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MUSTAFA:
THE BEAUTY & THE… BEST!
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How lucky we are this Summer being provided with so many good vibes around. Much responsible of this, French DJ/producer Mustafa we’ve mentioned the name of, hot on the heels of his recently released ‘Por Causa De Vôcé Menina’ on French label Stalwart. And our man has much more on offer as illustrated by his Ginga Brasileira album on Rambling Records featuring brilliant reworks of his compositions by people such as Dom Navarra, Louis Subsole, Groove Assasin and UK garage vet MJ Cole. Nuff reasons to have him welcomed on board…
Boa dia senhor. First Q as an appetizer: who is Mustafa ?
I was born on 09/23, 1970 in the suburbs of Paris. My parents come from Algeria and I was raised between 2 cultures. The one I had at home and the one in the streets. Since the early age I was passionate with music and I started collecting records when I was a teenager to play them at parties among friends and others. I remember that I spent my whole scholarship to enter university in a record shop and I had to look for a student job right after.
The starting point...
I would say that the real starting point was when I entered university and started mixing at some Parisian student parties. I was spending more time in clubs and bars than in classes! It was amazing… I had a real audience which was coming to every party. People used to dance all night long.
Your background?
100% Black music. I was only listening to soul and funk music. Then I started to open up to jazz, Latin music, African, Arabic.
The ones who gave you the will to do music?
The people I saw on every dancefloor at the 4 corners of the world. I am a real music addicted, it has a strong emotional influence on me. When i see that I can transmit this energy to the people in front of me, it is extraordinary. I do this for them.
The 5 essential records you would bring to a desert island?
Only 5??? Damned, there are so many around! Marvin Gaye - What's Going On, Miles Davis - Kind Of Blue, Stevie Wonder - Songs Of The Key Life, Michael Jackson - Off The Wall and Tom Jobim e Elis Regina - Fotografia
A musician, per definition, is someone who gives. But in order to be in that position, you also have to know how to receive in return. Your sources of inspiration ?
It is essential to give a feedback. You need an interaction because I am not doing the music for me but to offer it to the others, as a gift. My sources of inspiration are all the 70's Black music stars (Motown, Stax ...)
Environment is also reputed to play a key role...
As a matter of fact, my parents got divorced when I was really young and I have lived with my dad. On the other hand, the family on my mother side are all musicians in Algeria. They can all play and sing. It was meant to be, that's in my blood.
From Paris to Rio De Janeiro via London and the Canary Islands. You look like a globe trotter. One comment ?All these places were incredible. Every place I went to taught me a lot of things and opened up my musical universe. I have learned a lot from the people I’ve worked with. There are some extraordinary moments which have marked me. When I first arrived in London in 1994, I went to the Notting Hill Carnival. Jungle music was just coming out. I saw the whole street of Ladbroke Grove jumping in the air when the DJ was playing and the MC shouting "Rewind". Another moment was in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (Canary islands) during the carnival when Celia Cruz was performing and everyone was dancing with a smile. It was even more amazing when I saw Jorge Ben playing at Ipanema Beach. There was a special contagious energy of love, happiness of being alive which was in the air. These are some of the special moments in my life which make me carry on. You realize that you can change a lot of things with music, you can change the people.
Was all of that sort of premeditated ? Like something you had to do ?
Every trip I did was never planned. It just happened from one day to another. When I feel it is the right time to move on, I just go without asking myself. I am always convinced I am doing the right choice and something good will come out from this. I am a very instinctive person.
So many travels here and there ! Would it be that no one is a prophet in his own land ?
The world is too big to lock up yourself in your own universe. There is so much to learn from the others. People often do not value what is next to them. They come back to you once other people talk about you.
One album release in Japan (on Rambling Records) and singles in Europe both on Stalwart (a recent Single Of The Week on IDMW) and Jazzmin which have received the remix treatment of post-producers coming from France and abroad… Globalization looks like not only have negative F-X, even though the advent of Internet is on its way to kill the vinyl!
Globalization is something extraordinary in the way that there are no more barriers and you can work with people from all around the world. Internet was a great asset for this and has allowed to meet a lot of people. I made a lot of contact with it but I always like to meet the people I am working with. That's why I always travel to see them in person. It is sad that the MP3 format has put the music market down. Whatever you say, you only possess a record when you have a physical support to it, a cover, the credits. The mp3 does not represent the work of a music producer. I feel very sad seeing that the coming generations only think that you can only listen to the music with an Ipod or a computer. We are losing something big.
How d'you see those reworks of your music?
My work is a blend of reworks (covers) and original compositions. These reworks are songs that I love to sing and play with my band (in Brazil) and I wanted to bring something new to it. I met with most of the original composers of those songs to give them a copy of it and show them what I have done with their music.
Already thought about doin' remixes yourself?
