Q:When did you start playing the guitar?
A: I started playing the guitar when I was 6 years old.

Q:Who are/were some of your first influences in music?
A: I used to listen to different types of music, like, Rock and Roll, Blues and Smooth Jazz, and of course Compas. Dadou Pasquet is one of my favorites Haitian guitar player. I also like Jimmy Hendrix, Georges Benson and Joe Satantonic, to name a few.

Q: Do you play any other instruments?
A: Yes, I also play the keyboard.

Q: Was Papash your first band?
A: No, Papash was not my first band. I had a group in Haiti called, Café, with Gary Didier Perez [Ex-Zenglen singer] and my second band was, Tono, with Patrick Martineau, Syto Cavé and Fabrice Rouzier. Then, Papash came along.

Q: Ever thought of having a Papash reunion?
A: That’s my biggest challenge because producers and fans have been asking for a reunion tour for many, many years. What I can say is that it’s going to happen soon, although I can not tell you a specific date, but I know it will happen next year, in 2010. I have a great relation with all the members. We do talk about that all the time and I think the public deserves that from us.

The remaining of the questions and answers will be added subsequently. Are you interested?
Q: What non-Haitian artists did you listen to while growing up?
A: The likes of Georges Benson, Jimmy Hendrix and The Doors

Q: Who would you like to work with?
A: I’m open to work with everyone who needs a good producer. Basically, I work with many artists of the HMI because I am also a studio producer. I’ve worked with artists from the French Caribbean like Martinique, Guadeloupe, as well as artists based in Paris. My studio is located in Miami and I also own a recording label company.

Q: Besides music, what else do you enjoy?
A: I enjoy staying home in my free time, watching movies, cooking or going to the beach.

Q: Finish this sentence: I hope.
A: We put ourselves together and put our egoes on the side to rebuild Haiti.

Q: How do you feel about the tag that some have attached to you as being a “ship jumper”?
A: Well, people say stuff sometimes and they don’t even have any clues on what they are saying. I think it’s a poor mentality from some. Put it this way, I am a professional musician, not a part time musician, this is what I do for a living so I have full right to do what is best for me first, before pleasing anyone else. Also, I’ve always given 100% of myself in every institution that I was part of. Papash was my first group, and I gave it 7 years of my life. Tabou Combo, 8 years, Top vice, 2 years and Nu Look, 4 years. I am still there and always on the market producing new stuff, for me and other artists. I don’t really see the point of being labelled a ship jumper? One more example, in the NBA, players change team every year to join other clubs that are offering more money. I have never heard the American media saying or talking about “ship jumper”. We need to change that poor mentality and be more positive, so we can look forward for a better future.

Q: Tell us something that most don’t know about you.
A: I am also a computer analyst and an engineer.

Q: What percentage of your solos during bal are improvised?
A: The percentage is 100%, because I always come up with new stuff and new sound. For solos, I’m very good in terms of improvising. I try to never do the same solo over an over. I always try to incorporate some new skills into it, unless it is already set into the music.

Q: What’s the inspiration behind “Fos lanmou”, which appeared on the AkoustiKreyol album?
A: “Fos lanmou” was a remake of Rod Stewart’s “Have I told you lately?”. I love that music so much, that I said to myself why not do a Compas version. I changed it a little by adding my own flavor, the lyric was written by Donald “Fresh La” Joseph, lead singer of Vwadezil (Voix des Îles).

Q: You’ve put your name on a lot of different projects from Banjo to Cleo to Nu Poz to VAG. Which ones are you least proud of, and why?
A: Lately, I produced many artists like you said Cleo, Misty Jean, Brutus from Zenglen, Banjo, VAG, Poze, Don Polo and many Antillean artists. Right now, I just finished working with Top-Vice. They are going to make a big come back. All of these projects are great to me, but I was disappointed at the way some were marketed and promoted.

Q: When you’ll no longer be with us, how would you like to be remembered?
A: I think that every one has a mission and we come on earth for a reason. Specially, when you are an artist you never die; you live for ever and ever in many people hearts, your work talk for you. I am still young but dont know how much time I have left because tomorrow does not belong to us. All I can say is I have done so much in the HMI, the only thing I am asking is to always support anything Haitian; buy the original albums, stop making copies, that’s one way of showing appreciation and keeping me to produce more music for you, the fans. As far as being remembered, I attached a song from the Akoustikreyol album, titled “Bluestring”. Play it and you will always see Ralph Condé through it.
Before I leave, there is a song, “La vi a pral fini”, on the first Papash album [Fas a Fas], I would like to share some of the lyrics of that song:

“…La vi a pral fini cheri[e]
An n’al fe yon “trip” pa kite ko nou fe pli
Deye lanmo gen yon lot vi ki pi “cool”
Fo’k nou prese jwenn yon plas avan foul…”

Facebook Comments

Added by

Cheyna

SHARE