Ahead of performances for Falls Festival and Sydney Festival, we catch up with Omara ‘Bombino‘ Moctar to talk about his upcoming tour, making music, highlights of 2013, the new record Nomad and more!
How did you first start getting into music? Who were your inspirations?
When I was a child I would hear traditional Tuareg music, traditional Hausa music, a lot of traditional African music. When my family went to Algeria during the first rebellion that is when I began listening to rock music. My cousins and I would collect video tapes of rock stars performing and we would dream of being like them and imitate their moves. It was listening to the big rock stars like Jimi Hendrix and Santana and Dire Straits that I fell in love with rock music and more particularly the guitar and I from that time I knew I wanted to be a musician.
Given everything that happened in Agadez and Niger what made you want to continue playing and making music?
For me, playing music was the one thing I really loved to do and I was really good at doing. There was never a question in my mind since I discovered the guitar that I was going to be a guitarist, big or small. I have been blessed with many great opportunities with my music and through my music I am able to help make people aware of Tuareg culture and appreciate it, so I consider myself very lucky.
On your most recent record Nomad you have worked with The Black Key’s Dan Auerbach, how did you find that experience?
Working with Dan [Auerbach] was a very big experience for me and my group. He is a real genius and a great producer. He is equally a great guy. He was able to create a very relaxed environment even though for us it was our first time in a real professional recording studio and we could not speak the same language has him as well as other challenges. But Dan was very cool and knew how to create the right energy in the studio for the best music to come out.
What was/is the story behind your new album Nomad?
Well, I suppose the story begins when Dan contacted my manager and invited us to record an album with him. I had been working on material for a new album since I began touring for my previous album ‘Agadez’ in 2011. We knew that with this bigger album with a big producer on a big label we would have an opportunity to be discovered by many new people, so I re-arranged some of my old songs, added some new ones and re-arranged some traditional Tuareg songs for what I felt was a good mix of material that expressed who I am as an artist. We wanted to give it a big rock sound and push forward the desert blues music tradition. I hope that we accomplished that.
How do you feel the album has been received?
Well, for me I would say the album has been very well received. All I can see as a result is the kind of shows that we perform and the reaction of the crowd and the nice things that my fans tell me. So maybe they are just flattering me, but I think the album has been well enjoyed all over the world.
You have spent some time touring across the US this year, how was that experience for you? What was the highlight?
Wow, there have been many highlights. I have toured in the US many times now since 2011, probably about seven or eight times. There have been some really big highlights like playing at Bonnaroo, playing with Dan [Auerbach] at a warehouse in Nashville, playing a sold out show at Brooklyn Bowl in New York City, playing with Stevie Wonder at the Hollywood Bowl and with Robert Plant. I opened four concerts for Robert Plant which was very cool for me. There have been many highlights and I feel very blessed to have had these unforgettable experiences in my career already.
You will be heading down to Australia in a couple of months, what are you most looking forward to about the tour?
I have heard many great things about the people of Australia. I hear that they really love good music and are very friendly. So I am looking forward to meeting Australians and performing for them, enjoying some good times together and making memories together that we will all enjoy through the rest of our lives.
What can Australian audiences expect from your upcoming shows in Australia, particularly as part of Sydney Festival?
They can expect to hear a new kind of rock music for them, something with a different rhythm and what will be for them a strange language, strange clothes, strange everything! But I will promise them that they will love the music. We have played in many countries and people always appreciate our music.
Looking back, what has been the highlight of 2013 for you?
I think that the show we did in Tel Aviv this year was my favorite so far of the year. Tel Aviv is an incredible place with amazing people. There is a powerful energy when we play there that everybody feels deep in their bones. I can not say what precisely is going on, but there is something deep and spiritual about my performances there.
What’s next for you?
I will tour and tour again and then when I am done with that I will tour again [laughs]! My life is for my family and for my tours so I will either be with my baby girls and my wife or I will be on a stage somewhere far from my home. I am very lucky to be in either place.
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Don’t miss Bombino in the upcoming Australian tour:
DECEMBER
29th: Falls Festival, Lorne (VIC) http://fallsfestival.com.au
31st: Falls Festival, Marion Bay (TAS) http://fallsfestival.com.au
JANUARY
2nd: Falls Festival, Byron Bay (NSW) http://fallsfestival.com.au
4th: Southbound Festival, Busselton (W.A.) http://southboundfestival.com.au
9th: Spiegeltent, Sydney Festival http://sydneyfestival.org.au/2014
10th: Spiegeltent, Sydney Festival http://sydneyfestival.org.au/2014
11th: Lennox Theatre, Sydney Festival http://sydneyfestival.org.au/2014
12th: Corner Hotel, Melbourne (VIC) http://www.cornerhotel.com
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