Kudu - byPaolo De Gregorio
nublu's newest voodoo

Music, like any other art, regenerates itself through ethnic and cultural promiscuity. Rock music seems to prove this constantly, starting with its birth (from a dalliance between blues and C&W). It received a new spark every time rockers turned to a new ethnicity to embrace and/or pillage: think of the '60s fascination with eastern music, the explosion of reggae in the late '70s, the incredible influence that hip-hop and funk had on rock music in the last two decades.

New York City is, needless to say, a city of immigrants. Every ethnicity in the world is woven into its fabric; name a country or a people, however obscure, and chances are that you've bumped into its representative on the subway without knowing it. But even though this should technically make NYC the ideal city for art and rock'n'roll, every single time I attend an indie rock show, most of the faces I see around are white - we are talking about 90 to 100% here. The most cosmopolitan metropolis in the world appears very exclusionary when it comes to music. The sound of today's NYC indie rock is, for the most part, as white as rock gets. From the garage revival, to the '80s-inspired drone stuff, through the many bands fashioning themselves in the image of their glam, punk and power-pop heroes, there's not much cross-breeding on display here.

But the city has resources. Founded by Turkish jazz saxophonist Ilhan Ersahin, Nublu started as a charming small bar in a Latino neighborhood of Manhattan (Alphabet City) to slowly become, also thanks to its own music label, the core of a new musical phenomenon that is defying the lily-white constraints of indie rock and its signature sound (the distorted electric guitar). The bands that play Nublu have cosmopolitan names (The Brazilian Girls, Elodie O, Kudu), electronic equipment (laptops included), a preference for intriguing rhythms (instead of the rigid kick'n'hat thing many NYC bands are favoring these days) and - most importantly - know how to perform. Also, they all seem familiar with an ingredient that makes their music more rich and unpredictable: a delicacy called jazz.

Kudu - a duo composed by singer Sylvia and drummer/programmer D, accompanied live by __________ on keyboards - is not the kind of band with a short musical vocabulary (as Sylvia puts it, "Too many records left an impression on me. Can't pick one, too tough"). They play Nublu (the venue) every Tuesday. It's not just a monthly residency. It's more like a "permanency", as they've been playing there for months every week - until Ilhan decided to take an extra step: "Playing at Nublu so often let's just say we got 'involved in the family'. Ilhan's pimp hand is so strong that when he asked us to sign we actually couldn't say no. Besides, he promised we'd get to meet Norah Jones." Right, we almost forgot about that detail! The platinum-selling piano prodigy / Shankar progeny used to sing in Ilhan's band called Wax Poetic.

Kudu showcased their strength as a live band during The Deli's Alphabet City party in October: The duo plays a previously unheard-of mix of dance, d'n'b and soul with a dark, dirty edge. Sylvia's powerful, soulful, expressive but direct vocals dominated the scene, even though it was the tight drumming perfectly synched with the imaginative sequences that made the audience move. Sylvia's clever and somewhat naughty lyrics and her engaging stage presence - featuring a funny/sexy extravaganza I won't give away, except the fact that it involves disco balls - made the show strong all around. This is the kind of music you'd imagine a self-described "American Nomad" and a guy from Atlanta conjuring up.

American Nomad?

[Sylvia] "I have moved so much in my life (almost every 1 or 2 years) around the States that i feel like a nomad with no particular allegiance to one region. I became familiar with music during school's affiliated activities, choirs, theater. Can't pinpoint the first spot I started singing...anywhere, at home, the car, school.

Nublu seems to reflect better than any other NYC venue the racial and cultural variety present in the city. But sometimes I wonder if the elements in this pot are really melting... Listening to Kudu's music mix so many different influences, the answer would appear to be yes. But how many bands/artists are actually doing that? Our impression is that the beginning of the millennium has seen a restoration of many genres in almost exactly their original form.

S.-Yes, partly...in mainstream. These things take time. You see some crossover. Eminem, Joss Stone...but mostly whites doing traditionally black music, there are just overwhlemingly more whites in the Western world, it's inevitable. But in the underground and off the radar, to me, it's as if roles reverse racially just to make things fresh or ironic or artistic. The whole booty-bass resurgence (mostly white), for example. Also, I'm going to finish recording my country cock-rock album.

NYC's current indie scene seems to involve (on both ends) mainly young white men and women. Kudu is an exception - at their gigs you see a much more diverse audience. Why do you guys think that is?

Our skin is brown, for starters, so perhaps other non-whites feel more represented, and also our sound is much more inclusive. We draw from so many places musically.

Do you feel like you belong to a scene?

S.-We are scene sluts. I'll be there if you'll have me.

Do you consider yourself more of a jazz, a dance or a pop band?

S.-All that. Elements of all that.

Is your songwriting process starting with vocals or sequences?

S.-It's different every time. Sometimes it's just a general concept.

Brian Eno says that writing songs with sequencers brings you to work in a "vertical" way - you tend to add layers on top of each other in the computer screen and then to finalize the song by organizing these layers throughout the arrangement. According to this theory, this system seems ideal to create dancey tracks with very cool sounds, but tends to inhibit chord changes, giving the music a sort of obsessive quality. Do you think that applies to Kudu's music?

S.-Yes and no. We are not big fans of changing chords for the movement of a song anyway. i can appreciate it, as well as do it in other stricter genres, but it is kind of an older style to me and tends to inhibit modern sound. What's current is the use of new sounds and timbres. For example, Frank Zappa's Peaches and Regalia was the same 16 bars over and over, same melody, but with a new instrumentation everytime, that kept it super fresh. Very different from what we do but making something sound new without changes and modulations is possible and super cool!

Siouxsie and the Banshees are often quoted as an influence in the reviews of your music... who was the goth kid here - if any?

S.-That would be me. But as i said, i am, and always was a scene hopper. I pride myself on being able to find a genuine connection and pull something beautiful from anywhere, but it's usually fringe type stuff.

What does kudu mean? Google gives confusing answers...

K.ids U.nder D.emonic U.sage, it means 'heroine' and 'dusk' in Singhalese (a Sri Lankan dialect ), it is an African antelope with the big spiral horns and the white stripe across their faces. They are known for their speed and the horn is used as a musical instrument. Those are a few meanings.

Cosmopolitan music with a cosmopolitan name - this is music from NYC.