting more attention every year,

we are doing more interviews, more opportunities.

And as those things keep happening, I've sort of reluctantly kept on.

Every year there has been a moment where I said,

"Okay, I'm going to just quit doing this and get a job",

but I've held on because of these little successes,

not big successes, but little ones.

Yeah, we got Chris Kirkley, Sahel Sounds, stepping up for the mix - Sahel Sounds!

It's warm.

Are you Hama? -Yes. Okay, you're Hama.

I've searched for you for ages.

People in Agadez told me your name is "Japonais"?

No, they don't know who I am...

They use the name "Japonais Sosa".

Yes, but they don't know it's me. But it's me.

It's you! -I'm the only one who does this.

What do you play with? Which piano? -Yamaha.

Yamaha?

It's a Yamaha that I use

for composing beats.

I see.

I've been looking for you since 2012.

Right. -I discovered your music on a bus.

I was leaving Gao right when the rebellion started,

I was on my way to Niamey and I heard your music on the bus, on a cell phone.

It's similar to Ethiopian music.

People think it's either Ethiopian or Arabic, or...

I thought it was someone from Tamanrasset.

So I called Tamanrasset, then I called Agadez...

Since 2012!

That's a long time.

I'm working right now... -You are?

Yes, I leave at 7 pm.

7 pm. OK. -7 pm, 7:30 pm.

Maybe we call you later this evening? -Sure.

When you're ready, give me a call.

I will get the piano ready.

When you come you can listen. -That's good.

Great. -Cool. I'll take your number as well.

My name is Christopher. -Christopher.

It's Hama?

H-A-M-A. -Yes.

Like this? -Yes, like this.

P.

P for... -P for "piano".

So that you know...

It's good to wear this, it will protect you from the sun.

I don't have much hair left anyways...

No no, that is... -I will get as red as this.

That's for sure.

In the States you have a lot of snow.

But here there is no snow, we have volcanoes.

Yeah, it's like that.

OK, I don't want to keep you. Thanks.

Thank you very much. -Have a nice day.

What's up? Niamey is a lake instead of a city.

There's water everywhere, it's weird.

We're going to go to Agadez. There's no water there, right?

It's the desert, right?

That's good. I hate this lake here.

It's not good.

OK, let's do that. I'll call you soon.

CENTER FOR MUSIC EDUCATION AND MUSICAL PROMOTION

Ah, there it is. "Azna".

I can't say why I'm doing this it's continued, it's moved along

and I keep finding things, I keep finding music.

Every trip that I come, you focus on a few different projects

that you've been looking for,

but then you hear just a little bit of something else,

you write that down, you get back home and start researching that

and then that becomes the project, so...

there are so many things here, that I think that's what keeps me working.

Is it him who sings like this? -Yes, it's "Mona".

I was going through the cassettes and I found one called "Azna de L'Ader".

That's the name of his group and I listened to it

and it had a bunch of these shredding, really wild electric guitar solos

and it was really short, it was just a few songs.

I asked someone about it and they explained to me,

that it was this guy, Mona, a guitarist from Tahoua

and he's called the "Jimi Hendrix of Niger"

and he used to play the guitar with his teeth.

That was the thing that people knew about Mona.

Like Jimi Hendrix, that's what grabbed me... Look!

Crazy. Have you seen the film about Jimi Hendrix?

Did you film this? -Yes, that was me.

It's good. Can we go and see him as well?

He had only sung one song when we arrived

and it was like seeing Jimi Hendrix.

He took the guitar, he played it, he moved it...

I guess I'm interested in him, because I'm always interested in music that stands out,

whether it's something now, that people are making today,

or that stands out in the past.

I'm interested in hearing what did they do?

They are a supergroup, they are known everywhere in Niger.

Now I'm looking for more of their music to see what is it that made them so special.

TAHOUA RADIO STATION

Maybe we could go to the radio station to see if you have any old music?

Old music?

He never recorded a full album,

so there might be something on the radio?

You have a lot of things here. -Yes, that's our sound library.

It contains music dating back to 1974.

Can I help maybe? -Yes, of course, you're welcome.

Unbelievable.

That's real treasure here...

It's wild, there is so much music here.

Hey Abdoullaye, it's here!

