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Taken from BBC (July 27, 2014)
Peter Gabriel says Real World record label can last another 25 years
Peter Gabriel in discussion at WOMAD 2014
by Martin Vennard,BBC News
Peter Gabriel announced his intention to expand the scope of his record label |
Last Saturday at WOMAD Charlton Park, Peter took part in a discussion with Mark Coles (BBC Radio 4 and The Shed) at the Society of Sound Stage to reminisce about the first 25 years of Real World Records.
The discussion covered a wide range of topics, from how Peter first got into music from around the world and the birth of Real World Records, to memories of the Real World Recording Weeks and the many artists the label has worked with over the years, the influence of the label on his own song-writing and thoughts for the future...
"I remember one night, I had a short wave radio back then - I was a bit nerdy - and we'd look around for a Dutch station that was playing some interesting stuff. There was a soundtrack of this not very good Stanley Baxter African epic... but there was something there that I thought was interesting and the groove attracted me. That was a moment. I gradually found as a failed drummer too, I loved great grooves and I was getting a bit bored of the grooves that I was hearing on the radio and that was one way in. And then these extraordinary voices... I listened to these extraordinary singers and some people like Youssou have got natural, extraordinary voices that can get all the hairs moving on the back of your neck"
"Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is probably one of the greatest artists we were able to work with. I remember seeing him in Essex. It was extraordinary because it had this earthy, raw passion of early rock n roll or blues, yet there was this amazing improvising. The group blew us all away and he was the master".
Musician Peter Gabriel says his world music label can carry on for at least another 25 years.
Gabriel, who runs Real World records, made the prediction despite dwindling CD sales and the growth in streaming.
"As long as the audience is interested and keeps sustaining us then we'll deliver what we can", he said on the 25th anniversary of the label.
The former Genesis musician said consumers had to decide whether to "return some payment" to musicians.
Speaking to BBC News at the Womad Festival in Wiltshire, which he co-founded, Gabriel said: "Records don't sell in the way they used to.
"We have to make a choice as consumers about whether we want to return some payment, but there is a lot of generosity in people's hearts."
He added that the record label would continue to bring new musical artists from around the world to a wider audience and expand its remit, adding more Latin American music while introducing a world hip-hop stage at Womad.
"I think we just want to push our own boundaries a bit and go outside of what's our comfort zone," he said.
He set up Real World Records, which grew out of Womad, in 1989 to put world music fans in reach of musicians.
The Blind Boys of Alabama are one of Real World's acts |
It has released more than 200 albums from artists including the Congolese musician Papa Wemba, The Afro Celt Sound System, The Drummers of Burundi, The Blind Boys of Alabama and Gabriel himself.
Gabriel says a particular highlight was working with the late Qawwali singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, "the Pakistani Pavarotti", who was one of the first artists to be released by the label.
"I think that was a sort of a landmark in a sense in that we helped him find an audience outside of Qawwali, and that was always one of the main aims for the label," Gabriel said.
But he added: "We wouldn't have got involved with any of the artists if we didn't love what they did.
"I don't think we had any idea when we set out that we'd be here 25 years later. But it's great. I think we've worked with extraordinary artists so I think we've been very lucky."
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