Brain Damage Meets Vibronics
Empire Soldiers Live
This is the Live version of Empire Soldiers : Brain Damage & Vibronics unleash a fiery dubwise journey into the lesser known volumes of history. When two of Europes most notorious dub producers and an international cast of singers meet up to discuss the start of the Great War 100 years ago, you know the results are going to be big. Empire Soldiers is the often overlooked story of the colonial troops in World War One, a heavyweight musical collaboration with an emotive set of lyrical tales from Africa, Asia and The Caribbean told by Madu Messenger, Parvez, Sir Jean and Mohammed El Amraoui. Vibronics & Brain Damage teamed up and decided to come together around a concept, a narrative inspiration that will undoubtedly surprise: Anglo-Caribbean and Franco-African soldiers experience during the first world war. The academic historian, poet & songwriter, Madu Messenger, uses the product of years of study and research, to develop, within that very framework, a series of texts on some key topics such as travel, friendship, war and death. This project thus aims at offering a learning experience about this often little-known period of our history. It will draw troubling parallels with some more contemporary considerations on culture shocks, immigration, imperial powers and horrors of war that still affects all of us today. Following their reflection on this sensitive issue, the musicians of the projects - all of many other origins, Anglo-French, Jamaican or Asian - move towards a cultural alignment, opposite to certain enslaving and communitarian models. Brain Damage and Vibronics digital reggae-dub comes in different colors throughout many influences, completing the best of their know-how, with the spontaneousness of the collaboration & human experience.