Tony Allen
He provided the simmering Afrobeat pulse to Fela Kuti‘s innovative Africa ’70 band, extended his reach with a handful of inspired solo albums, and currently mans the drum chair for UK supergroup the Good, the Bad and the Queen. Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Tony Allen is one of the most revered figures in music, with fans ranging from Damon Albarn and Cream drummer Ginger Baker. Playing drums that produce an almost mystical groove, Allen inhabits a rhythmic world somewhere between ancient Yoruban religious ceremony and pulsating African pop.
Though his drumming as heard on his seminal albums, Jealousy, Progress and Lagos No Shaking, is surprisingly light of touch, his groove is massive.
“If I have to play the way I am playing for a whole concert, I cannot use all my physical energy,” Allen says from his home in Paris. “I need to use my mental energy. That is what I am doing every time. I detest completely to beat up the drums. I prefer to caress them. By caressing them, it makes me get what I want from them. By bashing them they are not going to give me the right answer.”
Possibly returning to the studio with TGTBTQ in July for a follow-up to their debut album (“maybe, maybe, let’s see how this one goes” Allen says), with more definite plans for his next record with his Parisian-based band, Tony Allen speaks eloquently about the past and the present.
eMusic: Were you consciously mixing styles when you began drumming at 18?
Tony Allen: I was playing the music that was popular in Nigeria, like our local music, highlife. I played strictly highlife and if it came to playing the western music, like jazz, we had to play them separately.
eMusic: Did you incorporate the Yoruban religious rhythms you heard in your house as a child?
TA: We grew up with rhythms, like every African youngster. We are rhythmically inclined. Perhaps those rhythms did have something to do with my creation. I was born in Nigeria and I witnessed two sides, the religious and the commercial, every time, playing music. Those rhythms might have influenced me and my own creation.
eMusic: Your drumming is such a huge part of Fela Kuti’s sound, how did you collaborate with him?
TA: When we met I had already done my homework. That was my way of playing drums. But I wasn’t sure how other drummers played the drums. Something was missing, which was the hi-hat. I discovered the hi-hat from Max Roach through one of his lessons in Downbeat magazine. I wanted to fuse that way of playing hi-hat with the rest of my drumming. I began to love playing the drums properly, since it became clear to me. So I was already doing my job before I met Fela.
eMusic: It has been reported that after visiting the US in 1970 that you brought the sound of James Brown‘s music to Fela Kuti’s band.
TA: No, not me. I was playing like myself from the beginning. There was an arranger in Lagos who tried to write down all my patterns that I was playing then. I didn’t give a shit about that. My drumming has nothing to do with James Brown at all. I have a different way of creating my patterns.
eMusic: Early Fela records were not political, they became political. How did it feel to be involved in that change?
TA: It was good, we were talking about current events. Music is the only weapon we have. It is the weapon that doesn’t shed no blood. It works against the authorities, you know?
eMusic: Were you as politically minded as Fela?
TA: Not as much, I don’t want to be a politician. But that doesn’t stop me from addressing what I see as wrong. Playing with Fela did not cost me, or hurt my career. Once, after a raid, I was in the police cell for three days, but that was nothing, didn’t matter to me at all. But my cup was full up, to the brim.
eMusic: Is Afrobeat radical music in Nigeria?
TA: Afrobeat is considered to be radical because of Fela and his reputation. Afrobeat sent a message to the world about militancy. No one had ever done anything like that before until Fela. So it is immense.
eMusic: Did you enjoy collaborating with Ginger Baker on Fela’s Live!?
TA: Yes, he is my good friend. I have been writing him to come and play with me in London. I want to do a drum battle with him. But he is refusing to come. He doesn’t want to do it, he says he is tired.
eMusic: Did you leave Fela over payment issues?
TA: That is just one part of it. Like I said the cup was full to the brim. When the cup is overfull, it overflows. Fela and I were very, very close even when not working. And when I left his band he was still my friend to the last day.
eMusic: When you recorded Jealousy and Progress, were you continuing Fela’s sound or doing something different?
TA: I would have loved to do something different, still preaching the same gospel but with my message. But I wasn’t able to do it then. Fela produced those albums. And I used his band, Africa 70.
eMusic: What are the differences between those early records and more recent recordings, like Lagos No Shaking and Home Cooking?
TA: Nothing really, they all have the Lagos ambience. It’s just that I try to update to the current music that is happening today. Be it r&b or soul, whatever. I bring a modern approach to the same rhythms.
eMusic: Why did you veer off into electronica, dub and hip-hop for some records?
TA: I was experimenting. These days I am into everything. I have music of the world on my iPod. I have music from Africa, Mali, Ghana, Senegal, Togo, and music from Damon Albarn, Gorillaz, Blur, Beatles, James Brown, and pure jazz like Art Blakey. You will find only a little of my music on my iPod. I don’t listen to that too much.
eMusic: What are the most interesting rhythms happening today?
TA: The only rhythm today that is creating something is Afrobeat. I wouldn’t be a drummer if I had to play something else. I don’t want to be a rock drummer, or strictly a jazz drummer.
eMusic: Are you free to play what you like in the Good, the Bad, and the Queen?
TA: I play according to the music. [Producer] Danger Mouse found it difficult at first to deal with my patterns. Then he did his job by choosing the right tracks. But live is different from the record, man.
eMusic: What is the difference in playing with an Afrobeat band in the ’70s, and playing in an Anglo-centric rock band today?
TA: Damon Albarn is a character I really love to be around. He is a genius. This was supposed to be a rock band, but I don’t look at it that way. We have been working together for five years and Damon is so nice. What we do can be simple, but getting something simple to happen is not so easy. Simplicity is so fucking difficult.
eMusic: Was Fela a genius as well?
TA: Of course he was. I would like to extend my knowledge, make it broader than today. The only way to not get locked up in my own box is to broaden my mind and move, move, move. That is when I discovered Damon. He sang on the first track (“Every Season”) from my Home Cooking album. For him to be able to deal with that pattern as a white boy made me open my heart for him. Both he and Fela love the music.
