Sometimes there are beautiful stories, and here’s one worth telling. I’m going to tell you how I joined the band Kaophonic Tribu, the very band that made me want to play the didgeridoo 20 years earlier! And while nothing hinted at such an adventure, here we are releasing a new album on 23 June 2022: “PhœnX” (order it here)!
Let’s start with the introductions.
Kaophonic Tribu: an acoustic trance band known across Europe
Kaophonic Tribu was born in 1998. At that time, the didgeridoo and Mandinka percussion (West African percussion, the best known being the djembe) were shining across Europe and the Western world in general.
Kaophonic draws its inspiration directly from this cultural mix (didgeridoo & percussion), while adding the terribly effective groove of the bass/drums duo.
And the formula must be a good one, because in just a few years, Kaophonic released five albums and played more than five hundred concerts all over Europe!
I have to say their energy on stage is incredible, and I’m sure many of us remember dancing for hours to the madness of Kao’s sound!
Kaophonic Tribu in 2006, with Manu on didgeridoo, who had the clever intuition to mix overtones (among other things) and effects.
Personally, I discovered them in 2001 thanks to my twin brother. He had come back from a festival and, as he gave me their album, he said: “You should like this, there’s didgeridoo in it.”
Well played, dear brother, because that day you radically changed my life (read also: Top 10 didgeridoo tracks that radically changed my playing)!
That was 20 years ago.
Since then, the didgeridoo has become my job, and Kao stopped.
But now, when nobody was expecting them anymore, Kaophonic is back on stage with a new album, and here I am on board this beautiful adventure!
Here’s how it happened.
It all started at the end of the first lockdown
In May 2020, after a break-up, I decided to move back to my native Burgundy to get my strength back.
This return to my roots was painful. Once I had settled in, I had to face my past, and in particular a major trauma that had happened nine years earlier.
Back then, I had felt the need to drop everything: Dijon, music, my family, my friends.
Leave it all.
Go far away.
India, Brussels, Lyon, the Drôme… Nine years of searching, nine years of experiences, nine years of exile. That’s actually what I tell in this track of the same name, recorded when I came back to Burgundy in 2020.
In this video, I walk through landscapes that I crossed or that stayed with me during those last 9 years.
So it was in this difficult context that Yannick, a friend I had met when I was just starting the didgeridoo, left me a message:
“Hi Gauthier, I heard you’re back in the area. I’d love to see you again! On my side, I’m starting to play with Kaophonic Tribu, they’ve got back together for their 20th anniversary! But don’t tell anyone, it’s still confidential…”
I have to admit that when I listened to this message, I was so down in the dumps that the news went right over my head.
My reaction was very different, however, when a year later that same Yannick asked me to replace him in the band.
I was doing much better, and there was no doubt the project interested me!
That was in February 2022, and that’s when I met Didier to talk about the tracks.
Didier and Kaophonic Tribu’s new album
Didier is the percussionist and one of the founders of Kaophonic. He’s also the main composer of “PhœnX”, the new album (available here).
So I listened to the new tracks and I found the music really well put together. However, I’d like to suggest my own didgeridoo parts for the album.
But there’s a problem…
The timing is tight and the album is already mixed. It’s about to go off for pressing any minute. In short, it’s too late to replace the didgeridoo lines… And I can tell that’s not negotiable.
Too bad!
Despite this small disappointment, I get to work and compose my didgeridoo parts. I enjoy the exercise and I put real care into it, because these are the phrases I’ll be playing in concert after all.
Didier eventually came over to my place and, after listening to my ideas, told me:
“But we have to put this on the album! …We’ll find a solution!“
Victory.
That’s the kind of moment when you tell yourself you haven’t wasted 20 years of your life blowing into your piece of wood.
So the decision was made: my recordings would be on the new album. We just had one last problem: the vinyl records had already gone off for pressing.
“Never mind!“ Didier replied, “The vinyls will have Yannick’s tracks, and the CD and digital versions will have yours.”
So even if it’s far from ideal for future buyers of the album, I have to thank Didier for his boldness and his trust!
Kaophonic Tribu: new album “PhœnX“, available for pre-order
If you know Kaophonic’s sound, you won’t be disappointed by these new tracks. What struck me most is that you immediately recognise the “Kao sound”: dynamic and intoxicating, with that trance feel as always.
On the other hand, if you’re discovering Kaophonic, I have to warn you: this music is (much) more energetic than what I’ve played so far!
Kaophonic’s aim is to offer an immersive experience for about 1 hour 15 on stage, at the risk of sometimes not choosing subtlety (a quote from Didier).
Here’s an excerpt from the album, to give you an idea:
Support us by ordering the album!
If you’d like to support us in this beautiful adventure and get the album “PhœnX”, you can order it here.
You can’t imagine how much support that represents, and your helping hand will give energy to the whole team!
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