to find the bridges that connect us . Our professions are collective , and as in the theater , all the roles are important . Singing in a choir is a wonderful feeling and for me , I always thought that I would express myself at a certain age . And in Côte d ' Ivoire we found that Kassav ' was very popular , we gave concerts in Treichville to 10,000 people , in Bouaké there were 25,000 people , we had never experienced that at home . We had 15,000 this was feat already in the islands , but never 25,000 , almost double . In Africa we went from surprise to surprise , even if it is true that in Africa there are many more people than at home . Well , obviously with the piracy of records at that time , we couldn ' t say that we were selling records in Africa . We played in front of 90,000 people , in a stadium in Luanda ( Angola ) and this was known in France . People in the industry started to think . Producers started to court us . But , as I wouldn ' t say luckily , our producer in Martinique didn ’ t have a real record company , and couldn ' t have a follow-up , we managed ourselves every time . We did all the promotion ourselves , even when there was a clip to shoot , it was Jacob who was looking for who was going to be the director , he made the hotel reservations , budgeted the real cost of the shooting , because we wanted to make clips that were at the level of the music that we claimed to o er to the world . All the work was done by us , yet we needed a real record company to do the side work , when we were concentrating on the music creation . We signed with Sony in 1987 when we had done our path already . We made our first Zenith on June 22 , 1985 , without a production company and without media coverage , we filled it to the brim at the time , there was no limit , we made more than 8000 ... the concert was sold out a month in advance . Without media , we had a TV reporting on us , just the day before and it was during a football program thanks to our friend Didier Roustan …. ( Laughs ) this is to tell you ... During the second Zénith in 1986 we had 4 dates sold out … In 1986-1987 during our tours in Africa people heard incredible figures . For the first West Indian carnival , on La Pelouse de Reuilly , ( the
Lawn of Reuilly ), at the gates of Paris , a large number of West Indians from France came from all over France to see their group ... 250,000 people according to the police figure . The media do not talk about it and France still ignores us …
Kassav it ’ s more than 40 years of music tours all over the world , in front of millions of spectators . Today when you think of the longevity of Kassav when you know that groups sometimes have a hard time staying together ; What do you think is the major element that allowed Kassav to stay together ?
Before 1985 the group was composed of Pierre Edouard Decimus , his brother George and Jacob Desvarieux . The three created the group which at first was experimental . Gradually they called this one or those one who were called back or not for the albums or the stage . The combination happened gradually . It was not a group of friends but musicians or singers who might want to create and be part of a group . In 1983 I was actually an employee of Kassav . It was in 1985 that Pierre Edouard told us : “ Kassav is you ”, that is to say the whole group as it was until 1995 . That year , we noticed that some were sleeping and that a kernel is the essence of Kassav '. We reduce the group to those who compose the titles that make the success of the group . This core has never changed . What binds us is the music we make together . Respect for others is our discipline . The star is Kassav '. Everyone knows that he contributes to it , but is almost nothing without the group . The group gave each of us popularity . We have to protect the group . The Ego is put aside .
In the 80s , women in music when they did not have solo careers were often in the back , because they either did back vocals , or were dancers . Who had the original idea to make you stand out in Kassav , and make you one of the central characters of the group ? I think you helped break some codes ? I didn ' t really have a choice . My part was the female part , and I think that from the start Pierre Edouard had decided that way . The idea of Kassav , Jacob often told us , had been discussed for more
36 Flashmag ! Issue 129 May 2022