SambaDÃ Interview: SXSW 2010

SambaDA, an Afro-Brazilian nine-piece based in Santa Cruz, has been performing for more than a decade and bringing its tropical grooves to audiences all over the world. They've just released their third album, Gente, a work that marries their global sound with crisp, California surf rock. Spinner talked with guitarist and percussionist Will Kahn about the perils of traveling with nine members, getting past Brazilian imitation and how they're bringing the beach to SXSW.

How did you guys all get together?

In 1997, the leader of the band, Papiba, formed the group out of dance classes. He's a capoeira master. He and others started drumming to dance classes. He moved to Santa Cruz, and the band started out of that. It started with just acoustic guitar, amplifiers, drums. The band was born out of drumming. Slowly, some guys played bass, sax, drumset, and that was all before I was in the group.

How did you get in then?

I came to Santa Cruz and saw the group and was totally blown away. I was 19 at the time, and I started hanging around with them and studying percussion. I got my foot in the door that way, started to play the drumset. I became an official member in 2001. I've always really put my heart into it. I love playing all kinds of music. I think what music is so good at is breaking down borders.

Where does the name come from and what does it mean?

If you break it down, Samba is a type of music and Da means to give, so it means "samba gives." Also, "da" in Portuguese has a specific meaning. Is it going to work out or is it going to happen? So, it's sort of "Samba provides," or "Samba works."

Are you now fluent in Portuguese?

I'm not fluent. I can catch half of what to fluent Portuguese speakers are saying. Also, Portuguese from Portugal is totally different from Portuguese from Brazil. If two people are speaking fast and using slang, I can get half of that.

Describe the music's sound overall.

It's cross cultural – Afro-Brazilian meets fun California rock. We have a lot of styles, but we keep the roots in Brazilian music and add cutting edge, contemporary sounds from this country. We've started to mix together sounds of surf rock especially because we're from Santa Cruz, the surf capital of the world.

What are some of the band's musical influences?

The core seven members have an age span of 30 years. Two women, five men, four of us are from California -- two from Northern California, two from the southern part -- and the two Brazilians in the core of the band: Papiba is from Brasilia, Dandha is from Bahia, which are two very different areas. We all come from totally different backgrounds. Everyone is into Brazilian music, but we all have other interests. Myself, I am really into hip-hop and other contemporary sounds. Kevin, our bass player, is really into like, Burning Man, and electronic music. Gary, the drummer, loves funk fusion, funk-jazz fusion. Our sax player has a strong background in jazz. That just gives you a picture of how wide our backgrounds are.

As a non-Brazilian, what tuned you into the culture?

There's something about Brazilian culture that's really refreshing to someone like me. I had a really charmed childhood. I had everything - food was on the table, I had a car, I went to school. There's something about Brazilians - where there is less money, less materialism, and of course, music is one of the ways that's really portrayed. Brazil has a real joy of life that I picked up early. No, I never envisioned myself in a Brazilian band at all. I knew I wanted to play music when I was really small, but I listened to Led Zeppelin. Our songs are all in Portuguese so you cannot deny that we are a Brazilian group. But something about Brazil strikes me, in the way that they have incorporated so many different things in their culture. Racism exists in Brazil but in a different way, I would say.

What do you mean?

I went to Bahia, where Dhanda was from – the blackest part of the blackest country outside of Africa. I felt so accepted, and I feel part of the movement, and I feel part of the civil rights movement in Brazil even though I've barely been there. Brazilian music has encompassed so many styles in the same way that the culture has done with its people. There are European elements, there are African elements.

Is that a challenge for how you make the music?

The real interesting part is figuring out how we can do what we do and have it be authentic since we are not all Brazilian. You have to put yourself in the music, you have to represent who you are, or else it's not really worth anything. No matter what I'm not Brazilian, but I can learn traditions from them. I have studied percussion from Bahia, and I play in a Brazilian band but what I bring to it is what I represent, which is the music I've listened to my whole life. Now, I play the electric guitar. We've been finding our own voice. It's not just imitation. It's innovation, which is a lot more risky.

Is it true you met your wife while performing?

She's the absolute love of my life. She danced for many years with the band. Our first CD release party was the night we made a date for our first date.

Is it hard to go on tour with so many members?

There is such a magic in this band that I cannot describe it or define it, but when it comes to the music, to playing a show, there's something very, very special about this group of people due to the different backgrounds we come from. Everyone is really dedicated to playing the music. We travel, we laugh, we're a family, we eat together, we sleep in unfavorable conditions because we love the music. Sometimes it's unreasonable, we're not making money, we're spending all these hours in the band. Sometimes it's hard and we're all grumpy, but it's all such a blessing. In 13 years, we've only lost one member. Dhanda was the last addition to the band, which was the best move we ever made.

Do you have a favorite show memory?

There's a gig we do every year. We set up in the summer time, right down the street in Santa Cruz. It's on the beach, on the sand, it's totally free, and we get 2,000 to 2,200 people there. It is music that is just so conducive to that environment because it's upbeat, melodic, joyful, and when we're playing and there's thousands of people dancing in the sand...it's insane. In between sets, I always jump in the ocean. It's so upbeat. Everyone's there, everyone's really relaxed, barefoot, it's warm, in the sunset. It just feels like this is where our music is meant to be heard. Sometimes in life, you just feel really right and everything is the way that it should be.

You've said before that the beach is the best place to hear your music. How do you recapture that feeling on stage when you're not there?

I would say that the music has to speak for itself. Bring the joy associated with the beach. The joy of the music is the most powerful thing that we do, and it's bigger than all of us. We really, really rely on our audience and their energy. Rehearsals are not nearly as much fun as shows.

Your latest album, Gente, just came out. What's it like?

It has been a beautiful thing to let this album go. You can always edit and edit and edit and at a certain point, you can say yes, this is great work. I am really incredibly proud of this. Our producer Greg Landau really held us accountable and pushed us both technically and conceptually in way I would've really disagreed with a few years ago. He's really pushed surf rock as a voice for us. A lot of American bands try to pull from music of another country, and he wanted us to make it our own. Six years ago, I would've said no way. But now we're not just doing what has been done. He has always said, "Bring something Brazilians are going to love." Just to be imitating is not going to be enough. You want to make the best people in Brazilian music turn their heads. By far, it's our best work yet – I'm not even sick of it yet! There's not another band in the U.S. that has the same sound we do. It feels good to say that and say we've found our voice.


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