{"id":55458,"date":"2020-07-08T09:23:53","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T08:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/foreigner-moonshine\/"},"modified":"2020-07-08T18:40:12","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T17:40:12","slug":"foreigner-moonshine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pan-african-music.com\/en\/foreigner-moonshine\/","title":{"rendered":"The planets have aligned for Foreigner and the Moonshine collective"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Saying of Adam Cooper \u2013 aka Foreigner \u2013 that the travels of his youth provided many formative experiences, is an understatement. Born in Trinidad and Tobago, he spent much of his childhood in Venezuela before moving to New York City to study. Forced to return to his country due to a lack of professional opportunities, he later set sail for L.A. to join his girlfriend, unsure of what else he\u2019d find upon his arrival. Very early on he recognised the potential of his new home. \u2018What L.A. offered to me was a really cool culture of entrepreneurship, creativity, experimentation, and carte blanche to do what my heart was telling me to do.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Foreigner in Los Angeles – Photo: Azah Ayanna <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Before him a road was opening up; a path that would allow him to bring to life the many projects fizzing in his mind. \u2018In my head and on paper\u2019, he says, \u2018there are a lot of ideas. When I see some sort of logistical opening, like a collaboration or an available warehouse, that\u2019s when I can bring those concepts to life.\u2019 In 2018 he found out that one of his favourite clubs had a huge open-air junkyard. No need to tell him twice\u2026\u2018I immediately had an idea for this crazy party called Junkyard Jouvert, and now people love this event here in L.A.!\u2019 During these dazzling evenings, sweat mixes with multi-coloured dust as a soundtrack of the latest and best African and Caribbean and electro sounds surrounds you. However, whilst L.A. is the world capital of avant-garde electro \u2013 the label Brainfeeder being at the forefront of that \u2013 African-Caribbean music remains underrepresented, at least according to Foreigner. \u2018There\u2019s always been a strong Caribbean and African presence here\u2019, says the former member of the Rail Up collective, \u2018but it is usually very hard to find. It\u2019s not like NYC, where you can find a great African restaurant or a party at the corner of the street.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Project Moon<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Herv\u00e9 Kalongo was born in Congo. With the singer Pierre Kwenders and other childhood friends, he began exploring music when he arrived in Montreal. Having studied marketing at school, he began by trying to put his theoretical knowledge into practice and helping out his musical mates. \u2018There are so many things to do in Montreal when it comes to representing a musical landscape, and that\u2019s basically how Moonshine came to life.\u2019 Night after night, the crew brings together talented DJs, visual work, and original concepts, and is unmissable when it comes to clubbing and African and diaspora electronic music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4500 km separated these two parties that had each contributed in their own ways to bringing something important and fresh to their local scenes. A mutual friend living in L.A. was the one who sparked initial contact between the two, convinced that a collaboration could be alchemical. Herv\u00e9 contacted Foreigner, intrigued by his reputation and versatility. It was the most natural thing in the world to set up their first event together, bringing Moonshine to L.A. Foreigner explains that \u2018the reason why our friend made the connection between Moonshine and the events I was doing is because he saw that Moonshine always had live West African percussion at their events, at the same time as having electro DJs with some sort of relevance to the African diaspora. The event that our friend saw me producing also had live percussion from Trinidad and Tobago, with the Laventille Rhythm<\/a> Section.\u2019 Though the links might have seemed a little tenuous at first, he quickly saw some obvious connections between their work. \u2018The rhythms are very different, but it\u2019s still part of the same African diaspora universe of rhythm. It made things easy because we can speak the same rhythmic language, even though we come from different places.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Foreigner and Herv\u00e9 “Coltan” Kalongo in L.A. march 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Perspectives intertwined<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I am always joking when I call him the LeBron James of this event, because he can do everything\u2019, smiles Herv\u00e9. \u2018He has a 360\u00b0 vision on every aspect of what it takes to create something.