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Konono No 1. After hearing their demos, Vincent decided he could probably do better. So what, in a nutshell, defines his approach as a producer? He chuckles before answering.
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“Hmm. Well, when I was young I used to play a lot with African musicians. Maybe my first-hand experience of their difficult relation with the western music world turned me into a producer? I try as much as possible not to impose my view but rather look for consensus at all times, be as humble as the amateur musician among pros I really am… I would never add a sin- gle note to what they did. Sometimes I suggest some new combination, another way of playing this part or that… but basi- cally I just want to emphasise the musicali- ty of what they already did, sometimes for decades, before I came along. On a record- ing session I try to get people to feel ‘at home’. That’s why I almost always record outside. Even then, especially with artists who have little experience in recording, as soon as there’s a microphone the attitude changes and sometimes people get a bit stiff. As a musician, I can see that easily, I can hear when they give their best and when they’re ‘cheating’.”
“In order to avoid taking musical deci- sions all by myself I try to ensure that at least a few members of the group are pre- sent when I’m mixing, or at least give their remarks on a rough mix. Sometimes I wish I could do the albums completely with the musicians in Kinshasa, but then again I’m afraid that it would make them much less readable by the West than the ones I pro- duced so far. I also value highly the input of my friend and patron [Crammed Discs boss] Marc Hollander.”
On stage mayhem at the Roundhouse
incent took on the job of pro- ducing Staff Benda Bilili after being approached by Renaud and Florent, who had been impressed by his work with
Vincent has spoken in other interviews about the need to avoid the unhealthy ‘power games’ that inevitably arise when wealthy Europeans work with African musicians and he is scornful of the ‘world music’ ethos, which he associates with this.
“I just want to make what they do compatible with Western ears without forcing them to make any compromises at the recording stage, nor pushing myself in front at the mixing stage. I do treat their sounds, I do emphasise or reduce their dynamics, I do a lot of twiddling but I would never take a crucial musical decision without their approval, So, for example, the huge bassy sound in Konono No 1’s first album, which was seen by some as a gimmick imposed by me, was actually their decision, not mine. In the beginning, when I made a suggestion, they sometimes would take it as an order without me real- ising it … Then I thought that playing a lousy guitar with them for a while would maybe demystify my role, let me leave the costume of the ‘almighty expert’ in front of the ‘native’ banging on the drum to become just someone willing to learn and understand what they do.”
Vincent generally doesn’t like working in studios, not just because they tend to kill spontaneity and make achieving ‘sepa- ration’ between instruments more diffi- cult, but also because the pressure they create worsens the power dynamic.
“The producer pays for the studio, and so he is inclined to say ‘OK, I want to have something in the can as fast as possible, so let’s do that quick and forget about the details’. This might work, and even do wonders in a normal environment, but in Kinshasa commuting is so unpredictable that some musicians might come four hours late, and so exhausted that when they arrive, the first thing they might do is sleep for two hours. Working in a real stu-
dio would turn me into some sort of cop. When I record with my laptop in the open, in the street or in the lounge of the place where I rent, the cost of studio time is near- ly zero, so things are more relaxed and we can work until everybody’s satisfied.”
Vincent says it’s too early to predict what might evolve with the next album, although the band have enough material already. He doesn’t rule out working in a studio or outdoors, nor offering the kind of gentle guidance a producer normally should. It’s obvious from the difference between the Barbican and Roundhouse shows that Roger’s tendency to overuse the novel but rather limited tone of the satonge has been overcome.
“[When rehearsing for the first Euro- pean shows] I had a hard time keeping Roger from playing satonge all over the place, so I tried to convince him to just come in on the second verse on some songs, and to play guitar instead on some others,” Vincent laughs. “After just a few weeks of learning the guitar he was already quite good, but finally he stuck on the satonge on tour, which is quite under- standable. You know, you are in front of a thousand people, you have pretty girls, and you’d rather be seen centre stage with that unique instrument everybody’s talk- ing about rather than strumming on an ordinary guitar. Or maybe he was too shy, not confident enough. In Congo the guitar playing standards are so high that nobody would dare jump on stage after having only played for three weeks. Too bad, because he already did amazing things – at least to European ears.”
Vincent makes a frustrated noise almost like the pan-African teeth-sucking ‘chups’ sound expressing frustration or dis- approval. “But he’s very young and he learns very quickly.”
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