In the vibrant tapestry of Haitian music, few threads are as colorful and enduring as the legacy of the Beaubrun family. For this exclusive interview with Opa Music, we sit down with one of its most illustrious members, who has not only inherited a rich musical lineage but has also carved out his own unique path in the world of music. From impromptu family jam sessions to groundbreaking performances on international stages, his journey embodies the spirit and resilience of Haitian artistry. Join us as we explore the rhythms and roots that have shaped his career, delve into his creative process, and uncover his thoughts on the future of Haitian music.
OPA: What was your starting point in Music?
I don’t even remember, because music was always part of my family life. It’s been like this for generations. My Dad wasn’t only actor/comedian he was also a piano player and a song writer. My mother was also an actress and a dancer. My uncle Luc used to write for the National Palace orchestra back in the 50’s- 60’s. And all the men from Lakou Malik ( where the Beaubrun comes form) play drums. So it was a natural thing for me.
OPA: What is it that drew you to music?
Since I was 7 yrs old I knew that I was going to be a musician. I wanted to play guitar so bad, like I said music was part of my daily life. As kids my sister Marjorie, brother Lolo and me we used to have a fantasy band, the hair brush was the microphone, the broom was the bass and the tennis racket or any stick was the guitar. I think every child went through that phase, but it became a reality for my siblings and me.
OPA: What artist/s performer influenced you the most?
My Dad (Theodore Beaubrun / Languichatte for those who didn’t know) influenced me the most. I’ve never seen any talent like him. He made everything look easy. And his discipline and passion for his work was unbelievable. The other person is Bob Marley. A gifted poet, his creativity was an inspiration. He mixed different elements in the Reggae and it didn’t loose its essence. It was Roots music. I remember when Lolo heard Rastaman Vibration, he called me and he said “ There is a guy named Marley who did exactly what we where thinking of doing with Haitian music.” We always wanted to played music which was different from compas. A music that would identify us as Haitian by having our traditional Vodou rhythm as the foundation…. And a few years later (1978) Boukman Eksperyans was founded.
- Which one was your first instrument? The guitar or the Bass?
Actually it was the drum. A friend of ours stored some instruments at out house and there was a complete drum set there. I used to practice every day. But it was impossible to practice at night and it wasn’t the easiest thing to carry around. I stated to mess around with the guitar. I used to put on a Santana or Hendrix record and pretended to be them. Fanfan Alexis Boukman’s first guitar player told me one day “why don’t you try to play this line on the bass” It was something another friend who used to play bass couldn’t do. And I did it the first time I tried and I fell in love with the bass ever since.
OPA: Did you have a particular target audience in mind for your first album for Lataye?
Not at all. Music has no boundaries, it’s for the world
OPA: How is the album doing?
The CD is doing great, we have some great reviews and the feedbacks from the audience are unbelievable, they love it.
OPA: Some say you’ve ignored the Haitian community with your latest album…was it done on purpose?
I’ve heard the same thing back in 1990 when Boukman got signed by Island Record. How could I ignore my community and play Mizik Rasin? I don’t sing in English I talked about my people and their struggles. Whoever says that haven’t heard a track from the CD. And it’s those types of remarks that I don’t tolerate because they can cause damages. People say things without getting their facts straight. I’m against exploitation and I refused to be a victim of it. Many artists are being abused by the so called “producers” and “promoters” because they are struggling financially and they need one chance for the audience to hear them, so they accept any deals. They don’t know about copyrights and publishing. There is a standard in how the music business works, those guys are not following the principles that is why our music is suffering and our artists are still struggling. I don’t want to be part of it. I am open to work with any one who is willing to respect my work and the principles of the music industry. That is why I produced the CD myself. The sad thing is that best deals and appreciations always come from foreigners….That is a shame man…. LATAYE was in Madison Wisconsin on July 15. It was our first performance there, the crowd went nuts, and we sold two boxes of Cds. They didn’t want us to leave and we are already booked for a couple of festivals next year. We have a list of over 300 requests from radio stations around the world that are playing LATAYE’s music, how many time have you heard a LATAYE song on a Haitian radio station? This is the reality that we must accept. I will never turn my back on my community; the CD speaks for itself….. Listen to track # 3 Edike and track # 7 Kay Inan.