I have done some for Brazilian artists and also for a UK nu jazz/soul band called Sunlightsquare. I am opened for any offer.
Japan looks like a trempoline for a whole bunch of foreign artists, not to say a promised land. One comment?
Japan was a big surprise for me because my record handed up in a record company thru a journalist who was prospecting Brazil. They got in touch with me and I signed.I was already in the top chart of HMV on the first week of release. I was really impressed by the musical culture they have over there. They are really opened musically. I am looking forward to be playing there.
Your staying in Brazil appears like the obvious foundation of your work. One word ‘bout this experience?
I have a very special link with Brazil. I went there without any idea of what I would find and just took my records, my turntables and my MPC 2000.. I started to play there as a DJ and then was asked to produce an album for some other people. I lost all my money and ended in the street with no money and nowhere to go. I moved to the favella which is the only place where you can live when you have no money. I sold most of my stuff to get some money to get into the studio with a heavy support of the musicians and singers I discovered. It was like the energy of survival, my last chance. I relied on music to make things happen and make a come back to life. I have lived in difficult conditions but always had an extreme joy of life and lot of inspiration. My life in Brazil taught me a lot, especially about the essential values that we often forget about in the Western world.
The concept of this latest album?
In fact, this Ginga Brasileira album is a collection of remixes with a wide opening to which a lot of producers, musicians, singers from different musical backgrounds and countries have participated, but still keeping the Brazilian spirit of it.
Does it have to be seen as the follow up to your 2 preceeding efforts which have been released in Brazil?
Totally!
This said and according to our local correspondant (Marcel Chapman), there’s an obvious gap between the domestic production and those numerous experiences which have given shape to the nu jazz in Europe by the likes of producers such as Jazzanova, Rainer Trüby, Toco (in Italie) or Nutropic in France which do not seem like having audience in Brazil. One explanation…
In Brazil, you have two types of music. The said music of " the gringo" (foreigners) and the national music ( samba, pagode, sertanejo, axé, forro ...). Electronic music is still something new over there. It all started with the mixture of drum & bass with samba with people like Mad ZOO, Ramilson Maia, Patife, Marky, Marcelinho da Lua, Bossa Cucanova or Mêmê as far as house music is concerned. The wave is propagating, taking new people. What other foreign producers do in making Brazilian electronic music does not sound genuine for the Brazilian people themselves, even though the lyrics are in Portuguese. Bebel Gilberto is for instance not popular in Brazil. To win the audience in Brazil, you have to live there and get deep into it, in the heart of the Brazilian culture, the street.
You’ve obviously avoided the trick with, as earlier said, two albums which have been supported in Brazil… Would you be the exception confirming the rule???
Don’t get me wrong. I did not become a superstar over there, but I’ve managed to get my name out and have my music played on the radio. It is a very hard work. The only reason why I have succeeded to do so is because I was living there and fighting everyday for it, to offer a different modern sound, in respect with the local culture and adding my own special touch to it.
Your current perception of the situation, now that you’re back in France?
I’ve found the musical scene really weird in France. There are the ones who are snobbing the others. It was odd when I came back to France because I tried to get in touch with lot of producers and they never replied to me. It 's getting better now, maybe because after I went to the WMC in Miami. I am actually trying to release my album in France but it seems really complicated to find a record company to do so.
The reasons of you being back there?
After spending 5 continuous years in Brazil without leaving the country, I needed to go out and see what was happening in the world to get new inspirations, learn new things. This is why I travel a lot.
The reactions as far as your work is concerned in your native country?
People who've listened to my work loved it but they're all asking me where to buy the album!
There’s always been a strong lag between France and what happens elsewhere. Protectionnism? Lack of mind opening?
It is true that French people are arrogant about thinking they are the center of the cultural scene. In that way, they lock themselves into their universe and dot open sufficiently. You can tell the difference with UK. I guess this is one of the main reasons I have left. I find the current musical scene in France really poor. I guess the "French Touch" is going down. It is about time to open a little bit more. There is something incredible now, if you want to listen to a good french DJ, you have to go abroad!!!
Anything in the pipeline with the hyperactive Nutropic?
I don't know. We'll see.
What's next?
A lot of things are coming up. My next release is coming out on Tempogroove with some remixes from Audiowhores and MJ Cole. And a lot more singles to follow with remixes from Jihad Muhammad, Kiko Navarro, Hedi Bemrondan ( Afromento), Richard Earnshaw, DJ Rork, Mankz...
Muito obrigado. Ate logo! MFSB
MUSTAFA – Ginga Brasileira CD/LP (Rambling Records)
‘Por Causa De Vôcé Menina’ (Stalwart)
‘Exclusive Remixes’ (Jazzmin Records)
MUSTAFA featuring ELISANGELA - "Bom Demais" (Tempogroove/Advance)
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