“We just want to introduce African music to Taiwan. It's never been done. When I first came here I was like a social butterfly, but I wasn't happy with the scene, socializing and hip hop. I got put off by all that,” Douglas said.
“The drum transcends everything, it's real culture from a black man's perspective, not just spinning records.”
Group members play a range of instruments, including the djambe, doundoun, sousaphone, finger cymbal, maracas, tonton-sansan, castanets and talking drums.
They wear traditional African costumes when they play because it adds to the authenticity.
“We get a lot of people, mostly women, coming up to us after shows asking where they can buy our clothes. The fact is they are very colorful and beautiful. We're going to start importing them,” Sampson said.
Most performances are in two parts: The first section is dedicated to traditional rhythms such as adowa, kpanlogo and mapuka. A second segment moves the tempo up a notch to hi-life, reggae, dance hall, soca, calypso and even rap — when Douglas transforms himself into DJ Rankin Kim.
According to Douglas, a majority of modern popular music is “rooted in the African drum” and even dance hall is just “a watered down African beat.”
Though the group has members from the Caribbean, Cameroon and elsewhere, it sees itself as representing Africa as a whole, hence its name.
“We started up with the traditional beats and we're now becoming more versatile as a band,” Douglas said. He has even written a song recently with Mandarin lyrics.
“We have formed a fan base outside of Taipei because of our shows,” Sampson said. “The idea is to keep building and develop the brand.”
On the way they will change hearts and minds, as surely as the drum has a beat.
For your information:
Pan Africana performs at Bliss tonight, from 10pm. Entrance is NT$300 and includes a drink. Bliss is at 148 Xinyi Rd Sec 4, Taipei (台北市信義路四段148號).
For further information about Pan Africana Cultural Troupe and future gigs visit www.panafricana.blogspot.com or contact the group by sending an e-mail to panafricana@buffalo.com.
RSS