"Mona"! -Yes. Where did you find it?

That's "play", here.

Like this. -Yes.

"Stop". -"Stop", OK.

Hold it here and let it... -OK, it's fine.

We're going to eat, we'll be back soon. -OK.

It's like a ribbon, you could wrap a present with this.

How did it get like this? This is really insane.

You have to put it in context of...

digitizing old recordings for preservation,

that really is not the priority here

and I don't even know if that should be the priority.

It's a luxury thing to say… it's even a privilege to say,

we're going to digitize and preserve cultural artifacts

when a lot of people are concerned about health or family or food.

There are more pressing concerns then

putting you're time into a rock band from Tahoua

from the 70s. Should that take a priority?

Ah, that's it? -Yes.

This does everything you hear.

Is it fine if I record a bit? -Yes, sure.

Was that good? -It's top-notch, brilliant!

Really? -Yes, I've listened to this for ages.

Have you? -Yes, very often.

I DJ'ed this song in front of huge crowds.

Really? -Yes, your music is listened to lots.

People really like it here.

Even in the States they love it. -People love it here.

I'm often asked to play at weddings,

at ceremonies, all that...

You play at weddings? -Yes, you should see the people there...

It's insane!

I have to say it's the first time that I hear Tuareg music

played with a keyboard like this.

Since I started working here,

I don't have time to play at weddings anymore.

I mean, I get offers,

but unless it's at the weekend...

when I know I don't have to work I can do something.

But at the moment I work on weekdays.

I'm a chauffeur. -A chauffeur...

A driver. -A car driver?

Yes, a car driver.

With this I can make a living for my family.

I have a wife and two kids, two boys.

You have to keep going...

I want to explain a bit why I'm actually here,

because I haven't said anything about what I do.

In fact, my project...

I run a project about music in the Sahel,

it's called "Sahel Sounds".

And since 2009-2010

I've been here in Mali, Senegal, Mauritania, Niger,

and I'm looking for artists.

I make recordings and I have a website.

I interview the artists, I take pictures,

I make little clips and I write about the music.

And I also produce the artists.

I have a music label,

so if I find someone, among the artists that I get to know,

who interests me and who I think I could work with,

I release the music commercially

all over the world.

But it's not a big release, it's on vinyl discs.

You know vinyl? -Yes.

So, I produce these.

And I was looking for you because I want to work with you.

I would like to produce this album that I found.

Just so you know, it's not something

with a lot of money.

Like I work on it, I do the split. I take 50% of what I make, you get 50%.

I understand. -That's the split.

It's fine, that's normal.

But I hope this is something that will continue,

and that we can make something out of it.

What's important to me is that everything is very clear,

that there is trust and it's all clear.

Any question you have you can ask me,

because I want to do this so that we're both...

the two of us are satisfied, that's what I want.

If that's fine, let's do it like this.

I will come back after Agadez and we can talk again.

OK. No problem.

That's all for today, right?

Yes, that's fine. We can rest.

It's night time and you just finished your work.

Do you want to drink some water? -Yes, please.

Thanks.

None of this was planned and there it is.

That's why you have to embrace the deviations,

when something doesn't work out and something else happens,

you have to run with it.

When I was in college, I was in my final year and I started...

I didn't really care about it anymore.

I think I spent too much time hanging out with my friends, who where philosophy majors

and going camping and I didn't really...

We just spent a lot of time discussing politics and dropping of the grid,

the capitalist system and "Corporate America".

So I wanted to take off right after college

and travel, but I didn't have the money. I had a lot of college debts.

And I also thought - man, I put in all this time getting this degree,

I should go get a job.

So I did. I got a job, I moved to Seattle,

I got an expensive apartment, I went to IKEA and

bought all this shit to put in the apartment...

And I felt sort of like the protagonist of "Fight Club".

One day I went home and the building next door had burnt down and I thought...

I don't know if you remember that scene? But yeah, it seemed like...

One time I was on the phone with IKEA trying to order a specific toothbrush holder

that came in chrome, and I thought what the fuck am I doing?

This is ridiculous!

So I made this commitment to myself at that time,

I'm going to save up money until I have enough to pay of my loans

and then I'm going to take off and travel.

It's good. Do you want some?

