INTERVIEW : MIKE D'INCA
Interview by : Sébastien Jobart
Pictures by : DR
on Monday, February 04th 2008 - 10 626 views
Since Sinsemilia's last album, Mike D'inca has not often stepped back behind the microphone. Only once, for a featuring with Third World. He has mostly written a great deal and produced other artists, including Maxxo and Riké, his Sinsemilia partner. On his label Echo Prod, he has just released "Reggae d'ici : la relève", which showcases thirty French-speaking bands deprived of media exposure. A chance to discuss the French scene with him, and the career of Sinsemilia, who will be touring this summer ahead of a new album.
Reggaefrance / How did the project of showcasing the "new wave" of French reggae come about?
Mike d'Inca / One of Echo Prod's first projects was a compilation, "Pas vu à la télé", which brings together 70 bands from the French scene of every style, bands that tour but that you don't see. It was a first step, after which I felt like making a compilation to my own musical tastes. Making a compilation of hits doesn't interest me, it's not the house style. What was interesting was to make a compilation on the new French reggae scene, the one that doesn't get media support, as the previous generation did. So there's the pleasure of putting together a compilation, and the opportunity to let people discover young reggae bands.
Among these artists, who do you see lasting?
The one who hit me hardest is Maxxo. We've been working together since, in fact, which wasn't the case when he applied for the compilation. I was artistically blown away listening to his record. For me, it's genuinely one of the very best reggae albums made in France in the last ten years, and he did it all alone, without support. Maxxo has everything to last, which is what I wish for all these bands. But from experience, it's very hard to make a living from music in France, and even more so when you play reggae.
How do you view the current scene?
(Hesitantly) If you consider all the families, dub, ragga, reggae, it's hard to draw up an overall assessment. It's already diverse and varied. There are many more bands and projects than a few years ago. And very quickly they hit the road and leave their home town, which wasn't the case a few years ago. Before, Parisian reggae bands played in Paris, full stop. With Sinsé, we got out of Grenoble very quickly to play everywhere, and I know that played a big part in our path. The new generation is taking that approach. So it seems to me partly more dynamic.
In roots or dancehall, many French artists have their eyes fixed on Jamaica.
I agree with that. It lacks a bit of identity of its own. Either I hear the Jamaican school (and that's what I like, but not what I do, because the Jamaicans do it better than us anyway), or, to simplify, I hear children of Sinsemilia. It's a shame. Every band should be able to assert a stronger identity. In this case, of the artists who stand out on this compilation, Maxxo has an identity of his own, as does Mo'Kalamity. In the same way, I think there is perhaps a lack of self-demand from the bands towards themselves at times.
Singing in French exposes the lyrics more: the line between activism and naivety is a fine one.
The border between what is cliché and what isn't is very hard to draw. With Sinsé, we're not perfect, far from it. Sometimes, with hindsight, I tell myself we came close to demagoguery. What's certain is that the whole path was followed sincerely. Over time your view of things changes, but as long as you believe in it at the moment you sing it… Sincerity lets me accept a lot of things. With Sinsemilia there are areas on which we don't speak out. I remember a girl who kicked up a scandal because she had seen Riké, while we were on tour, stop at McDonald's. She screamed that it was in contradiction with what we sang. And Riké replied that not a line had been written on that kind of subject. Because we know who we are, we are far from perfect. Even among Jamaicans, you don't always find sincerity. Strangely, in France, people are more royalist than the king.
In 2007, the only two reggae monthlies disappeared. That is mostly a problem for young bands.
What's certain is that I wouldn't like to be a young band starting out today. When we made "Première Récolte", the aim was to sell 1,000 albums in a year. We would do the same again today because it's our passion, but I know we wouldn't make a living from it. It has become far too hard. The future isn't rosy, and that's true for everyone making music today.
Are you working on a new Sinsemilia album?
It's planned for next October / November. Musically, it's our most reggae album since "Première Récolte", maybe even more so. And in the choice of themes, we express the realities of young and not-so-young people living in France.
You describe it as more reggae; was it a shared desire to return to your roots? From one album to the next, you had drifted a little further from reggae.
Musically, it may not be the most creative album we've made. For several albums we've really enjoyed building an ever stronger identity in terms of sound. Over time, we've proved that we weren't there to copy the Jamaicans. So now there is a sense of relaxing, we're having fun. We'll see in the end whether it's as reggae as all that, whether the good old Sinsemilia reflexes haven't taken over again.
With time, is studio work easier?
Studio work is partly easier, because we are better musicians. We have more mastery, more experience. But the writing is a lot harder.
What is harder?
I'm 35 and my starting premise has always been to be sincere. So there are lots of things I used to sing sincerely that I can't sing any more today. I no longer believe that we're going to take to the streets and transform France. I believed it at 20, I don't believe it any more today, so I'm not going to sing it. If I let the pen go where it wants, I'd rather write about the love I have for my children, that kind of thing. But that finds its place with difficulty on a Sinsemilia album, more on a solo album. On top of that, we're even more demanding than before, it's not easy. Today I have a better idea of the complexity of things. It's not about erasing the protest side, but about avoiding slogans that fail to capture that complexity.
The older we get, the less we rebel?
My rebellion is more inward now. Our joie de vivre has only grown over the years, I find life more beautiful every day. But the pessimism expressed in the last line of "Résistances" ("to tell the truth and to conclude, I am truly afraid for our future") has only got worse with time. Unfortunately, a lot of our lyrics, I find, haven't aged enough. When we sang La Flamme, people thought we were too pessimistic, too alarmist. Today those ideas are in power… In fifteen years, I haven't seen society move in the right direction. This problem of being sincere, of still wanting to say things but not wanting to churn out slogans, I already had on the previous album. The song that sums up this thinking most is Simple d'esprit. It expresses why I shout less. I've seen so many of my hopes, my dreams fall apart… At some point, you just envy the one who doesn't see what a mess it all is.
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