1f5d the following is an interview from CPR: Chicago Percussion and Rhythm. This is a non profit publication that is looking for new subscribers. It is print media only and a year subscription only costs 10.00 for 4 issues. this was reprinted with permission from the author and publisher. chicago Percussion and Rhythm 916 West Carmen Chicago, IL 60640 email: primalon@starnetinc.com Please include the above in all copies of this interview. Planet Drum Introduction Terry Reimer Four musicians from completely different backgrounds bring their rhythms to the mix with Mickey Hart for Planet Drum. Giovanni Hidalgo, recognized world leader on congas, also plays bongos, timbales, cowbells and cymbals. Zakir Hussain is the master on tablas and also plays small Indian drums, clay pots and metal percussion. Sikiru Adepoju brings the African dundun (a variable pitched talking drum) to life, along with the gudugudu, a high-pitched, double membrane frame drum. David Garibaldi drives the backbeat on his Yamaha kit. Combining old rhythms and instruments with new, they bring a whole new rhythmic voice to our planet. Planet Drum Interview Terry Reimer and Fred Leavitt Giovanni Hidalgo, Zakir Hussain, David Garibaldi and Sikiru Adepoju Interviewed by Terry Reimer and Fred Leavitt CPR: So, what's it like for the four of you traveling together on the same bus? Hussain: It's a source of immense joy to hang out with these guys! It's a meaningful learning experience and great fun. Some moments on the bus have been more incredible than what happens on stage. Hidalgo: This is the new Planet Drum, a new group. We've developed different patterns. There are so many ideas and great musicians around me, including RAMU. RAMU is a great guy. (RAMU is Mickey Harts sampler, the Random Access Musical Universe.) Hussain: RAMU has so many things inside. It can be many people, traditions and roots at the same time. We build stuff around RAMU. We have an outline of what pieces might be like, but we're all open to input on stage. Garibaldi: Yes, I agree. Even though we're limited to one hour sets. I remember in San Francisco, we did two, two-hour shows at the Philmore. There was lots of improvisation. This is slightly less expansive, but it does happen. Hidalgo: The great thing is that whoever comes to Planet Drum for the first time feels a good vibration. We're like family, brothers, joking in all the ways. Adepoju: I am enjoying the ride! CPR: You each come from a different tradition. Do you find that you learn about each other's culture as you spend time together? Hussain: What we're doing musically and rhythmically together, that is the yoga, that is the meditation. It's the connection. You find out a lot about someone when they express themselves as unabashedly as possible. For a drummer, there is no other way to express oneself so clearly as through rhythms. You get to know the whole human being. Adepoju: The amazing thing about being here is that you leave yourself open. I listen to Zakir, David, Giovanni, and don't remember what I played, and I don't want to. Hussain: The eyes tell you what's coming. We see each other when we play. When Giovanni looks at me like this, I know what he means. It comes from working and living together and understanding each other. Hidalgo: If everything is good for David, he just has to look around and smile. CPR: How do the different kinds of drums affect you spiritually? Hidalgo: We work with all the elements; air, fire, water. We deal with different skins. For example, we have a 6" by 3" Kanjira from India, of snake skin. Each sound is so different, so beautiful. Hussain: Every drum, its thickness, weight and origin affect your mind. Instruments are entities. We're taught to respect them. They are a live energy and they respond to you. They are going to affect you. You will be in a very high state of mind. Spirituality is not separate from what you're doing as a drummer. Hidalgo: The way you transport to it, it's a trance. You may have a great idea, but do we really know what is our spirit? Do we know what is God? We have to respect the skins. The drum goes beyond. The first place I'm going to go is spirituality, the ultra-dimension, 'cause that's- "boom ka chi ka chi"-You move that and you got it. CPR: You said that music comes up behind you, you look around and it's there. Hidalgo: It's happened to me. I'm in the house alone, I look and no body's there. Sometimes you feel the hair on your neck. You have to deal with the energies. Hussain: The concept of "this is spiritual drumming. We're going to get into a trance." I don't think one conditions oneself for that. I think it's something totally built-in. When it's coming from the heart, it's totally spiritual. The Gods all over the Universe have chosen you at a particular moment to be the carrier. That's all there is. You're not chosen every day. CPR: And you work for it. How do you practice here? Hussain: Yes, you put in the effort. Hidalgo: You can be the best in the world, but if you don't practice, it goes away. Garibaldi: Every day we play together, on the table, anywhere. It's very valuable. Hidalgo: We say, Kunjani! (How're you doing?) Yebo! (Good!) Adepoju: Again, of spirit...There are too many spirits. You can't separate all of it. We talk of the skin, the drum, playing; the stick has its own spirit. If it's a new spirit in the tree, it's not going to be silent. There is spirituality in the skin, the drum, the person playing it and the person who made too many spirits. But when you get here, there's only one spirit. Hussain: My teacher, when he came from the dressing room or green room, before he went on stage, he said, "Let's see what the drum will say today." CPR: Do you feel it's the same with electronic equipment? Hidalgo: No, no, no... Hussain: Whatever's coming through is still the human being. Hidalgo: No way. Adepoju: The real drum, you have to go by the weather. The electronic instrument you play any time. Hidalgo: If you say it's good, but electronics are not the same as with acoustic or the natural thing, but on the other side, you can be playing tablas for example, program other sounds, and you can be like ten guys, boom, boom, boom. Hussain: My point is that it's still ten GUYS, still human beings who communicate, whatever the medium. CPR: Does spirituality feed you, through whatever medium you use? Hussain: The response of the medium feeds you. When playing an instrument in a concert setting, the drum and the whole environment responds to you. Everything around you is the sacred space. Hidalgo: The tabla says, "Give me some more." Hussain: If the drum is hit right, the audience will say, "Yea!" That's a different response. It all feeds you. Hidalgo: We are messengers. We have to complete our mission in this life and then three more lives are going to come. Adepoju: We are messengers, but we are also students of the world. Garibaldi: I feel like a student more. (All agree.) Hussain: I've learned more in the last four or five weeks about traditions and roots than I would have learned sitting at home reading ten books. It's just amazing. CPR: Are there any books or videos of Planet Drum in the making? Hidalgo: Eventually we are going to make them. If we don't do it, how are others going to learn? It's our love. Garibaldi: What we're going to be is yet to be. We're new. This is our first time playing together. Last summer, it was in a different context. Now we'll continue beyond, explore the depths of what this is. All together: Kunjani! Yebo! . 0