ENGLISH singer and songwriter Charlie Simpson says recording a song with one of Africa’s oldest tribes, the San people, was a “magical experience”.
The Fightstar frontman and former Busted member travelled to Namibia for Sky’s ‘Singing In The Rainforest’, a factual entertainment series that takes famous musicians to remote tribes.
“My music was unlike anything they’d heard before, and they’d never seen an electric guitar or piano before.
“They played music for me. It was rhythmical and I played for them,” he told Newsbeat.
“I started playing a song in return called ‘Emily’ off my last solo record, it’s quite slow, like a ballad.
“Some of the men in the tribe started crying. It was just the most touching experience and I was blown away by it. They all came up and hugged me.”
Charlie, whose wife gave birth to their first child in July, says he felt a bit intimidated when he first arrived, with the whole San tribe gathering to welcome him.
He says they danced for him and put ash on his face and around his mouth to blow away evil spirits.
The singer and guitarist says it was one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of his life.
“They genuinely might have thought ‘I don’t get this at all.’ So it was lovely to see that reaction in them.
“I am really pleased with the song that we wrote in the end, it was really tough.
“The idea of the show is that I deliver a song with them at the end and I thought ‘If this doesn’t happen, this is going to be an absolute shocker.’
“It was really tough to explain to them that there’s verse then a chorus then a verse and for them to be like ‘I don’t understand why’.
“That’s so inherent in our musical culture but not in theirs. They sing in their language, which is a click language and is crazy to listen to, but really beautiful.
“By some miracle we got it together at the end and it sounded really good, I think.”
The track will be available to buy on iTunes and a full video clip of the phenomenal musical and cultural collaboration is available to watch on YouTube.
All the money raised will go back to help the San tribe, who Charlie says were once a nomadic tribe who’ve now been forced to stay in one place so their children can get an education. – bbc.co.uk
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