Q:When did you start playing the guitar?
A: I started playing the guitar when I was 6 years old.
Q:Who are/were some of your first influences in music?
A: I used to listen to different types of music, like, Rock and Roll, Blues and Smooth Jazz, and of course Compas. Dadou Pasquet is one of my favorites Haitian guitar player. I also like Jimmy Hendrix, Georges Benson and Joe Satantonic, to name a few.
Q: Do you play any other instruments?
A: Yes, I also play the keyboard.
Q: Was Papash your first band?
A: No, Papash was not my first band. I had a group in Haiti called, Café, with Gary Didier Perez [Ex-Zenglen singer] and my second band was, Tono, with Patrick Martineau, Syto Cavé and Fabrice Rouzier. Then, Papash came along.
Q: Ever thought of having a Papash reunion?
A: That’s my biggest challenge because producers and fans have been asking for a reunion tour for many, many years. What I can say is that it’s going to happen soon, although I can not tell you a specific date, but I know it will happen next year, in 2010. I have a great relation with all the members. We do talk about that all the time and I think the public deserves that from us.
The remaining of the questions and answers will be added subsequently.
Are you interested?
Q: What non-Haitian artists did you listen to while growing up?
A: The likes of Georges Benson, Jimmy Hendrix and The Doors
Q: Who would you like to work with?
A: I’m open to work with everyone who needs a good producer. Basically, I work with many artists of the HMI because I am also a studio producer. I’ve worked with artists from the French Caribbean like Martinique, Guadeloupe, as well as artists based in Paris. My studio is located in Miami and I also own a recording label company.
Q: Besides music, what else do you enjoy?
A: I enjoy staying home in my free time, watching movies, cooking or going to the beach.
Q: Finish this sentence: I hope.
A: We put ourselves together and put our egoes on the side to rebuild Haiti.
Q: How do you feel about the tag that some have attached to you as being a “ship jumper”?
A: Well, people say stuff sometimes and they don’t even have any clues on what they are saying. I think it’s a poor mentality from some. Put it this way, I am a professional musician, not a part time musician, this is what I do for a living so I have full right to do what is best for me first, before pleasing anyone else. Also, I’ve always given 100% of myself in every institution that I was part of. Papash was my first group, and I gave it 7 years of my life. Tabou Combo, 8 years, Top vice, 2 years and Nu Look, 4 years. I am still there and always on the market producing new stuff, for me and other artists. I don’t really see the point of being labelled a ship jumper? One more example, in the NBA, players change team every year to join other clubs that are offering more money. I have never heard the American media saying or talking about “ship jumper”. We need to change that poor mentality and be more positive, so we can look forward for a better future.
Q: Tell us something that most don’t know about you.
A: I am also a computer analyst and an engineer.
Q: What percentage of your solos during bal are improvised?
A: The percentage is 100%, because I always come up with new stuff and new sound. For solos, I’m very good in terms of improvising. I try to never do the same solo over an over. I always try to incorporate some new skills into it, unless it is already set into the music.
Q: What’s the inspiration behind “Fos lanmou”, which appeared on the AkoustiKreyol album?
A: “Fos lanmou” was a remake of Rod Stewart’s “Have I told you lately?”. I love that music so much, that I said to myself why not do a Compas version. I changed it a little by adding my own flavor, the lyric was written by Donald “Fresh La” Joseph, lead singer of Vwadezil (Voix des Îles).
Q: You’ve put your name on a lot of different projects from Banjo to Cleo to Nu Poz to VAG. Which ones are you least proud of, and why?
A: Lately, I produced many artists like you said Cleo, Misty Jean, Brutus from Zenglen, Banjo, VAG, Poze, Don Polo and many Antillean artists. Right now, I just finished working with Top-Vice. They are going to make a big come back. All of these projects are great to me, but I was disappointed at the way some were marketed and promoted.
Q: When you’ll no longer be with us, how would you like to be remembered?
A: I think that every one has a mission and we come on earth for a reason. Specially, when you are an artist you never die; you live for ever and ever in many people hearts, your work talk for you. I am still young but dont know how much time I have left because tomorrow does not belong to us. All I can say is I have done so much in the HMI, the only thing I am asking is to always support anything Haitian; buy the original albums, stop making copies, that’s one way of showing appreciation and keeping me to produce more music for you, the fans. As far as being remembered, I attached a song from the Akoustikreyol album, titled “Bluestring”. Play it and you will always see Ralph Condé through it.
Before I leave, there is a song, “La vi a pral fini”, on the first Papash album [Fas a Fas], I would like to share some of the lyrics of that song:
“…La vi a pral fini cheri[e]
An n’al fe yon “trip” pa kite ko nou fe pli
Deye lanmo gen yon lot vi ki pi “cool”
Fo’k nou prese jwenn yon plas avan foul…”
