Indomitable Wind Horse Records boss Hamza Rahimula returns with another incredible piece of aural art with the ‘Tibet’ edition of his long-running Banjara series. The 10-track album is a collection of spiritual mountain country-inspired house music works featuring collaborations with Tibetan singer-songwriter Yungchen Lhamo and multifaceted US singer-songwriter/composer David Hykes.
The album starts with the song ‘Dakini Tales’ with a catchy guitar riff that catches you from the first moment. As the track develops, a simple kick drum coupled with a hard-hitting bassline elaborates the formative parts of the track accompanied by expertly arranged percussion. A light, breezy pad accompanied by euphoric vocal samples adds more atmosphere to the melody.
We have had the pleasure of speaking with Hamza and this has been the result.
Hi there ! Where can we find you right now? How did you start your day?
In Goa right now. Just finished playing a really good gig at House of Chapora. Just took my 2 year old for a swim in the pool. Going to catch with some friends that I have not seen for 2 years now due to the pandemic.
When did the idea of starting a project start to take shape? Has it always been something you wanted to do?
The idea of the Banjara Series project came during the pandemic. I wanted to showcase sounds of different cultures that I had a chance to be exposed to. However I thought it would be more meaningful if I did it through albums rather than eps.
How would you define the sound of your latest work? What is the concept behind?
This current project focuses on sounds from Tibet. Couple of tracks are older tracks that I redid and others have been made fresh for this project. The concept is to introduce sounds that are not so well known into a house music landscape. I have always felt strongly about certain sounds from india, Tibet, Indonesia and certain other Asian regions. In other words I felt that these sounds are missing in action on the dance floors and they are so potent that the listener and dancer can really be opened up upon hearing such music. So the goal is to use such music in a medicinal way, where the sounds do the work and drugs are not needed to enhance the experience of the listener. This is my intention. Obviously, music is subjective and everyone has their own perspective, but mine is pretty clear.
What artists are you interested in these days?
I am going to start recording an album with folk musicians from Rajasthan which is a state in the north west of India. I have been performing with these musicians for years but never recorded an album so I am really looking forward to this project. I also love music from Mali!! In addition to world music, Audio Werner from Berlin is an artist that really inspired me. I listen to his music a lot!
How do you manage to combine such disparate genres? How do you manage to give them unity and harmony? What do they have in common for you?
For me dance music is not just defined by electronic sounds. Any sound that has rhythm can be used to enhance a beat. So when I use world sounds, I am not trying to do anything fresh. These sounds are just part of what I consider dance music. Some sounds are cerebral and heady and some sounds make you move. I have also lived in the west and east so my spectrum is larger than the usual producer that either lived in one geographical area.
Unity and harmony should be there naturally. A producer can only try to do their best. However the ears of a producer automatically get trained if you are consistent for many years. Once the technical aspect of production is sorted, then everything is just taste. Now taste can’t be taught. Either people like your taste or they don’t and this is something you get to know from your audiences.
How would you define your sound?
Deep, Minimal, House, Acid, Funk, Jackin, Tribal and World. These are some of the key words. It’s basically between some straight up house tracks and some world influenced deep tech stuff! I have a broad spectrum since I like many genres within house music.
Can you tell us something about your current or future projects?
More Banjara Series Albums. Next up are Banjara India and Arabia. In addition also have a more housy album with selecta recordings out in July. Lastly an album with the Rajasthan Folkstars at the end of the year.
Web / Social Media Links:
https://www.ngomacollectiv.com/hamza/
https://soundcloud.com/hamzarahimtula
https://www.instagram.com/hamzarahimtula/
