Interview Lee Everton

Primo svizzero (anche se - ad onor di cronaca gossipara delle somiglianze - qualcuno in Italia ha paragonato l'espressione del suo volto a quella di Celentano... fino a dove può spingersi l'orgoglio nazionale...) ad essere messo sotto contratto dalla blasonata etichetta reggae tedesca Rootdown per la sua abilità nel passare da uno stile all'altro (reggae, soul, blues, country) con una scioltezza invidiabile, Lee Everton è riuscito a trarre dal suo esilio interiore alternato da una passione indubitabile per la black music (come testimoniato dall'anno ben speso appena compiuta la maggiore età alla Jamaican School of Music di Kingston nonchè le sue numerose collaborazioni artistiche) un punto di convergenza espressivo fra i vissuti sonori di Bob Marley, Van Morrison e Bob Dylan. Raccomandandovi l'ascolto di Inner Exile, addentriamoci nella conoscenza del simpatico Lee. Buona lettura! Lee Everton "Inner Exile" (Rootdown Records, Distribuzione Audioglobe) 01.I Feel Like Dancing 02.You Ain't Good To Me No More 03.Inner Exile 04.King Vapor 05.So Proud Of You 06.Bring It On Home To Me 07.Cold Wind Blow 08.April 09.Genova 10.Won't Keep Knocking 11.Comfort Me 12.Down To The River 13.I Ain't Got No Home 14.Slingstyle Music 15.Come Closer To Me

Hi Lee. How are you? I'm very fine, thanks! I just had a few very cool shows and I'm fueled with loads of good vibes right now.

One of the most interesting biographical note's the fact you attended Jamaican School Of Music in Kingston… how do you remember that year? Which are the most influencial teachings you grabbed in those "school-rooms"? But above all did teachers permit you a choke in the courtyard? Well, we weren't really tought herbology in school :-). But smoking weed isn't as widespread amongst young Jamaicans as we tend to believe actually, at least not in the middle class. The year in Jamaica was probably the best year in my life and the time at the School of Music was very inspiring. The most influental class I attended was conga drumming where we learnt about traditional Jamaican and African rhythms. The classes where we played as a band were very cool too.

What's the origin of your passion for Black Music? I loved rhythm since I was a kid. I started to listen to funk and soul when I was about twelve. Mainly due to my elder brother who already went to school in the city and brought home some great records with music that I had never heard before. With thirteen I went to my first show with him which was a concert of Johnny "Guitar" Watson and a little later to a show of Billy Cobham. I was thrilled. I've been captured with grooving music ever since.

Among all storytellers, toasters, mcs and rastamans, it's strange a man coming from a country which doesn't have palm trees and seasides is vying with very good music, even if there's a plenty of people making music in German-speaking areas… How do Jamaican musicians or anyone pretending to know the stealt or right keys to do reggae consider you after listening to your music? Well, is my music reggae at all? I don't even know. When I had my first songs recorded I played them to a few friends and asked them how they would label my music. They all said: Well it's kind of reggae but then again it's different too. It also has elements of blues, folk and soul in it and my singing has been compared to Van Morrisons. That said I actually received very encouraging feedback from reggae musicians and lovers as well as people who don't listen to reggae normally.

Compliments for your brand new album, man!!! I imagine it's not easy to sum it up, but could you trace the path followed during your "Inner Exile"? Before I started working on "Inner Exile" I played in a hip-hop band with which we released a couple of albums and did a lot of live shows. Then I had a car accident in 2001. I survived it basically uninjured but for a short moment I didn't know if I was going to survive this. This experience has changed my perception of life. I got more pensive and thoughtful. And this was also reflected in my music. I had too find another musical language to express my feelings. At first I wasn't planning an album. I just tried out many different things.

Any rite before live performance? Fortunately I was never really stage frightened. But I do a few vocal exercices to warm up my voice before the show. This really helps me.

Your definition of the "right mood"… Feeling understood, feeling close and feeling loved by a woman I love.

It seems your sound is deeply rooted in classical reggae. What's your favourite song among classic and why? Well for me it's still the live version of "No Woman No Cry". There is just so much vibe in this song. It has mesmerized me as a teenager and it still moves me when I hear it today. The Wailers were an incredible rhythm section and Marley was such an intense singer and a fantastic melody writer too. On that recording you can also feel the exitement of a group that - after years of struggling so hard - finally got the recognition they deserved.

A question you're going to expect from an Italian interviewer… What's the story surrounding Genova? I went to the big manifestation against the G8 summit in Genova in the summer of 2001. What I describe in this song is what really happened to me. Just after having arrived in Genova I ran into a young man who had become an eyewitness of how Carlo Guiliani got killed. He told us that the police had worked together with young fascists who were dressed like members of the black block. Their job was to provoke fights and to discredit the anti-globalization movement. At first I wasn't sure if I could believe him all of this. I followed the media coverage of the issue during the following years and obviously he was right. I was shocked that this is still happening in Europe today. And I still remember the scared look in the wide opened eyes of this young man.

Which kind of relationship does a guitarist have with its own instrument? More or less morbid than that a rocker normally have with its own guitar? I have two guitars that I really love, an acoustic and an electric one. They're both old and It took me a while to find them. So I hope I don't break them and nobody steals them from me. But I wouldn't call it a morbid relationship :-).

Another interesting biographical answer says that you've become more reflexive after a car accident… Someone could imagine that you were a butt-hole listening to high-empowering-deeply-louder-than-thunders super-ultra-paranormal-techno-music before…. So what? I've already been listening to reggae and soul before long before I got into hip-hop. But for a couple of years I was doing mainly rap. Straight up beats and rhymes. So it was definitely a change when I showed up on a stage a few years later with only my acoustic guitar and a microphone on a stand :-).

Are you planning a tour or is it too early to speak about it? I've been doing quite a few shows in Switzerland with the Scrucialists an awesome reggae backing band from Basel. It's really thrilling for me to play with them. I always loved band shows and they're really a great backing band. I'm also doing solo shows, normally just with my acoustic guitar. I've started doing shows in Germany and I would love to play in more countries too. We'll see what happens. It has all just started yet.

Any work in progress? After finishing my work on "Inner Exile" I took a little break from songwriting. But I'm working on new songs now and I'm really looking forward to do a next album!