~ Rhythms cross the Ocean
[Article published July 2008] AfricanOz chats with talented singer/songwriter, Perth-based Grace Barbé about life on both sides of the Indian Ocean, and why her roots now matter.
It's said that the Indian Ocean nation of Seychelles has one of the smallest populations in Africa. But listening to Seychelles-born Grace Barbé sing, you can only marvel at the repertoire. Like her mixed African, European, Asian heritage, Grace is drawn to diversity -- fusing Afro funk, reggae, soul with the distinctive rhythms of her native Kréol (Creole) culture. It's a journey that has seen her transformed from a Perth schoolgirl with "no real interest in cultural roots" into a successful modern musician keen to "explore and deliver traditional culture through my music."
As a teenager Grace spent several years in Seychelles before returning with her family to Australia. But it wasn't island life that drew her to the musical stage. It was in the community halls and backyard gatherings of Perth's Seychelles' community where Grace finally "found" her voice. She still remembers her first performance with the Seychelles community band, "nerve-wracking, a shy voice, looking at the ground, standing still." Then there was a "great and supportive" response. And Grace never looked back.
By the age of 18 she was writing songs and teaching herself bass guitar... "I started writing using bass lines, it was more about the groove than storytelling." She gained skills and confidence working with local bands as a backing vocalist and performer, before taking the plunge and going solo in 2006. This was the year when her and musical partner James Searle won the WAMI song of the year award in the world & funk category, a win that cemented her popularity on the live stage circuit in Western Australia. Making her songs available online, via TripleJ Unearthed website earlier this year, put her in top spot on the website's charts for awhile. Now Grace is focussing on her song-writing, putting together an album due for release at the end of this year.
Faced with the task of appealing to a broad audience, Grace is determined to keep her music fresh and contemporary. But she's also focused on bringing the unique and fresh sounds of her island heritage to the world. She often sings in the island's French Kréol language, something she's been immersed in from an early age. "[Even in Perth] my life growing up was eating Kréol food, family friends dropping in with curry and chutney. Mum putting on Kréol music, her friends and her gossiping loudly in Kréol and talking about what they'd buy in the markets on Saturday."
Her mother was a dancer in the Sega dance troupe, a prestigious position in the Seychelles, and her father played guitar. Grace says she is only just beginning to explore this heritage more, and recalls fondly stories from her grandmother about the history of music in the islands. "My grandmother would tell me stories about how African slaves would go down to the beach at night and light a blazing fire. The men would play the drums and the women would dance in long skirts, and they would sing the Mucha. The men would sing about oppression and hardship, and the women would respond, dancing in more and more provocative styles as the night wore on, until people would get into a trance. The children were forbidden to watch, but could hear the drums from afar. This is the type of heritage I'd like to explore."
This year, she's been working with established Afro funk musicians, and teaching them more about traditional Seychelles sounds that differ from the mainland. Later this year, she returns to Seychelles as a performer in the country's colourful annual Kréol festival, where she hopes to record local music and explore more of her heritage. She's looking forward to performing in her country of birth, but admits: "To go back home and perform to your own people is quite daunting! ...I just want to do them proud."
Right now what's most important to Grace Barbé is the journey itself. Like many African-born Australians who have grown up here, she feels like she has a "leg" in both cultures, stretching all the way across the Indian Ocean from the Western Australian shoreline to the many islands and atolls that make up her island home, so many thousands of kilometres away.
Not that Grace seems displaced or confused - on the contrary, she's very grounded. "Coming from a mixed (Seychelles) culture that celebrates diversity has helped me in Australia," she says, both in everyday life and in music. "As long as I have the roots/foundation of my native Kréol culture to build on, then it doesn't matter what grows on top of it," she says. And therein lies the beauty of Grace Barbé's music. When she sings about life, love, culture and identity it's both unique and accessible. There's the Kréol and reggae influence, the touch of soul and Afro funk, and at the centre of it all, the strong, young voice of Grace Barbé who is - you get a sense - only at the start of a successful career in culture and music.
In recent years, Grace has been invited to share the stage with artists such as UB40, Ben Lee and Ernest Ranglin. Keep your eyes on AfricanOz What's On for Grace's live shows in WA. Grace's solo album is due out late in 2008, along with a proposed tour of Australia's East Coast in the new year.