Magyd Cherfi, the ex-singer of Zebda, releases a new album: “I kept the festive spirit”

La Dépêche du Midi: Your new record, “Le Propre des ratures”, was released a few weeks ago thanks to crowdfunding. Is it difficult to release a record today?

Yes it’s difficult for me whereas if we are 20 years old, like when I was 20 years old, we make electro music, hip-hop, urban music, R&B, then the houses of records love you! Whereas at more than 60 years old, if you sing French songs with lyrics, the radio won’t program you. There are still a few young artists with lyrics, like Pomme, who is great but, for a guy like me, it was a bit dead, I knew that. I went anyway because you need an excuse to then go on tour. My son Hakim recorded my vocals, my other son Alyoun takes care of the legal aspect and my wife Zoulie is responsible for all the administration of my company.

Does the pleasure of writing still exist?

Yes, the pleasure of writing is there, of course, even if in recent years I have been very into novels and literature. But, at the same time, there is always the little idea of ​​a song that comes along and makes you go “Ah, hey!” But life is made up of “Ah, hey!” (laughs) And since I do a lot of musical reading, I always have a musician who accompanies me and there is always the temptation to ask if he can help me find the missing third chord…

Did you want to record a more festive album than the previous ones?

Yes, so I kept the festive spirit, or at least, it seems to me that I brought back something sunny. The other albums were a little bit all the same, but much more so, because I had both a modern production of drum machines and machinery. And behind that I wanted something organic, so acoustic instruments, acoustic guitar, acoustic strings, choirs, ambiances.

I did what I felt because without a contract with a record company, we can go further, ultimately, without having to satisfy any artistic director. And the tone of the album is almost optimistic, but I fear that is the effect of age! (laughs) It’s a particular album that I should have made 15 years earlier, perhaps, when I was obsessed with the intimate. But intimacy doesn’t work with the record company or the radio. Whereas I’m clearly a rhythm person.

And with age, the preponderance of reggae asserts itself…

Reggae was obviously born with Bob Marley. It is dance, song, prayer and fiesta all at the same time. There is something universal.

And a fight?

It is certain, a fight which was carried out by Africans, black people and in all music which was carried by black people. There is this blues because reggae is a blues with a different rhythm. And it’s something inexplicable that I ultimately feel very strongly.

The voice seems more liberated…

I don’t have enough perspective on my voice but there is a kind of mental zenitude which perhaps allows me to go further in the melodic register, so I ventured out with less fear than before.

Feminism runs through your books and this album too with songs like “The Wife of the Unknown Soldier”, in particular, which is also intended to be a political manifesto…

My wife would like me to write an album dedicated to women! I didn’t follow through with this idea, but the album is feminist. It is the product of an education because I have a mother, although Algerian, immigrant, illiterate, elderly, who carries a visceral feminism within her. She said this in a metaphorical way: “Men, we should cut off their balls.” She absolutely wanted us not to be like her boyfriend, her brothers, her father, her uncles who were absent and violent, whether with their wives or their children.

Being supported by your mother, you embrace your struggle without realizing it and when you reach the age of reflection, you become politicized and feminism becomes much more political. And that gives songs like “The Woman of the Unknown Soldier” which I wrote for Femmouzes T who asked me for a woman’s song that fit into it.

What new projects are you leading?

The tour is being prepared, the live performance is ready and obviously I’m starting to put the pen back into the inkwell. I also have the idea in my head of making a film on my book “The Life of My Mother” (released last January by Actes Sud, editor’s note) which was well received so I will do my best to find producers .