OPA: Where have Lataye performed since the release of that album?
We performed in Chicago, Montreal, Washington DC, Wisconsin, and of course NYC.
OPA: How does your live performance influence the creative process once you get back home and start creating again?
For me it is the other way around. Once I start working on a song I anticipated the way it will sound live. Nothing can compare to a live performance.
OPA: What kind of feelings, emotions or experience do you want people to walk away with from one of your performance?
One of the stereotypes about Mizik Rasin is that most people thing is “voye monte” carnival music. It’s much deeper than that and this is one of the purpose of LATAYE’s music is to show the different flavors of our rich culture and the message in the music is very important to me. This is music for your body, mind and soul. It’s also educational.
OPA: You can tell when you are at concert, whether the artist is enjoying themselves or whether they are up there because they have to… It’s just a job for them…which side do you fall in?
It’s very simple. If it’s just a job, you are not an artist. And it is also a lack of respect for the audience. They pay their money to watch a show; the performer should give his/her best. There is a magical exchange between the audience and the artist. If the artist doesn’t enjoy his own music how does he expect the audience to feel?
OPA: Do you have a routine or a process that you go through when you are composing music for a project?
No I don’t have one, it’s all about inspiration , I don’t think about it, I just execute what I hear in my head. It usually takes a life of its own.
OPA: When you write lyrics are you writing from your own experiences or do you like to approach it as fiction?
It’s always from experiences whether it’s mine or the people close to me. There are so many things in our history that can inspire someone to write.
OPA: What was the reason for your break-up with Boukman?
. I can tell you that it was the moment. We grew in different direction musically. I never said that I left Boukman, it happened. Sometimes we have to let nature take its course. It takes more than one flower to make a bouquet. Don’t forget Lolo is my older brother there will never be bad blood between us. I played Kè m Pa Sote with them the other day. I hope you are the last person to ask me this question lol
OPA: Many have argued that Roots music had the best chance of crossing over compare to our other genre of music…Bookman Eksperyans seemed to have been heading that way…this band was the only and still remain the only Haitian band to have been nominated for MTV world’s music award category…but many right now believe that roots music is dying…what happened? Do you think Bookman Eksperyans dropped the ball?
One of the strength of the Roots music is the message it carries. We talk about social problems and whenever you talk about that it becomes political. We talk about the spirituality which is the foundation of our culture. We talk about unity. Do you think if we were singing about Cheri ou kite m wale or djaz la malouk li fe le tou di mond…people would be interested in what we were saying. One time we were performing in Utah and half of the audiences held the CD insert which contain the lyrics and they were singing with us in Kreyol.
Our message is universal; the struggle of the Haitian people fascinates the world. We were a concert band it was entertaining even though our lyrics were deep. Boukman Eksperyans was the ONLY Haitian band to be nominated at the Grammy for album of the year in the World Music category (I know some of you are saying what about The Fugees? Well they weren’t playing Haitian music). But the music is not dying. Most of the bands are not working hard enough.
Mizik Rasin is not Carnival music. If you don’t have the proper knowledge you won’t be able to play this music. Boukman was founded in 1978 I finally found the sound in 1989. It wasn’t an overnight miracle when we came out it was hard work. We used to rehearse 8 to 12 hrs a day. I listen to some songs from different rasin band; they don’t even know which rhythm they are playing.
You cannot just jump in the band wagon. This music is based on our traditional Vodou rhythm, there is no short cut you must know it to do it right. Those rhythms represent our history, some of the rhythms which came from West Africa five hundred years ago are preserved today only in Haiti (in the Lakous Soukri, Souvenans and Badjo). First and foremost you have to create music for the love it not just for the money. That is the main problem, this is why you find 300 rasin band during carnivals every year and after Ash Wednesday those bands disappear. Another problem we face is that these bands won’t let anyone produce or arrange their music because of their big egos. You don’t know how many groups we helped find record deals, but they couldn’t deliver.
