Interview. Taïro at the Les Art’Zimutés festival in Cherbourg: “I was delighted to be there with my musicians”

The artist Taira performed at the Art’Zimutés festival in Cherbourg (Manche), Saturday June 29, 2024. He gave an interview to The Channel Press for the occasion.

When we contacted you, did you immediately say yes?

I have a turner who liaises between the programmers and me. The Art’zi proposal suited us so we immediately said yes. Although I didn’t know about the festival before, I was really excited to be there with my musicians. The infrastructure and reception are superb. It was a first in Cherbourg, but I’m very happy to be there, there are good vibrations.

Was your set different from the usual ones?

Yes it was shorter, 75 minutes with about twenty songs, and a different order. But the goal is always to make you travel in emotions, in rhythm. I built the show in a crescendo way, and we finished really high (laughs).

Were you attracted by the festival’s diverse values, which advocate plurality?

It looks exactly like me actually! I learned to make music thanks to reggae which remained my inspiration, my aesthetic for a long time. But I mix a lot of other styles and that influences my reggae. Difference and mixture are much more interesting to me than monoculture. I prefer permaculture (laughing)!

You played with a group, The Family Band, a habit for you?

I am always accompanied by the Family Band. We’ve been playing together for over fifteen years, we’ve been through happy and unhappy times together and we love getting together. There is even more fun on stage and so we were able to give even more, I hope.

How do you cope with being a headliner?

I don’t particularly consider being a headliner, because I want to remain an outsider. I want to prove and perform as much as possible. I don’t want to find comfort. It was obviously nice because people might particularly come to see us but I still want to think about having to convince them. I don’t want to appear arrogant or overconfident.

Is music an outlet for you in these more gloomy times?

I often want to express through speech between songs but I don’t do it too much. I make music with messages that I hope are clear, sufficient.

I just want to unite, we are all different anyway but we can be together for a while, leaving our opinions aside.

Comments collected by Arthur PUYBERTIER

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