You might know Ahmed Gallab as the multi-instrumentalist in Yeasayer, or the touring drummer in Of Montreal, or the touring drummer in Caribou. But all the while, Gallab has been releasing music on his own as Sinkane : three LPs between 2007 and 2009, and an EP in 2010. And now he’s gearing up to release his next LP, Mars, sometime this year. While the music does recall the same international psych-pop of the aforementioned bands, Gallab now has the freedom to create whatever he wants which is, as he puts it, “complete self-gratification.”
Though his tour dates aren’t yet too heavy, Gallab performed a couple weeks ago in Brooklyn, and will next appear at Glasslands on June 7. He will also be performing at the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry festival in May.
How did you wind up in Brooklyn?
I moved to Brooklyn about three years ago. I was playing with Of Montreal and our tour was winding down and, after a bit, I was relived of the band. Before Of Montreal I was going to school at Ohio State University and I cut my teeth in Columbus. I was playing in a lot of hardcore bands, a lot of punk bands. When the band I was playing in during college broke up, I kind of found myself here with nothing to do. I went on tour with Caribou and met Of Montreal there… I’ve been on the road on and off for the past three years, [touring] pretty heavily. I’ve hardly had any time off.
Before I lived in Ohio I moved around a lot. My father is a political journalist, a liturgy from Sudan. We moved to the United States in 1989 in political exile. We lived in Boston at the time and my parents pretty much had to start all over. We spent a lot of time moving from one place to another while my dad was chasing jobs. I just moved around a lot. I was born in England, lived in Sudan on and off growing up, and various different parts of the eastern states.
How does working solo differ from working with a band like Yeasayer?
With Of Montreal and Yeasayer and Caribou – all the bands I’ve played in – I was a live member. I don’t write music for any of those bands. My contribution was heavily based on the live show. In Yeasayer I do a lot of computer programming, a lot of back-end work. I play pretty many miscellaneous parts of songs. I guess with my stuff it’s ultimately complete self-gratification. I can do whatever I want, I can play whatever I want until I’m happy. I can make any decision I want to make. I’m not listening to many voices. My friend Greg Lotharo helped me produce the album, and it was an intense collaboration. My creative energy was with all the other bands and I was told what to do.
Your music is pretty jammy and psychedelic – how do you incorporate that into the live setting? What is your outlook on playing live versus in the studio?
Whenever I start doing in the live show, the people who I play with, we all kind of learn the songs as they are on the record as a foundation of understanding what the music is about and from there we see where the song takes us. The difference between the record and the live show is definitely energy. The songs are much livelier in the live setting than on the record. I tend to go for ear candy when I’m recording so it ends up sounding really subtle. But when I play live I really want the show to be energetic and exciting and fulfilling for everybody. I guess we start there and we play off the crowd. There are a lot of parts we can stretch out and a lot of parts that don’t matter to be played live. We kind of figure it out as we go.
How is your own live band set up?
In the past there have been many different incarnations. There have been eight people playing with horns and stuff. I’m constructing the band now and it’s going to be a four piece. There are going to be drums, bass, guitar and keys with a lot of computer stuff too. A lot of electronic elements as well. In the live show I’ll play a lot of guitar and sing.
How has your music progressed since your earlier work? What were your goals for this album?
The past few records have been much more abstract. The songs have been longer. The range elements are a lot looser. They haven’t relied on vocals at all. With this record I’ve started to make it much more concise. I guess with every record we’re trying to make it much more concise and user-friendly. So that’s the big difference.
What I want to do is play – the shows that I have played have been good but they haven’t quite been the shows I’ve wanted to play. They haven’t had the energy I’ve wanted to conjure up with a meaning. I’d really like to play more shows and to see where that goes. I also really enjoy playing in Yeasayer. I play with this other group, with a girl called Eleanor Freidberger. I play drums for her. I really enjoy playing with her. It’s gonna be a full schedule but I’d like to be up at the level of anyone else. To be something people can take seriously.
Who are some of your musical influences? From where do you draw inspiration?
I think there is a lot of African music. I grew up listening to African music and I’m from Sudan so I try to always have that in my music. I’m a really big fan of Impulse! Records-era jazz, like Archie Shepp and Alice Coltrane… The later Ornette Coleman stuff, too. It’s really interesting, spiritual jazz. I try to conjure up that kind of sentiment and spirit with the music that I make. A lot of afro-Cuban stuff, lots of Funkadelic, and Parliament and Bill Withers. Kind of some dub music, as well.
I’ve been listening to this DJ mix that my friend put me on about a year about – DJ Lengua, Mota Mix, it’s this mix of music called Rebajada. It’s a Mexican DJ style, which is playing Cumbia 45s on 33s so it sounds really languid and slow and chopped and screwed. It’s just an hour-long mix of that stuff. It’s an amazing experience to listen to. It sounds really interesting. The beats are so slow but so groovy and you get lost in the music.
I saw on your Twitter that you stopped by Occupy Wall Street. What are your thoughts on the movement?
I think it’s something that should be taken seriously. I really don’t…I’m really careful about involving myself politically with things. It’s very important to understand what you are supporting. Looking at OWS from an outside perspective – meaning I’m not very involved with it that much – it’s definitely something that needs to be taken seriously. It’s a worthy and important subject to think about for everyone. A lot of the times when I think about politics – my father was really political – politics re-veered his life in a really drastic way. I get anxious when I talk about it. OWS is probably one of the first times I’ve been able to see the immediacy of the cause and where I am with my life. It’s a true movement like any political movement has been since the 60s. I’m interested to see it and learn more about it and see where it goes.