When I started playing guitar it wasn't something that I liked,

but I had to play,

because I was invited to play at ceremonies all the time.

It became my destiny,

none of my girlfriends or any other women play guitar.

If other women did I would be more courageous to do so...

...and I wouldn't be so afraid either.

That's why I love playing "Tende"...

...and singing without being worried about anything.

I want to have girlfriends who play guitar...

...so we can play together and be successful together.

Those are some very green shoes.

Everyone is wearing fluorescent now,

in the US it's like...

Neon shoes! I didn't know people wearing them here, too.

Is it bad?

No it's cool, it's like the new look,

really bright colored shoes.

I think it was a good in with musicians, too.

Like showing up with a guitar

to play music together, rather than… I never showed up to record.

It wasn't like "Hey, I'm here, you've got a hot band I want to record".

It's like, "Hey I heard there's a guitarist here, I also have a guitar".

Yeah, it was more like "Oh cool, you're also an artist, we're the same",

no matter where we're from, you're an artist, I'm an artist.

I started playing the guitar when I was a teenager,

when I was 14 years old.

I am playing with a musician called "Mdou Moctar".

We've been working together since 2010

and I play rhythm guitar for him.

In Niger recordings don't have a problem getting anywhere,

because everything works with Bluetooth.

As the connection is very weak,

Bluetooth works better than the Internet here.

If you record something and send it to one person,

they'll send it to someone else and that happens again and again

until it's everywhere.

You hear it somewhere and it's surprising.

You ask, "When did this song reach here?"

We play with this one in Europe.

You have to have this in Europe

because when there are drums, everyone...

Everyone has their own cymbals.

You find the drums without cymbals,

because every drummer has the cymbals he prefers.

Yes, that's right.

They asked us, "Which amplifier do you prefer?"

And I said, "They're all the same to me."

No matter which one you find...

Because all of them are fine, you know. -Yes, yes.

When I came back to Niger,

I played my first concert over there.

My first concert...

Shit, my voice became so different, I didn't even understand...

That's awesome. -No, I couldn't hear anything.

It all sounds horrible. - Everything changed.

Yeah, because I went to Europe and the equipment there was so good.

Here I couldn't hear the drums,

I didn't hear my guitar.

The rhythm guitar wasn't any good.

Everything changed into... -You changed into "Etran" again.

It's no better afterwards... -Yes.

It's different.

Mdou wants to go on tour

or he's going on tour for a couple of shows in Europe.

Hello?

Yes? -I wanted to ask you to send money.

For the visa, right?

For the visa.

And how much is the visa?

It's 45 for 3 persons, right?

45, so it's around 300 dollars.

Right, I see... But that's impossible.

I don't have 1,000 or 2,000 euros.

Try the same guy you asked last time.

They say 32.50 euros a day so we're probably going to...

The problem is, when you get a Visa,

a lot of time they want you to see you have a lot of money.

So a lot of times what these guys have to do is...

You have to have Euros, so what they'll do is,

they borrow a certain amount of CFA Franc,

change it into Euros

and then they have a paper that says, they changed so many CFA Franc into Euros.

Then they change it back into CFA Franc again,

then change it again into Euros, so they got a second form.

Take it again, change it back into Euros again for a third time,

and now you have three forms that say

you've converted money from CFA Franc into Euros.

So it looks like you have a certain amount of Euros.

Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous!

OK, this is for Düsseldorf,

Mohammadou is the name.

It's written here. You're not terrorists, right?

This is for you, you need to sign here

and write the date here.

When is the other one?

Yours is at 9:30 am.

Everybody we've got into Europe is like a success for me.

Just when they've come of the plane... when Mdou came of the plane,

I was like, "we fucking done it already, this is it - we won!"

We essentially got you into Europe

and the whole European Union didn't want you to come here.

Sometimes though it feels like we're cheating the system,

we're sneaking them into Europe.

And that's great, because it's bullshit that they,

that somebody from West Africa can't go to Europe.

I can go to West Africa.

Yeah, I understand the economics of it, but...

but "Come on"!

This guy is crazy, I dig his music.

It's him who wants to meet you... -What?

He wants to meet you.

You're kidding? -No, it's him.

Hey, this guy wants to meet me. I'm so happy.

Yes, Thomas Azier.

I really dig his music.

