Reported by Andy Force / 29-04-14 23:07 

Innovation, originality and genuine creativity are values that too often come second to the tendency to ‘play it safe’ or to banally reconstruct art forms that have already gone before. The exploration of new ideas, and the courage to transform them into reality reflects a fundamental human characteristic that enables us as the ultimate creative species, with unlimited potential.

Tribal Village, fast becoming one of London’s best known psychedelic parties, have shunned the temptation to lapse into routines of familiarity. Making innovative choices of artists at each party, they have defined themselves by their willingness to push boundaries, injecting unseen artists and cutting edge music styles into the circulation of our scene. Trusted by a growing following of dedicated lovers of the psychedelic music experience, it seems like the future of our scene is held in the hands of those who dare to be different.

This creativity, the exposure to something new, creates a unique atmosphere at Tribal Village. It becomes a playground for explorers, a place where we can have our eyes opened, somewhere we can feel magic, like the very first time we felt it.

A part of that magical experience at the next Tribal Village party on the 10th May will be Suduaya — a French psychedelic progressive and chillout artist with his own unique styles that are quite unlike much that has been come across before. Incorporating a distinctive guitar-based use of melodies, Suduaya perfectly expresses the frequencies of originality and creativity that encapsulate the experience of Tribal Village. We decided to introduce him to the village with this interview…

Tell us about your background, what is your earliest memory of anything musical?

I still have some memories of myself at 4 years old trying out instruments at the monthly “music open mind” sessions, or whatever the name of it was that I went to before starting real music classes with the violin at 5 years old. My mother brought me there to make me aware of music and to find my way into it.

How did you find electronic music, and the psychedelic world?

I was introduced to psy trance in 2004, by my friends from the project Shehoor. Boom festival 2004 was my first festival experience and it changed my life.

In what way did it change your life?

I didn’t know about this movement, I discovered something I was looking for without knowing exactly what. I never liked other types of events, the regular music festivals or parties, filled with heavy alcohol, fights, and where no one cares about environment. I only had this vision of Woodstock, like this happened in the past and since then there has been nothing like it.

So to feel such energy and positivity in psychedelic parties touched me really deep, and later I heard about other types of communities, events that were connected to that vibe; it really changed my vision and expectations of a proper gathering. Love, Respect and Happiness on a good dance floor!

For many it’s a way of life, it’s incredible, to see people following the festival season, from festival to festival, all over the world, and meeting the same guys in Hungary, Portugal, Thailand, Australia is awesome. You feel something special that connects people together, it’s obvious.

Were you experimenting with electronic music before Boom? 

Nothing much, as a French guy, I was not in the French techno scene, neither the Laurent Garnier style or even the famous hardcore scene, it didn’t catch me really. I was more into Depeche Mode or Pink Floyd, so a mixture between acoustic styles and electronic music.

What is the psychedelic scene all about? What does it mean to you?

It means what you can see on a dance floor, people are dancing in their own way, following the music, there are no rules, it’s pure freedom.

What instruments do you play? 

I used to play violin, I play guitar, drums and a bit of piano.

What other styles of music are you interested in?

I love everything, no boundaries, just what I feel depending on the moment. I can wake up with soul, funk, chill with deep house, head-bang with heavy metal at night, or groove with old school hip-hop, relax with roots/reggae.

Let’s talk about the technical side of your live set. Some producers simply programme their live, turn up and click ‘play’. How is yours different?

I use a guitar for my chill out set, so my tracks are mostly prepared that I can play on them. For the trance set, i’m more like sending and playing with effects on the software.

What are your favourite musicians and artists of yesterday? Are there any new up and coming producers that you think are going to go far?

So many, it’s hard to name all of them. To select a few: Solar Fields, Asura, Astropilot, Human Element, Krusseldorf, Talpa, Spirit Architect, Lubdub…

What is most important to you when you produce a track: musicality, or production quality?

Musicality is the most important, and of course to find the best balance between musicality and production.

When you write music, is there anything personal, or spiritual or philosophical that you are hoping to express? 

I express myself and I can’t fake it when it’s about music, I’ve always refused projects where I had to ‘sell my soul’. I feel that there is a responsibility when we play on stage; it’s a place where you have the control over what you share.

Spirituality has for sure influenced me and my music, but it’s not an idea or some ideology that I wanna express on stage, because that thing is personal. I want to share happiness and love, nothing more.

Your progressive sound has a very distinctive style that sets it apart from the progressive psy that is in the mainstream of the genre, with a great emphasis on bright melodies, but without cliché or predictable harmonic structure. How has this become your defining sound? What influences, or preferences have made you develop your sound in this way?

Thank you, it’s really nice to get feedback like that. Well I don’t know, I don’t think about anything while creating, it’s just coming from somewhere. I’ve realized my style is evolving as well, the older I get, the more I’m looking for powerful beats. But yeah melodies are very important for me, they bring uplifting emotions.

Several of your tracks have incredibly beautiful vocals sampled into them, whose voice is this?

I’m working with different singers, always different people so far. Sometimes I also look for samples in ethno music. Voices bring so much space into tracks.

You were on the road a fair bit with gigs in 2013. What is your favourite memory from travelling around so many different interesting places?

It’s hard to answer, let’s say, the first image I get is at Forest Star Festival in Sweden, where the place for sleeping was a lovely house in the forest close to a field of bisons. An amazing place and a pretty unusual situation!

On the 10th May you are performing two sets at Tribal Village in London. Have you played in the UK before? What would you say to people who have never heard of you, who are not sure what to expect?

I’m very exited about this gig, it’s going to be the first time for me playing in UK! I’m looking forward to meeting the crowd and I hope that people will enjoy the journey. I don’t really know what to say to them if they are not sure hehe… well, just come and feel the vibe! Let’s share this moment!