\u2019 Herv\u00e9 also admits that their first exchanges on social networks were crucial, Foreigner responding with his feet on the ground and his head firmly screwed onto his shoulders, despite the fantastic nature of his projects. \u2018We immediately said, let\u2019s try to collaborate on something\u2019, Herv\u00e9 continues. \u2018Whether we make money out of it or if it\u2019s just for the sake of it. That\u2019s why we built this platform \u2013 to be able to reach out to other people and show the Montreal crowd what\u2019s happening musically elsewhere. At some point, things can sound really familiar and same-y. We didn\u2019t want that to happen with our events, so we are making sure to reach out to the right people!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just as enthusiastic about Moonshine\u2019s spirit, Foreigner returns with a volley of compliments. \u2018They are the best people, they are kind, friendly, fun people to be around, but they are also the best electronic African music collective that you can come across. They conduct business with pure integrity.\u2019 It’s true that the team does nothing by halves. When they decide to organise an event, its cutting-edge music, films, visual arts, design, clothing lines \u2013 each artistic component leading to something else. \u2018It\u2019s almost like a Netflix show,\u2019 Foreigner says, allowing a moment for Herv\u00e9 to stop laughing. \u2018It\u2019s kind of hard to believe that these people are really solid friends, with a common vision, and that friendship allows them to really experiment, try things, agree, disagree, adjust, and try again. That\u2019s why Moonshine has a clear message from a philosophical point of view.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On both sides, the desire to experiment is palpable. Herv\u00e9 describes it as being in a state of perpetual motion, Moonshine feeding off Foreigner’s work, and vice versa, but with neither one copying the other. \u2018When they asked if I wanna work on something, on this mixtape, I jumped at the opportunity,\u2019 remembers Foreigner. \u2018They really allowed me to explore my capabilities as an artist, to create something visually experimental and expressive. Normally, I approach things as a marketer. Moonshine, they make things that they like, and if you don\u2019t like it, that\u2019s your problem!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Foreigner, Uproot Andy and Herv\u00e9 Kalongo in New York, september 2019<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The mixtape you want to watch<\/strong><\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Sound and video are integral parts of a Moonshine music party and the mixtape SMS for Location<\/em> is intended to recreate these parties for those who listen. For 5 years, every Saturday after the full moon, the collective has been planning a secret gathering, texting the address to the party-goers who\u2019ve given the organisers their number. \u2018Before, I used to use my own number\u2019 says Herv\u00e9, \u2018at least for the first 3 years. It was becoming hard to handle on the weekend! So F\u00e9lix developed this app where we could answer the phone numbers correctly and on time.\u2019 What started out as a series of local parties has now taken on an international dimension, outpacing a global wave of African music thanks to its alternative streak. \u2018We play more Gafacci than Burna Boy stuff\u2019, says Herv\u00e9, proud to have launched a series of mixtapes that serve to showcase their work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this third chapter, which brings together artists such as Pierre Kwenders, Pedro, and Anderson MidNite, Moonshine decided to add a visual layer to it all by bringing in Foreigner \u2013 the man of the moment. \u2018At the beginning we were not even sure what Adam actually did. Sometimes he\u2019s a DJ, sometimes he\u2019s a producer, sometimes he\u2019s behind the camera. For the mixtape, we have people from different countries and backgrounds. Adam has travelled and lived in so many countries, so he\u2019s the perfect guy for that type of thing!\u2019 Having looked through the initial spec, which essentially consisted of VJing, Foreigner let his artistic juices run wild and created a video for each song. What might look at first like a crazy collage of clips found here and there online, actually contains many more messages than one might notice at first glance. \u2018We like the aesthetic that Moonshine shares which looks effortless, and like anyone could do it with an app on their phone. But actually not! There is a lot of thought that has been put into it.\u2019 To illustrate their point, Foreigner and Herv\u00e9 told us about four videos that caught PAM\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Merci & Marco \u2013 Evade<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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