Interview with Julian Bendall from Bah Samba


Q: It's been ten years since Bah Samba had released their debut single Carnival on Loaded. Congratulations for the decennial. How content are you with what you have achieved as Bah Samba in these ten years?

Julian Bendall: Thanks, I think Bah Samba has achieved a great deal in the last ten years, since we only recorded two albums! The success of 'Reach Inside' has been incredible it's kept the whole project going, speradic though it may be. 'Reach Inside' was an experiment really, I wouldn't say we were pioneers, but many people see Bah Samba in that way, I just wanted to incorporate as many live elements into one house 12" as possible, I didn't really have a song, just loads of original parts and vocal takes, we filled three Akai samplers in the end, and sequenced it all in an old Atari computer. 'Reach Inside' is endorsed by the worlds top DJ's and producers now and features on practically every latin house compilation that exists, I think Dimitri's 'A Night at Playboy Mansion' brought it to the mainstream, possibly everyone has a copy of that CD, it's even on Hollywood films. I am content, I'm also happy that we never 'sold out', artistically speaking that is, and to be honest I wouldn't know how to.

Q: Why have you released only two "real" albums with new material in these ten years?

Julian Bendall: Bah Samba started out as an underground project, more of a hobby, a learning curve and some fun, don't get me wrong though...I was always trying to make a living through music but in those days it was more about getting gigs and playing out live as much as possible with various bands.
I suppose some people may see Bah Samba as un-productive due to the huge gaps between releases, but not the case, we were all doing different projects everyday doing session work and writing, besides I personally wanted to keep it special and not let it fall into monotony, I've seen a few bands/friends go in this direction and it's quite depressing, at least we kept it fresh and still do. The other reason for these gaps was the time it took the label to release material.
In 1999 myself and Alice went travelling, not together though, she went to Africa and I went to Brasil, I initially went to do some shows in Sao Paulo only for two weeks, however I found myself staying for four months, on return in 2000 we met up and decided we should record a new song taking on board our new influences, it was actually 'Drifting', this version was never released by the label. I later put in an ultimatum to Estereo to come up with some budget for an album and they said yes!
It was at this point I started taking Bah Samba a little more seriously. We wrote the album in about 6 months on and off and we recorded the album in 12 days, slightly rushed! Due to budget, the label took 18 months to release it, (that's a year and a half isn't it?)
As you know you don't get many opportunities to make music of this genre so I started looking for interest immediately. Just after the release of the first album in 2002 I found new management and we toured Japan three times due to the huge success over there, I was producing a 'Belezamusica' album at the time for a Japanese label called 'Village Again' and cemented a nice relationship with them.
After two more albums in 2003 for 'Village Again' they put in an offer to license the new Bah Samba album before it was made, perfect. We started recording '4' in May 2004, The management contract ended and instead they became the new UK label BKO!!!!!!

Q: Your albums were released on small labels in the UK. Did you do this on purpose because you have more creative freedom then or - hard to imagine since Bah Samba has a great, unique sound - did it just happen because no major label was interested.

Julian Bendall: Not really on purpose, but like I said , it started out underground so it had to be an underground label. Major labels were never approached in the UK so I don't know if they would have been interested or not, however it was released by Sony/Epic in Japan. It would be lovely if there was interest from a major now though, we have developed so much in the last ten years and the underground market is swamped. I believe we deserve to be heard by a bigger audience now, I know so many people from so many different walks of life, not just vinyl enthusiasts, clubbers etc but people who normally buy a Coldplay record or something like that, they love the album...

Q: What was your intention to do a cover of one of Teena Marie's best-known songs Portuguese Love?

Julian Bendall: To make an anthem with beautiful music.

Q: Please tell me what was the work with Bill Curtis and Johnny Flippen on Let The Drums Speak like and how did you team up with them?

Julian Bendall: Hysterical. They were over in the UK to play Glastonbury, Byron from the label knows Bill Curtis quite well so he grabbed them from their Hotel in Camden and dropped them off at the studio, the studio is extremely small with a mezzanine floor and an aluminium ladder going up to it. I set up an old Ludwig drum kit for Bill, they arrived, we manged to get Bill up the ladder, bearing in mind he's in his 80's! and he jammed this wicked Fatback groove for about 2 hours, we jammed downstairs with Johnny on Bass, Mark on Guitar and me on Rhodes, after that we chose the jam we liked and Bill and Johnny did a rap. Later Dom (trumpet) turned up and played a similar line to 'Let the drums Speak' it was never our intention to do another cover on the album, it was just I had been listening to 'Yum Yum' all that week and asked Dom to come up with something on that vibe, the track was originally entitled 'In a new element' but with the horn line being too similar we agreed with Fatback's publisher to go with 'Let the drums speak' The experience was summed up when Marks phone rang, it was Friday about 1pm, he answered it and said "I'll call you back man, I'm just having a jam with Fatback Band"

Q: On Calma Isabel Fructuoso handles the lead vocals instead of Alice Russell. Is including other singers and non-English lyrics something you want to extend in the future?

Julian Bendall: Most definitatly! I write and speak a little Portuguese and love languages (although not very good at it) and clearly I'm inspired by Brasilian music, I would love to do some collaborations with Brasilian artists in the future. I plan to record an album later on this year with Isabel Fructuoso, she is living in Mozambique so there will be some influences there I imagine! We shall be taking new vocalists on the tour with us this year, too.

Q: Which musicians are the main influences for Bah Samba?

Julian Bendall: Apart from the musicians on the record...Minnie Riperton, Rosa Passos, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Milton Nascimento, Curtis Mayfield, Bill Evans, Elis Regina, Bill Withers, ooh there are so many...

Q: Will Bah Samba tour on the continent to promote the new album?

Julian Bendall: Oh Yes, I can't wait. There will be 10 of us.


For more infos visit bahsamba.co.uk and read my review of 4.