OPA: Let’s say you wanted to explain roots (Racine) music to someone who has never being exposed to before…how would you go about it?
The foundation of this music is the traditional Vodou rhythm which is consisted of three drums (manman, segon, boula). On top of this foundation lays the blend of rock, jazz or even pop.
OPA: Are there other styles of music that you would like to one day experiment with in a personal or collaborative release?
Nothing came to mind at this moment, but I did an album with an indie rock band called Black Beettles. I did several tour with them and wrote a few stuff for Wyclef, but I love beautiful music I am open for anything that touches my heart.
OPA: It always seems to me that most Roots musicians have a component of spirituality in their music…do you find your own spirituality influences your music during creation?
Yes, that is the essence of this music. If you understand our history, our musical heritage it’s all about the spirituality. When you listen to traditional Haitian music it is sacred music. Like I said before you can not sing bubble gum lyrics to those rhythms. My spirituality doesn’t influence my music, it is my music.
OPA: As you look back in the days of Boukman to your own solo album, do you see your music growing and maturing as you go along?
If you listen to Boukman’s first three CDs you will hear it and Lataye’s Tou Manbre is another vibe. I’m experimenting different rhythms, one must never stand still; this is how you grow by experimenting new stuff.
OPA: What are your views on where roots music is headed in the years ahead? Will it ever grow beyond its current niche or is it better off being a small and intimate form of music? Big business tends to rip the soul out of many artists and the music that they compose and I was curious as to why roots music has stayed pretty much the same.
Allow me to correct you on that one. Roots music was never a small and intimate form of music. Unfortunately this is how some of our own people see it. We have non Haitian bands in Sweden who are playing roots music and sings in Kreyol. Paleo Festival in Switzerland only booked Roots Haitian band for their festival. We are talking about a crowd of about 80,000 people. Denmark I think has the biggest crowd of over 100,000 people… same story. Not to mention England and Germany. To make a long story short, I would not sign a deal with the most reputable record label if I would have to sacrifice my music. I saw business men and politicians offering bands money and instruments to change their lyrics. The media is not supporting the Rasin music; in all the Haitian festivals one of them might a have a rasin band once in a while… it’s not easy. If you were a business man would you be willing to invest your money, if you never hear a song on the radio or never see any of those bands perform?
OPA: What is one of your greatest strength?
As a person or as a musician?
OPA: If you have a chance to change one thing about your career, what would it be?
Absolutely nothing
OPA: What band/s or artist/s you think is the most overrated in the Haitian Music Industry?
NO comment……….lol It seems like you don’t want me to go the compas parties enh?…lol
OPA: What is your greatest achievement to date?
To overcome all the obstacles and make Mizik Rasin known to the world, and also Kè m Pa Sote which started a new era in the Haitian Carnival.
- What piece of music do you wish you were the one to have written it?
I am please with what I do. The most beautiful song might be inspired by the worst internal pain…the beauty of a song comes with a package, I can only handle mines.
OPA: What do you think is the most important issue facing Haiti to date?
Understanding the codes our ancestors left us. It’s in our story. We need to go back and reanalyze our successes and failures. INITE! Everyone is protecting their interest not the country. We need to go back in time when Ayiti had 5 kingdoms, the time when we had the original Amazon’s army, the time when our Ancestors wanted to live free or die. The time when Greece asked Pétion for monetary and military help when Turkey invaded them. The time when Dessalines said “ Never again shall a colonist set his foot upon this territory with the title of master or proprietor.” All of our solutions are in our past history.
OPA: What kind of projects do you have in the works that we might be looking for from you in the next few months or the next year?
I’m still writing new materials for Lataye’s next CD and I am thinking of an acoustic project in the near future. I am also writing some songs with a friend for an up coming Broadway production.
OPA: Finally during most interviews, there are things that an artist would like to talk about but doesn’t get asked…Is there something that you would like to share with Opamizik readers that never seems to get covered in interviews, but you’ll love to talk about anyway?
Unfortunately nothing comes to mind, but you can ask the readers to summit some questions or topics they would want me to talk about.
Thanks man, I hope to see you and the readers @ Joe’s Pub on July 29th, 2006
