In the midst of a double crisis, health and political, Ali Amrane released Sin wattanen (the two evils). The song, doubled with a clip, is a great success and its author tells us about it in this interview, and more generally about his work as well as the fallout of the coronavirus crisis on artists, the current situation of the Kabyle song. , of the great Idir …
How did you come up with the idea of putting the political crisis and the Covid-19 health crisis in the same text?
It is a theme that has imposed itself. It was confinement, the Covid-19 further complicated the situation. It was disappointing to see that even in a period like this, the power continued to put pressure, to suppress, to imprison people, activists, militants, journalists and all those who do not agree with it. him.
You always have to improvise when there is an idea that comes up. So the idea came like that, in view of everything that is happening, then we had to do the rest, compose the music, the lyrics… It’s a topical song in relation to what is happening. It’s kind of a rant.
In the text of the song, there is also a message of hope …
Fortunately. It’s a rant but also a message of hope, because it cannot continue like this. I took the opportunity to have a thought and to express solidarity and support for the people who are hit hard by these two evils, in this case the doctors, the nursing staff and all those who are at the front in the fight against the pandemic and on the other hand the prisoners of conscience and all the people who defend them.
We must have hope, we have no choice. In life, either we move forward, or we let go, we commit suicide or whatever. In a way, being optimistic is not even a choice, it is necessary.
You are a singer doubly committed, in the defense of culture and in the modernization of Kabyle music, a bit like Idir was. Do you agree with those who see you in the footsteps of the author of Vava Inouva?
Following in his footsteps, I don’t know, it depends on what you mean by that. As you say, this is not new, I have already been asked the question. I think so, in the process of modernizing and opening up our traditional music to other ways of doing things, it is clear that there is a similarity, but afterwards, in the concrete, everyone has their own way. to do so, its stamp. For the process, it is a movement that began a long time ago, in the 1970s with Idir and other singers, like Djamel Allam, les Abranis… I am indeed in this current, even if there are differences in how to go about it. It’s another era, other influences. And then I’m very interested in this work, this link to be made between our authentic traditional music and universal music.
Idir rightly said one day that Ali Amrane is a “Kabyle, artistically speaking, who makes modern music without complex” …
Idir said this because he understood the process. Obviously I am a Kabyle artist, I do Kabyle song, that’s clear. Our traditional musical system has its logic and its rules, and it turns out that modern music, or what is called harmonic music, is another musical system that works with another logic of its own. For me, it is the articulation between these two systems that is important. We have to find the right balance. Our Kabyle melody is there, but the way to set it to music, that is to say to arrange it, to place the instruments, it belongs to this logic of harmonic music. This articulation, when it is well placed, the result is obvious. I have worked a lot on this aspect and I continue to do so. It’s a project that I have been putting in place for several years, in particular by doing covers of old songs. The 2009 album, I did it in that sense. This is something that is so close to my heart.
How do you see the state of Kabyle song today?
The situation of Kabyle song is difficult, but this is also the case for all areas in our country. The state of the song is like all other areas. But I should still say that there are a lot of talented artists, young people who make music, who play, but who cannot find their way because there is no promotion or production system. I know that here in France, and this is also the case in Algeria, it is not only professionals who can help artists and creators to move forward, to rework their work, to present it. to the public, to the promotion …
The artists engaged in the song are passionate, because all the same it is a difficult field. So I have no advice to give them, except perhaps to pass on my encouragement, because it takes tenacity and conviction. I have the impression that the public does not know that to make the song, in addition to creating music and lyrics, you need a whole favorable environment, you need production, editing, contribution of the media… Our artists manage on their own and it is not easy.
The fallout from the Covid-19 crisis has not spared artists. Can you tell us about it?
It’s a real disaster for the artists, when we know that now our work is focused on performing arts, concerts and tours. The health crisis has stopped everything. Obviously, I had concerts and tours which were planned during this period and which were canceled. We do not yet see the light because it does not resume and we do not know when it will really resume. It is really a very, very hard blow that risks suffocating a lot of structures and artists. Afterwards, you always have to bounce back, look for solutions, hence for example this song Sin wattanen. I did it under these conditions imposed by the health crisis, where you can’t go and record in a studio. I composed the song at home, then sent the work to a musician, to the sound engineer until everything was finalized. It’s a different way of working. It is a consequence of the crisis, but it is not negative either since the means of today make it possible to do that.
When will we see Ali Amrane in Algeria again?
We must first put an end to this story of confinement-deconfinement. I miss it anyway and as soon as the opportunity presents itself, I’ll show up. Otherwise for the moment, there is nothing planned in Algeria. Here in France, I should resume September 11 with an acoustic concert in tribute to Idir as part of the Ideal Libraries festival in Strasbourg. It will be at the Cité de la musique et de la danse at 9 p.m.
We will end this interview with what you have to say about the late Idir …
It is a great landmark that has left, for music, song, culture in general. Afterwards we console ourselves because he left an immense work with which we will continue the journey and by which we will remember him. He will always be with us in every way. His death also touches me personally because he was someone I knew, that I sometimes saw and who was my friend, someone with whom I also worked, we did a duet, concerts. We shared moments, music, emotion.
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