SPAIN: DE LA SOUL AND BRITISH PRODUCER MATTHEW HERBERT ATTEND THE SONAR MUSIC FESTIVAL IN BARCELONA

Record ID: 435072

  • Title: SPAIN: DE LA SOUL AND BRITISH PRODUCER MATTHEW HERBERT ATTEND THE SONAR MUSIC FESTIVAL IN BARCELONA
  • Date: 21st June 2005
  • Summary: BARCELONA, SPAIN (JUNE 17, 2005) (REUTERS) PRESS CONFERENCE OF DE LA SOUL (SOUNDBITE) (English) POSDNUOS OF DE LA SOUL, SAYING: "We came out doing our own thing as De La Soul on another level from where rap or hip-hop could go so with the groups you just mentioned (gangster rappers), they have their own thing and we have ours. Its looked down upon to copy but then people want to duge someone if they arent doing rap the way they see it so everyone should just do rap the way they see it from whatever background they come from." PRESS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) TRUGOY THE DOVE OF DE LA SOUL, SAYING: "When we were listening to rap when we were young, it wasnt just young black kids listening to it in New York, you had white, Spanish and Asians. Hip-hop speaks to the soul, not a genre. it doesnt speak to groups, it speaks to individuals. It could reach Mars if there were people there. Its a took to get message across. To speak to people, rap is the perfect tool."
  • Embargoed: 6th July 2005 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BARCELONA, SPAIN
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Entertainment
  • Reuters ID: LVA7CTFULB65PUHMHHG8S5K1Y8BM
  • Story Text: The Sonar Music Festival celebrated groundbreaking
    new artists from the world of electronic music and
    commercial acts like De La Soul, Chemical Brothers and
    Molokos Roisin Murphy.

    The 12th annual conference was sold out for the third
    consecutive year as 50,000 fans packed several Barcelona
    art galleries transformed into musical stadiums for
    inspiration from undiscovered talent. Unlike other
    festivals whose music policies are often dictated by
    financial growth, Sonar features obscure artists like Bjork
    whose left-field sounds or visions may seem alien to
    commercial markets.

    Sonar by Day was a blend of multimedia displays like
    video installations, sculpture, and graphic design by
    international artists from Spain, Germany, the Netherlands,
    China and Japan. Sonar by Night was an opportunity for
    musicians to display their latest musical arsenal to the
    throngs of fans.

    Music enthusiasts said they were impressed with the
    eclectic line-up which included Chemical Brothers, Molokos
    Roisin Murphy who is taking time out from the group to work
    on solo projects, to electro punk Spanish group Cycle.

    "There were a few bands I wanted to see live playing
    and theyre all playing in the same set which is quite
    rare. Tickets are reasonably priced for the amount of
    artists that are playing and its a brilliant excuse to
    come to Barcelona. Its sunny, its hot, its (got) great
    people, so why not?" asked Candice Juniper from London.

    Veteran music enthusiasts of the three-day festival
    said Sonars take on finding the weird and wonderful is
    what attracts them to Barcelona every year.

    By definition electronic music uses machines and
    technology to produce sounds but guitars, horns, the human
    voice and even food were expertly weaved into sets and
    performances to produce unique sounds.

    It was all part of Sonars conscious efforts to go more
    organic this year as seen from the Year of Gastronomy
    performances.

    It has been said that DJs make good cooks as the same
    discipline applies to both artforms - finding the perfect
    ingredients, cutting, mixing, experimenting, and spicing
    are part of the process to produce an electrifying set or a
    satisfying meal.

    Groundbreaking British producer Matthew Herbert shared
    the stage with Michelin-starred chef Polly Russell to whip
    up an eclectic show using kitchen appliances, eggs, coffee
    tins and plastic water jugs. The ingenious Herbert sampled
    the sounds from a variety of foods to cook up an aural
    feast.

    "The thing about it is trying to bring some of the
    ideas of the album to life, you have much more possibility
    to show where sounds come from where as (on) a record you
    just have the sounds so if were doing a track about
    coffee, we are cooking coffee, you can smell coffee, so you
    think maybe this track is about coffee so its trying to be
    a bit more subtle but more encouraging to people also,"
    said Herbert.

    His new album "Plat du Jour" highlights his animosity
    towards convenient foods and perspective on political
    issues like the war in Iraq and the age of celebrity using
    food as instruments.

    "Its a kind of way of saying that food is part of our
    lives and now its a part of culture. Its the way they
    (the musicians and artists) introduce themselves to food in
    abstract because you cant really eat it, its not an
    eating experience but appealing to much more senses in
    general," said Georgia Taglietti, Sonar press officer.

    One of the featured acts included US rap veterans De La
    Soul whose neo-hippie and smooth urban sound was a hit with
    Sonar audiences.

    After 16 years together, finding success with their
    debut album "3 Feet and Rising" which reached number one on
    the US R & B charts and produced their most commercially
    successful song "Me, Myself, and I" to their latest record
    "The Grind Date", De La Souls advice to their younger
    counterparts at the festival was to have originality.

    "We came out doing our own thing as De La Soul on
    another level from where rap or hip-hop could go so with
    the groups you just mentioned (gangster rappers), they have
    their own thing and we have ours. its looked down upon to
    copy but then people want to duge someone if they arent
    doing rap the way they see it so everyone should just do
    rap the way they see it from whatever background they come
    from," said rapper Posdnuos.

    41 per cent of Sonar visitors come from outside of
    Spain with the majority coming from the UK, according to
    the festival organisers. Included in the media extravaganza
    was the Sonarcinema which fused music and cinema. The
    conference also identified new genres of electronic music
    like pop ambient, glitch-hop and disco-punk.
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