Hey man, I'm so happy to meet you.

I like you're music, it's very beautiful.

I'm such a big fan of you, it's crazy. -I like you're music very much.

I saw your name and I was like "it can't be true". - Thank you.

I know you through you basically, through your label.

I ordered your record and I listened to it so much.

Thank you.

I was 30 minutes in this place, I listened to your music, I was looking for you,

I said, I wanted to greet you or something...

I'm so happy to meet you. -I like your music very well.

I'm such a big fan, I checked everything that's there to find from you.

Hey, I'm Thomas, nice to meet you.

Are you sometimes in Paris?

What did he say?

We're going to be in Paris on this tour,

but they're also going to be back in October/November.

And where are you living now? Still based in Niger?

In Agadez. -Okay, very nice.

I'm really happy to meet you too, how is the label going? - It's great man…

I'm a fucking big fan. - I mean we're touring so this couldn't be any better.

Very nice. I'm pushing it to everybody, everything you bring out.

It's very cool.

Can we take a picture together? I want a picture. -Yeah, of course.

But I don't have my fucking phone...

Perfect.

Mdou Moctar, what do you think about this boat?

Well, I have to say it's very cool,

but I would rather dive into the water, it's new for me, you know.

I come from the desert.

And you? What do you think about this boat?

It's not bad.

The GPS might make the whole thing even more complicated,

because normally you drive in the city center,

or on a highway or something similar.

But we're in the middle of nowhere. It looks like we're in Agadez or Diffa.

Keep filming the road. -Look at this road.

How would anyone ever believe that this is a European road?

It looks like the road between Kao and Tchin-Tabaradene.

Or dare I say, between Abalak and Illighadad.

OK, Achecouscous,

how do you like Sweden, since it's new to you?

Well, Sweden is....

That's fine. -The old woman liked it a lot.

I forgot all the Swedish,

how they spoke: "Hej, hej"...

Christopher is a decent person who really helps us,

he makes the traveling easy for us

and we are happy about our tour with him.

Berlin, Berlin.

That's Marseille, right? -No, it's Berlin.

This is Berlin? -Yes.

It's with King Khan's guitar.

It looks like it wasn't hot, but it had 100 degrees.

Like even touring with the musicians is something I sort of fell into.

If I could get an opportunity for the artist to get a Visa and go some place,

then of course we're going to do that.

But to be a manager, just because I have a credit card and they don't and they can't,

That's not really where I want my success to be is based on...

That I'm successful because of global inequity.

He has a label, called Sahel Sounds. He is interested in the music

played by those young musicians in Niger.

Especially to Agadez he used to go and

go on tour with them, like this Mdou.

And there are some others I don't know.

That's how it happened.

I was about to set off, it's enough.

I've been playing this music, maybe I have to stop,

because there are younger generations.

But I keep on playing, because I like music.

Good afternoon, my name is Mamman Sani.

I'm a teacher, an English teacher and I play music for fun.

In Niger they call me the pianist, but I'm not a pianist.

MAMMANE SANI AND HIS KEYBOARD

ELECTRONIC MUSIC FROM NIGER

That's good. Just one more minute here...

OK!

This is the contract I made.

So, just to explain how it works,

I make the record and after that I sell it.

I don't take exclusive rights,

so if you want to sell your music,

make another CD or another vinyl

and sell it, you can.

I don't take any percentage.

Normally when I make something,

every time I make something new, I have to send it to you?

You can. -I want to do it this way.

Why contact someone else?

It's you who came such a long way.

You're the only one I know now

and I trust you as well.

You understood what I said, right? -Yes.

I just do the creating and you will do the rest.

You are the one who knows how to do it.

For me it's really just like...

an assistance that you give me, that's it.

And you are there,

you prepare the music, you sell it,

you take your cut, you send me my cut...

As you are experienced with the whole process,

I simply have to prepare "the sauce" and you do the tasting.

The "sauce", that's it.

I have a lot of spices in my head. -Yeah.

It's swollen like this.

See you later. -Bye.

It's a big thing for me.

It's the first time something like this is happening to me.

I waited a long time for this and it fell from heaven.

Yes, he followed me because of my sound.

He followed my traces step by step to get to here.

He found me.

Just like that. Now I feel cool...

