Don't abuse them! They might name a song after you

A French band with members who come from nooks and crannies across the world, named itself after a racial abuse that was hurled at them by a dissatisfied listener. We think that's reason enough to catch them play tonight

A French band with members who come from nooks and crannies across the world, named itself after a racial abuse that was hurled at them by a dissatisfied listener. We think that's reason enough to catch them play tonight

Why would you pay 300 bucks to hear a band that was once booed off stage? Maybe because these guys don't like taking no for answer.

French band Les Boukakes, who are in town to prove you wrong, know that sometimes, a little humiliation can pave the way for a long, successful career.
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"Les Boukakes is a phonetic mixture of two racist insults (Bougnole and Makake), typical to the south of France.

A restaurant owner abused us while we were playing in a public place in Montpellier. 'Stop this boukakes music,' he hollered.

Coincidentally, we hadn't thought of a name for our band, and so, we adopted the abuse as our identity because we thought it reflected an attitude towards any kind of racist behaviour," says Imed Alibi, the Tunisian who plays the Darbuka, a goblet drum.



Imed and six other musicians are all strung together by one common thread they are all ethnically and culturally poles apart.

There's Bachir, an Algerian who heads vocals, Thierry is the Corsican guitarist, Haki from Kurdistan is on the keyboard and accordion, Bubulle, the bass player is from the north of France, Pascal the drummer is from the south, and the technician of the team, Massimo is from Italy.
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"Rather than impede the music-making process, the mish-mash ends up having a uniqueu00a0 effect on their music.
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Thierry, the guitarist, for example, has a musical influence (Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin), which is different from mine (Tunisian, Egyptian).

Bachir is influenced by his mother country Algeria, and the French suburbs (Hip-Hop and Rap). And when we mix all of it, we get Oriental Rock!" says Imed.

Imed says each member pitches in with an idea. "It can be a traditional rhythm from North Africa that Bachir proposes, or a guitar riff that I try and add an Arab rhythm to.

It all works," he smiles. It surely seems so. The band has performed at concerts all over the world, has been nominated for the BBC R3's Awards for World Music in 2007, and released three albums, since 1999.

Les Boukakes are playing at Blue Frog, Mathuradas Mill Compound, Lower Parel, today and tomorrow at 9.30 pm. Call: 40332300. Entry: Rs 300

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