Moonshine will mark the year that begins with a white stone. In a few days his compilation will be released Noir Fever presents Moonshine & The International Noise Federationfirst collaboration with the label founded by the British Aluna Francis (AlunaGeorge) which will serve as a prelude to the celebrations of the 10e anniversary of the founding of the collective led by Pierre Kwenders, within which the multiple flavors of Afro-electronic music are explored with insatiable curiosity. Meet three pillars of Moonshine, who will host their first full moon party of 2024 on Saturday.
Tonight, in a still secret location, the 87 will be helde event of its kind, dance evening to the rhythms of coupé-décalé, kuduro, techno, batida, gqom, house and amapiano — among other subgenres — organized by Moonshine which, in ten years, has managed to export his concept “to the United States, South America, Africa – Ivory Coast, Congo”, lists Pierre Kwenders. “We also did a lot of tours and festivals in Europe, organized moonshine evenings around ten times in Paris, four or five times in Brussels, London, Amsterdam…”
Facing him at the counter of this charming Creole boui-boui in the Center-South where our meeting had been arranged, the manager, artistic director and “steward” of Moonshine, Hervé “Coltan” Kalongo, adds: “In London, we were sold out for two evenings – at the Peckham Audio club, it’s very small, 220 seats, but what a sound system! In Paris and Brussels, it’s a bit like in Montreal, between 800 and 1000 participants in each edition. The numbers aren’t all that matters, but we’re happy to have reached this level. We feel that things are moving! »
San Farafina, DJ and director of Club Sagacité, inaugurated three years ago by the collective, has just returned from Abidjan, where Moonshine organized two evenings as part of the festivities around the African Cup of Nations (CAN), which takes place there until February 11. “I arrived in time for the Ivory Coast team’s inaugural match against Guinea-Bissau, and they won” 2-0. “Everyone in the city was happy! Fortunately, I left just before the last match…” Ouch! What a thaw for the Elephants! Whitened 4-0 against Equatorial Guinea, after a defeat (1-0) against Nigeria a few days earlier! By the skin of its butt, the team will still participate in the elimination round. See you on January 29 for the round of 16 match against the Indomitable Lions of Senegal.
The Spanish inn
These two Ivorian festivals were organized in collaboration with friends of the collective (and blog, podcast, progressive media) Africa is a Country because, summarizes Kwenders, “during the CAN, everyone wants to have fun and please others . And we, at Moonshine, are among those who like to please others by pleasing ourselves,” he says with a smile.
But what really pleases them is to have contributed to the influence of talents, from here and elsewhere, who have transformed for ten years the image of music from Africa and members of its diaspora. Kwenders, for example, by inventing a pop song crossed by R&B, house and Congolese rumba. An example, among others, of the mixture of musical genres that thrills the members of the collective.
“For me, Moonshine has a distinct musical flavor made from an amalgamation of a host of musical styles. There are Caribbean, Latin, African sounds, hop!, we jump to Portugal to try kuduro with a composer and DJ like Vanyfox, we go back to Congo to hear the house from there, that of DJ P2N and DJs Spirulu. »
For his part, San Farafina is passionate about the raptor house sound, also called changa tuki in the streets of Caracas, Venezuela, where the genre appeared in the early 2000s: “That’s what a guy like DJ Babatr does , very techno music, very percussive, similar to the sound of DJ Marfox”, pillar of the scene underground of Lisbon, the batida. “I am inspired by the work of composers and DJs who mix styles. »
“Moonshine is the house where everyone comes together,” summarizes Kwenders. The Spanish hostel of afro club music! ” That’s it ! Hervé jumps. We don’t stop at a single sound, we are in the discovery, in those that we believe must be discovered. »
Aluna Francis is of the same opinion. The voice of the electronic duo AlunaGeorge (You Know You Like Itthe bomb White Noise, with Disclosure), star of the English electronic scene, founded Noir Fever with the aim of promoting the work of black creators of club music. The compilation assembled by Moonshine will be its very first release; Aluna sings on the first extract, Pain & Pleasurea tasty groove afrohouse accompanied by the voice of the Somali Amaal Nuux, co-written and produced by the Angolan of origin Vanyfox. Kwenders and Uproot colleagues Andy and Branko (from Buraka Som Sistema) stand out on the bomb Sikoyo.
On Banzelo to Babi, it’s the Ivorian MC Andy S – we discovered her last summer on an outdoor stage of the Francos – who sticks her rhymes to the rhythmic pugnacity of Vanyfox. “Am I exaggerating when I say that Andy S is a better rapper than anyone in Quebec? » says Hervé, who launches the debate. “This is a call to hostilities!” » Newly recruited by Moonshine, Andy S will release a solo album later this year. Moonshine is also working on a second compilation of original material which will be released later this year from 10e birthday.
The rest of the anniversary will be announced in the coming weeks: “We will be present at festivals this summer,” assures Pierre Kwenders, who is currently working on the successor to the brilliant José Louis and the Paradox of Love (2022), Polaris Music Prize winning album. Ten years after its founding, Moonshine is expanding, benefiting club music elsewhere. “For us, simply to be part of the great conversation about this music and to contribute to their influence throughout the world, it’s a success,” summarizes Hervé.
Noir Fever presents Moonshine & The International Noise Federation will be released on February 23; The Moonshine X Noir Fever event, with Aluna, Negoo, Pierre Kwenders, San Farafina, Pony, Akantu and NGL Flounce takes place on Saturday moonshine.mu.