Happy.

Where is your country? -I'm American.

American? -Yes.

My brother, as soon as I have some money I want to go there.

Do you? -Yes.

You want to go there? -Yes.

I want to go there, but I don't have any money.

The thing is, it's not... It's very expensive over there.

Everything is great there. When I go there... Better than here.

Ah? -Yes.

I know singers there.

Yeah, I can see.

You mean Rick Ross

and Beyoncé, or what?

When I'm there I will look for work.

But even with work it's not easy there.

Really? -It's not easy.

Everything is fine in America, not like here.

You know, over there, it's very expensive.

That's the problem over there, life is expensive.

Really? -Yes.

Where are you from? -These last few years I was in Libya.

You crossed the Sahara? -Yes, I've crossed the Sahara before.

It's dangerous!

No problem, it's like that when you're poor.

Your country is great.

You have water there, you have snow, it's not like here in Niger.

And Libya? How was it? -What?

How was Libya?

Libya... There's enough water there, it's good.

Why did you go to Tripoli? For work? -Yes, work.

Every month I get money from there.

You didn't try to leave for Europe?

No, Libya is fine.

America is great.

Ah yes... It's not like here.

You watch a lot of hip-hop videos, dude.

Yes, that's good. -Yeah, but that's not America!

It is America! -No, no, no.

Aren't hip-hoppers American?

Yes, but there's a lot of "bla bla" and bullshit, too.

Hello?

Yes, what's up?

I'll call you back, I'm at the barbershop.

I will call you back.

Landcruisers, Motorbikes, "Hausa" pop music,

cellphones, guitar evenings and marriages and competition between guitarists.

This is all very current stuff

and so I think a lot about how these things are represented,

how do you conceptualize or contextualize

something that you take out of one place and put it into another.

I've sent you bad stuff before, bad quality... this is the worst. -Okay.

These are all .mp3s I got from his cellphone and his friends cellphones,

and some stuff that was sent over email, they're pretty low...

But they're really good. It's all,

all of his music is that.

He hasn't recorded anything, besides the stuff that I recorded for him

it's all cellphone recordings. So I guess we'll see what we can do.

I'm not expecting it to sound amazing,

I'm going to make that part of the concept of the record too,

that it is Lo-Fi and recorded on a cellphone.

That's pretty rough sounding.

It's supposed to sound low. -That's the worst right there,

but it's such a good track though too.

The audience is always been Westerners.

I wasn't making a blog for people in Niger,

but you have to pretend, that you are making it for that audience, too.

That's like the first step, to be just sensitive to that.

Pretty soon in five or ten years,

everything I've ever done is going to be translated,

it's going to be up there and everybody here is going to have access to that.

I think you have to be sensitive and accountable

for what you're making and producing.

So in that sense I don't think the records and the music

are made for this audience right now,

but they are made for this audience in the future.

OK, now let's record the "oweeh, oweehoho".

Ready?

I started to make recordings for the boys.

When I listen to something and see that it's good, I produce it.

I try to do that

because that will help develop my studio a bit,

and help establish Nigerien music a bit more.

In one year I produced five albums

and 365 singles.

About cell phones, since people use Bluetooth and so on,

do you think that helps the artists?

They have to let their songs be shared illegally.

Without illegal sharing you won't get known.

But with cell phones, if you release a single

I think it's the best way

to spread the music, and for it to be listened to abroad too.

I, myself, find a lot of artists thanks to cell phones.

Every time I come to Africa, I copy stuff over Bluetooth.

It's the only way to spread our music

beyond our borders.

I think there's going to be less and less need for managers,

I think there will be less and less need for labels even like myself,

and that's fine. That's good.

We... I personally love your music,

and it's the same with Chris, he also loves it.

And after that, you never know,

maybe one day someone will like your album.

Their recordings might become an album, you know.

That's it. -This kind of thing.

Also if something comes my way,

I will call you directly, we make a contract and everything.

I want to keep things clear.

I was recently called like a...

a "music pirate" by somebody working in the world music industry.

And I thought it was sort of funny to be called a "pirate",

because you work directly with artists, because you bypass that.

At first it wrapped me the wrong way and then I was like,

but yeah, if a pirate means paying artists and working with artists,

okay, I'll be a pirate!