Dave Matthews Band |
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Wed. March 31.2004 12:00 AM EST |
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Dave Matthews: Phishing in SenegalOur hero goes gallivanting with Trey Anastasio, and winds up playing with some of Africa's most revered musicians. by C. Bottomley |
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(RCA Records) |
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How do you stay sane when you've been playing in the same group for the last 12 years? Ask Dave Matthews. Lately he's done everything he can to shake things up. Last autumn he released Some Devil his first album cut without the other guys in
Going it alone has helped Matthews flex new muscles. Some Devil found his mordant muse in healthy form, and a recent tour with Anastasio and members of Emmylou Harris' band found him experimenting even more. They rocked out, they strummed sensitive tunes, and they re-spun lots of classic songs, tackling gems by Paul Simon, the Beatles, and Peter Gabriel. Matthews attributes this new can-do spirit to Anastasio's influence, and the Phish guitarist has led the singer even further astray. In January, the pair went to Senegal to play with famed Orchestra Baobab. The seminal Afro-Cuban outifit could teach Matthews a thing or two about longevity. In 1987, after being the biggest band in Senegal for years, they went their separate ways. Their guitarist even gave up music to become a lawyer. But in 2002, the vets regrouped for the critically acclaimed Specialist in All Styles, a great album that proved they had lost none of their fire. While staying in the capital Dakar, the Johannesburg-born Matthews also got the chance to meet his hero Baaba Maal and watch South Africa's soccer team get trounced by Senegal. VH1 filmed the excursion for a forthcoming Inside Out episode. So how will all this activity affect the new Dave Matthews Band album? The singer spoke with VH1 about why he has a new approach to being in a band, Anastasio's artistry, and the dread of scoring an own goal. Watch Dave Matthews and Phish guitar wizard Trey Anastasio get down with Dakar's famed world beat band. VH1: Has your Some Devil experience done what you hoped it would do? Dave Matthews: Yeah. Some Devil was a way to see how things would happen when everything was on my shoulders. I loved doing it. It made me think I'm capable of putting myself on the line a little more. VH1: With the Some Devil group, were you more of a boss than you can be with the Dave Matthews Band? DM: In a way. It was different cause the critics were going to place the blame or credit squarely on my shoulders. But I approach music and a lot of things in my life wanting to know what the people I am working with are thinking. So I asked for a lot from the other guys as well. They weren't just walking in and going, "I have a gig to do." I was asking for people to really put themselves out there. VH1: How do you and Trey Anastasio switch from being pals to having a musical relationship? DM: We've been friends - or rather, in hindsight, acquaintances - up to this project. It became more of a friendship being on tour together. It gave me an insight into how he works. He's a phenomenally creative person. What makes me admire him is he's not focused on the limelight. For him, everything is music. He's never half-assed, and that goes for every corner of his life. Hopefully I have learned a little to take back to my band. VH1: What else will you take back to them? DM: I'm one-fifth of the band. That's how we've always looked at it. But I think I'm capable of bringing more. I think that's one thing I have learned about being alone - I can easily give more, and not just give my part and then be ... a pain in the ass. VH1: What kind of advice was Trey giving you? DM: He is constantly stressing, "New tunes, new tunes." By the end of the tour, I was like, "New tunes, new tunes. Let's not even rehearse it. We'll just do new tunes, new covers." It was a neat challenge. I don't think I'll take the nightly "new tunes" thing back to the band. Well, maybe ... Also, Trey doesn't beat around the bush. He's an extremely forward person. If he has an idea about something, he comes straight out and says it. It's very difficult for a lot of people to work like that. In our society, you don't go up to someone you have never met before and say "I don't like your hat." VH1: Do you tend to walk on eggshells when dealing with other musicians? DM: There's a balance between walking on eggshells and telling someone they have an ugly hat. Trey is the kind of guy that would say, "That's an ugly hat. I wouldn't wear that." That's something to learn from. In some ways, it's less offensive than saying, "Oh, that's a hell of a hat. I could never pull that off." VH1: What was the original intention behind you both going to Senegal? DM: What interested me was this awesome Afro-Cuban band from Senegal, Orchestra Baobab. They have this interesting story where they broke up for years and years, and then came back together. To have the opportunity to go over and play with them was pretty cool. We got on really well, and they might be coming over [to America] soon, so that might turn into something. Then a lot of other things happened cause of that. We got to meet Baaba Maal, one of my heroes. VH1: Since we're talking about bands: How does the way Orchestra Baobab operates differ from your other groups? DM: Well, they've been around a lot longer. There's a real structure to their music, too. They're not just up there blowing [haphazardly]. There's a lot less improvisation going on, which in a way is how the Buena Vista Social Club goes. It is all tried and true, you know? The audience knows the song, and they play the song the way I heard it, but there's a real looseness and warmth to it. VH1: When you see them play, though, there's an incredible range of personalities onstage. DM: Absolutely. They all contribute to the music. Everyone is involved, but there's definitely leaders inside that band as well, ones who say, "This is how it goes. This is what we will play." They all have a wisdom about them. But in any band, you have a guy that jumps up and down and screams a lot, and then you will also have the one who just stands there. VH1: What was Dakar like? DM: Really crowded and happening. You're more exposed; there's not as much distraction from humanity. There aren't as many TVs or billboards or enormous buildings or traffic. You see everyone. It's the same in the market - the meat is right there on the counter with the flies. The city is really in your face. It's also very culturally warm and cosmopolitan. VH1: Is it like an Austin or Nashville, where music is inescapable? DM: Yeah, there's so much different music going on. But you can't really compare it to Austin. It's more in line with NYC. There's the Arab world, the Western world, the African world - all smacking into one another. There's Christianity, Islam, and extremely traditional religions - bang in one city. History, too. Some of the most horrific genocidal crimes in the history of the world originated there. The whole slave trade started there. There are incredible cultural echoes going on. The illusion is that nothing was going on in Africa until we brought over slaves. But this was an active participant in the world for years. I mean, it was a port of origin before it was a slave port. [Slavery] is a very fresh wound. So it's a very interesting place. VH1: What was it like attending an African soccer match? DMB: I went to a soccer match down in Brazil, too, and it was similar thing. There's a real energy about the sporting events. There's no music piped through speakers. It's just groups of people in the stands, guys singing with drums going "boom, boom." VH1: Is that fanaticism exhilarating or scary? DM: The game in Dakar was between South Africa and Senegal, leading up to the Africa cup. The game in Brazil was between two cities - Coritiba and Sao Paolo. That was much scarier. There isn't as much violence among African soccer fans as there is in the fans in South America and Europe. That's where they go f*cking crazy. There's a lot more invested in those sorts of battles, which is definitely a better place to have your nationalist identity as opposed to your politics. It's better to say "Well, our football team is the best, so f*ck everyone else," than "Our politics are the best so f*ck everyone else." VH1: Your band-mate Boyd Tinsley has his tennis. Do you actually like sports? DM: I like watching sports, but I don't give a sh*t. I like watching tennis, but I'm not going to go out and wear a Sampras or Lakers shirt. VH1: Who were you rooting for when South Africa played Senegal? DM: Well, I wanted South Africa to win. But I wasn't rooting for them openly, cause I was in a stadium full of people rooting for the other side. That's the kind of fan I am. I was like, [unexcitedly] "Go Senegal, go." But if South Africa had won, I might have been like [under his breath] "Yes!" Then once I had left the country, I'd be like, "YES! Go South Africa!" VH1: So who won? DM: Senegal. I think the winning goal was actually scored by a South African defender. He was kicking it back to the goalie and it arched perfectly over his head and bounced slowly into their own goal. VH1: Ouch. DM: If it [had taken place] in South America, the goalie would have been dead. If it was in Europe, he may not have been welcome in his own country. But in Africa, he may have got his head kicked in a drunken rage ... |
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