Name: Seckou Keita
Nationality: Senegalese
Occupation: Griot, praise singer, composer, djembe master, virtuoso, kora player
Current release: Seckou Keita's new album Homeland (Chapter 1) is out via Hudson. Order via Seckou's official webstore.

If you enjoyed this Seckou Keita interview and would like to know more about his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



Where did the impulse for Homeland (Chapter 1) come from for you? What role did often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

I don’t think it was inspired by quotes or by politics, although I follow politics in my home and around the globe. But I am generally more disappointed or saddened by world politics. You cannot move forward or change if you are angry or sad, nor if you are overly joyful.

So in life like in music, I always try to create a space to start afresh, a place where nothing happens but where everything is exactly where it should be. I tend to think that from there you can build stronger, longer lasting good and powerful feelings that can take you places..

In truth, the theme of Homeland has always been part of my journey. Being a Senegalese musician, based in the UK, constantly travelling means there are often times where you wonder where you come from.

But the need to do something in music and in an album really came in 2021 when I worked with Baaba Maal on a single. It was during the Covid years, a very strange time, where we all felt at times isolated … like on a desert island. So those questions come back stronger along with the reflection of what is really important in life…

But ultimately, I guess Homeland was also inspired by personal relationships, in particular with my family and friends scattered all over the globe. And of course, it is a question when it comes from my children who were born outside of Casamance and whose feelings of homelands are different from mine.

It is intriguing because at the end of the day, where is home or what is homeland will inextricably grow to include all the people you love... and that is very exciting and I think brings a sense of hope and peace.

The theme of home was a Leitmotif for the album. What role does music play for your sense of “home” would you say?

Everytime I sit behind my kora, I leave this world and enter another one.

It is an exciting world with lots of feelings and emotions from sadness or nostalgia to joy and hope. But it is a safe place to explore those emotions and a place where you will never get hurt. It is also a world where everything is possible, constantly opening so you can always discover and be surprised.

I guess music is a kind of inner home for me but also a means to share this world with other people.

You spoke, in the press release, about many questions regarding your different home countries. What were these questions – and what were some of the answers you found as part of the process?

Well, during those famous Covid years, I was compelled to go back to Ziguinchor, my home town. Yet, the place I knew is not the same. Everything has evolved and changed so much ... and many of the people I grew up with are not there anymore. It is a different place but I was still attracted to go ‘back’.

At the same time, my children had a different take. They were born and have lived in England, France and Senegal. And their sense of homeland is different from mine. But, they are part of me and what I call home. I also travel a lot and I am very lucky to have a family member or a good friend in places that I visit. And when I am there, I don't want to be anywhere else. i enjoy the moment and again, feel ‘home’.

All of this drove the reflection and planning behind this album and led to a multitude of questions - what is home? Is it a place? Where does it start? Where does it end? Or is it a feeling? How to describe it?

At the end of the day, this first chapter is more of an exploration than an answer to a series of questions. Music allows us to give a multitude of answers, all valid and all opening up a more honest reflection.

Ultimately, I find that when we get to this place, we all tend to start answering with a more peaceful and hopeful approach. And if we are true and honest then there is hope ...

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. For Homeland (Chapter 1), did you keep strict control or was there a sense of following things where they led you?

I guess it is a mix of both. I created the ‘backbone’ of the music and a general direction. And then gave them ‘carte blanche’ because we all have a story to tell about what is home and what is our homeland. It was very important for me to have their own take, voices and sounds to explore this theme.

On occasion I pushed a great idea to further develop. Ultimately they all inspired me. But of course I always have the final say on what goes into the album and what does not.

The recording process for the album took place between different countries and with various collaborators. What do you still remember about it?

I remember the late night work in Dakar, where I had landed after a 6 hour flight and went straight to Youssou nDour’s studio, and the last minute studio I had to set up in my home in Ziguinchor to record Aboulaye Sidibe. And the beautiful Pyramids studio in Belgium where I recorded the Kora.

I remember that I often started the process with tiredness and ended up really excited by the work done because I have been very lucky to work with all the amazing artists and the team behind the album.

Tell me a bit about collaborating with Moussa Ngom, please, and how you arrived at the electro-acoustic sound of the finished LP?

I have composed for a lot of acoustic led projects over the past 10 years. But I also kept listening to lots of really electro or pop music, many coming from Africa. So I wanted to try and see how I could connect my sound and style to a more urban and electronic sound without losing the substance.

So it was amazing to meet Moussa and to start working with him. We connected straight away. I brought ideas, he brought ideas, and slowly the music started to take shape.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally, in general? In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (performance)?

Production is absolutely essential. And I always spend a considerable amount of time working on the mix or mastering. The initial composition and performance is obviously a must. You cannot create a good recording if the composition is not good. But you can easily spoil a great song if the production is not right.

Recorded music is tricky because it is performed in a box. It is not like playing acoustically or live where there are many factors that will create the final music we all hear. In a studio, you lose a lot of the natural vibration, the sound of the room or the general feeling.

You only have a very raw version. The production is then essential to bring the track to life and to add everything lost as subtly as possible. If you take it further, you can change the sound to get a particular texture or highlight a moment. I really like this part of the creative process too.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I guess, for me, writing music is an ‘everyday’ process. I never plan to write music. I never book time in my diary to ‘write’. If I am not practising a particular track, I sit in front of my kora and ideas flow. I just play them. And every now and then, I love a particular pattern or part, and I work from it.

Sometimes it all comes together in minutes! Sometimes it takes a great amount of time, including to live the piece for months, before it shapes into a song or an instrumental piece. In any case, it allows me to express things in a different way.

I guess when we enjoy a great cup of coffee on a cold day, you enjoy its taste, its smell, its warmth and it awakens many good feelings and emotions. I guess music does have the same effect but it tends to last much longer.