 |
One World at Sonar
Updated 13 June 2002
This year at Sonar, John Peel is presenting two One World specials, bringing you new music from DJs and musicians from across the globe. We caught up with One World producer Paul Thomas to find out more about this year's festival, what he's getting up to with John Peel, and to get his take on the new music he's discovered here...
Listen again to One World from Sonar
Why is One World at Sonar?
We're here this week to record some stuff from around the world that you wouldn't get a chance to hear anywhere else in Europe. There are a lot of people making electronic music and drum & bass abroad, but we never really get to hear it, and some of it's really cool. This is one of the few festivals in the whole of Europe where we can get access to go and record stuff. It's really unlike any other festival, because the environment is almost like a museum during the day, and you can sit in the sunshine and listen to music from across the world. People have a traditional idea of world music being a kind of Womad-style thing, and it's not like that. There's so much cool music that's made around the world. This is the place to come and have a look.
Which artists are you recording at Sonar?
We chose people from Venezuela and Argentina for the first show, because normally you wouldn't have a chance to go and record that sort of stuff. It a one-off opportunity and where better to do it?
What's coming up in next week's show?
For next week's show, we're going to be putting together lots of pieces from around the festival - stuff from all over the world - France, Austria, Poland, Russia - it's a truly global festival, but with cool music.
 Why did you get John Peel to host the shows?
We came here last year and brought John over, and I think he was quite surprised by what he saw. It was quite underground, and we all got lots of records. You come away with stuff that you've never heard before and it's all brand new. It's such an ideal thing for John, as he's been a pioneer for underground music. I couldn't think of a better person.
How may times have you been to Sonar?
This is my fifth year of being here, and I just love it, because I find something new every year. I think in the UK we get fed so much new stuff all the time, but it's always through the same channels and the same people, but here you just find music you've never heard of.
For example, one of the labels we saw last year was an Argentinian label called Fragil. We met them, they gave us some CDs, some were rubbish, but some were really cool, and then I found out that they were playing here this year, so it's wonderful to be able to hear the music last year and then come and record it and put it on the radio this year. That's what my job is about - to be able to find something new and put it straight on the radio, and give people some cool music to listen to.
Are there any other festivals like Sonar that you'd like to bring One World shows from?
Since we've been out here, we've actually spotted a couple of other festivals in Spain that could be happening - I'm sure if I twisted the boss' arms, we might be able to go and get some more things. To me, at the end of the day, I always want to get as much new music as we can, that's relevant.
For example, yesterday, we were walking through the street with John Peel, and he'd spent two hours trying to park his car, and he was really fed up, and as we were walking down the street, we saw this guy playing the banjo. John looked over and said, "I've got to have that on the show!" It was a busker, and John dragged us over and made us decide a time with him that we could go and record his music, so hopefully in one of the shows we put out from here, we'll have this banjo player on there as well!
 Do you think Sonar will become a regular fixture for Radio 1?
I hope it will. It's one of those festivals that is perceived as quite a cool festival, because the music is really underground. You get a lot of artists who'd like to play here. Radiohead are a classic example. One of their dream festivals to play is Sonar, because it's one of those underground festivals that's almost out of reach. What's so key about having the festival here is that it's so underground and you don't have the same acts year after year. If you look at Homelands, Glastonbury, there's a certain amount of repetition with other festivals - it doesn't mean they're bad - but with this one, it's different, and that's the main reason for us being here.
I urge anyone, if you get the chance and you're into alternative music, come and check Sonar out. You won't regret it. It's not just English people who come here, it's people from all over the world who come and see it. At the moment, it's one of these truly global festivals. It's almost like the Big Chill was years ago - unaffected by commercial pressures, and it's really cool on that front.
One of the main things for Radio 1 to do - as part of our jobs - is to try and bring new music to the foreground. There's an awful lot of radio stations, and one of our jobs is to be able to bring stuff that people wouldn't get a chance to hear otherwise. If you're sat in your home in Scotland, it's all very well having someone bragging on that they've been to Barcelona, but unless we've actually got something good to play back, then there's no point us being here. It sounds a glamorous job, but at the end of the day I also like to deliver!
Listen again to One World from Sonar
|
|
|
|
