Lisbon electro outfit Buraka Som Sistema recorded part of their new (third) album, Komba, at London’s Red Bull Studio. Chris Parkin met the Red Bull Music Academy regulars ahead of the album's release on Monday…
How would you describe your sound to someone who’s never heard you?
The Buraka sound is a mix of electronic ghetto genres, from reggaeton to moombahton, kizomba to grime, dirty south to dubstep. We're a collective of producers who mix the most unusual genres with the most common rules of the dancefloor.
What exactly is this Komba ritual you've taken the album's name from?
What we call Komba in Angola is a ritual that happens seven days after someone is buried. It’s a party where friends, family, even gatecrashing neighbours, get together to celebrate the life of the person who's just died. People drink the deceased’s favourite drink, eat his favourite food, have fun talking about what he did.
Does the kuduro label you’ve been pinned with feel restrictive?
Sometimes it’s hard to make people understand that the media used that label as a way to describe something they just couldn't get a handle on. But our work now is getting the media in tune with our sound, whatever genre we pick to work with. We're just electronic music producers making whatever comes to our mind, we don’t get stuck on any genre. As you’ll hear on Komba.
(We Stay) Up All Night feat. Blaya & Roses Gabor by burakasomsistema
You wrote the album on retreat in remote woodland; how come it’s not all serene and pastoral?
We stayed in Monchique in the south of Portugal for almost a whole month and had six tracks from the album totally worked out after the retreat. Even in a woodland like that the only thing we could think about was making people go crazy to our songs. So using a harp and an opera singer was not an option.
Hangover (BABABA) by burakasomsistema
What was it like recording at the Red Bull Studio?
It was amazing. People there are very friendly and helpful. The vibe in there is pretty loose, and you can actually focus on recording and making good music.
Tell us about your favourite albums…
P-Square, Danger
Andro Carvalho (aka Conductor): "They’re from Nigeria and make R&B mixed with African influences. The songs are 90 per cent in English and 10 per cent in their own language, so they were an inspiration to me – they weren’t afraid of the strange accent in which they spoke English. I love almost every chorus on this album."
Novalima, Afro
Carvalho: "This is a group from Peru who mix Latin folk with electronic music. For me it’s great to see how those two worlds can melt together without getting into the obvious house-y vibe. It's an amazing album to listen to and just chill to the vibe."
4Hero, Two Pages
Kalaf Ângelo: "A seminal album that helped me to understand how far electronic music could go. I have a lot of respect for the two men behind this project, Mark Clair and Dennis McFarlane. They inspired me to look beyond the limitations of genres. There's really no such thing as a genre, there's only music – and this is good music. After listening to this album my relationship with jazz changed, too."
MIA & Diplo, Piracy Funds Terrorism
João Barbosa (aka Lil’ John): "I like it when something that’s usually so low profile as a mix-tape gains this sort of relevance. It’s definitely an important lesson on mashing stuff up and very useful for years to come with Buraka."
The Prodigy, The Fat of the Land
Rui Pité (aka Riot): "Together with Planet Dust from The Chemical Brothers, this was the album that made my personal bridge between electronica and rock, even though I already knew The Prodigy. The single Firestarter was out almost a year before and it was absolutely stunning – sub bass with punk attitude. What more can you ask for?"
Buraka Som Sistema’s Komba is released on Monday on the Enchufada label.
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