The Sierra Leone’s Refugee Allstars are hardly your group of musicians born and bred on Zeppelin, Nirvana and Radiohead. In fact they are the epitome of a roots band having formed as refugees displaced to Guinea during the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2002). Instruments and musicians were hard to come by and the concept of touring and recording were something of far fetched fantasy verse reality.
While that civil war lasted 11 years, enveloped the country, and left over 50,000 dead, the tragedy of being displaced left music as a necessity for survival. When the musicians that make up Sierre Leone’s Refugee Allstars finally returned to Freetown at the conclusion of the war, their first studio album, Living Like A Refugee was released.
Like a Refugee’s lyrics spoke of the pain and horror experienced during the war and the displacement and uncertainty of life as a refugee but the lyrics also talk about hope, peace and love with roots reggae flavors.. Their second studio album, Rise & Shine was produced by Steve Berlin of Los Lobos and was recorded at Piety Street Studio in New Orleans with local musicians Trombone Shorty, Washboard Chaz and Bonerama all guesting, allowing it to finish as #1 album the year on the World Music Charts Europe.
Sierra Leone’s third studio album- Radio Salone (April 24th release date) – was produced by roots reggae, soul and Afrobeat guru Victor Axelrod, aka Ticklah, (Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, Amy Winehouse, Easy Star All Stars, Antibalas). Radio Salone marks the band’s rise to purveyors of sophisticated world music, commanding the virtues of reggae, afro-beat, majestic grooves and club beats. We recently caught up with the band via email as they were preparing for a North American tour.
Having been to displaced to Guinea during the Sierra Leone Civil War, I think it would be considered a success to return to Freetown, yet alone form a successful band. Did you ever imagine this type of opportunity to arise and how surprised are you in how far it has succeeded?
Yes – you know it’s not easy to keep a band going. But you know a band is like a family and some families get along better than others. We have been fortunate – maybe because of all we have experienced together. We are a family that for the most part gets along and works well together. When we were playing in the refugee camps we never honestly dreamed we would have the success we do. Of course it is all we dreamed about, but I don’t think we ever believed it could come to pass. Those days do seem far away. And now our lives are filled with other dreams and successes and struggles too. Just like any life. 
What do you most remember from the days of the refugee camps and practicing your musicianship?
Well I remember it was difficult to gather the musicians. They never believed anything would come of it; so many times musicians would join the band but become lazy and fall away. I think there might be some regretful musicians out there now that they didn’t believe. But the most difficult thing of all was to have instruments. We would make our drums kits ourselves and then sometimes the humanitarian organizations would bring instruments to the camps and we would do our best to always use them. It was very difficult but at the same time it would take our minds off of our lives and that was always a good thing.
Obviously Sierra Leone Refugee All Stars get classified under “world music” – what parts of the world have been most open to your sound?
Really America and Canada have been loving to us and Japan and Norway. Really we feel welcomed and loved everywhere we go. But it is in America that we seem to have the most fans and where we have seen the most cities. We have also recorded two albums there. We love New Orleans where we recorded our second album Rise & Shine. That really felt like a home to us. And San Francisco too. The filmmakers who first found us in the camps Zach Niles and Banker White are Americans from San Francisco so we think that is why.
You have toured extensively to raise awareness for humanitarian causes – what causes have you risen the most awareness for and made the most impact on? What type of fan base do you have back in Sierra Leone?
Well they really know us back home in Freetown but in some ways our sound is not the flavor now. They are proud that we are out in the world but truly I can’t say that we are the most popular band in Sierra Leone because our songs and music in many ways represent another era. I think the most important thing we have done is to make people look at us as Africans, as refugees from a war torn country like Sierra Leone and they see us as people with talents. Who have something positive to say to the world. That by itself can make an impact, maybe more than this cause or that one. When people see me onstage I want them to think something positive about my country and erase all the bad memories they might have.
Radio Salone, was produced by roots reggae, soul and Afrobeat artist Victor Axelrod – how did he change or enhance your sound? What do you think are best examples of songs where musically you went in a new direction?
Oh Victor was a great and wise producer for us. We really didn’t know anything about him – but he seemed to understand our sound from the very first day. He is a young man but he is in love with old sounds. More than anything he really enhanced our sound and gave the songs the feeling we always strived for. There are some songs like “Mother In Law” where his influence is very heavy – and some of the dub styles that he put into the music. But what I most like is the Baskeda song “Toman Teti M’Ba Akala.” I have always felt and explained that in our most traditional music in Sierra Leone you can find the roots of reggae and this is precisely what this song is about. It is a song my father taught me growing up in my village outside of Makeni town in Sierra Leone. But you can hear that Victor put that reggae feel and drumbeat underneath it. It makes me so happy to hear this. I don’t need to explain anymore I can just make them listen.
Reggae, funky African grooves and deep tribal chant dominate Radio Salone – what artists have you been most influence by now that you have been traveling the world and have had access to new music and taking in different bands (either live or on record)?
Well you know we listen to music from all over. And we love it all. The best is to be a part of these large festivals with musicians from all over the world playing any kind of music you can imagine. It is all inspiring to us. But it is the youngest member Black Nature who still really is most affected by these influences. As for myself and the other band members we are a bit older now and still are most moved by the music we grew up with. Reggae like Lucky Dube and Joseph Hill and Burning Spear and of course Bob Marley. But also greats like Papa Wemba from Congo and Prince Nico from Nigeria. What we have learned the most is how to work with musicians from different cultures. We have learned to adapt to improvise better with musicians who have different styles.
As mentioned on your website – “radio served as a connection to the rest of Africa and the globe. Long before the war, members of the band were exposed to vintage reggae, Congolese soukouss, American soul, and much more. During the war, radio provided an essential escape from the harsh reality of the refugee camps, bringing news and music to people desperate for a link to the world beyond the camps.” What role does radio still play in Africa and is it still vibrant and culturally effective?
Oh yes, oh very much so, yes. I mean of course in the refugee camps we really didn’t have means for knowing what was going on in the world – much less how to hear new music. So we would listen always. Now of course television and internet are powerful but most people have no access in our country. It’s still radio which is most powerful for passing messages whether it is news, politics or new music. Plus you can’t control radio. It has no boundaries. It flows freely across borders and frontiers. That’s how we see ourselves too – and this makes radio so very powerful.
How do you think Radio Salone stands up to your previous work on record and do you feel in captures the energy of your live performances?
Ha! I don’t know if that is possible.. Even though we are older than so many people that we see on other stages we try to teach the young people that we still can bring the fire in our performance. But in truthfulness I do think that Radio Salone is the most honest representation of our sound or how we hear ourselves. We really love this album.
Instrumentally what is the limit to how many instruments you would incorporate into the band at one time and what is the most you’ve had in one arrangement and are there any instruments you want to add? How many people are touring the states with you in this upcoming tour?
We have never toured with more than eight people in the band at one time – but we have sometimes played shows with different guests like a trombone player or another guitar player. If we could afford it we would have more backing singers and percussion players. We are only six on this upcoming tour. It is so expensive to travel from West Africa and with all the costs of visas we were forced to reduce our numbers – but they are still in the family. The All Stars family back in Salone is large and we can be eleven-twelve people on the stage at one time.
You’ve played everywhere from New York’s Central Park SummerStage, Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival, the revered Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival, Oprah Winfrey show and have even opened for Aerosmith. What live moments most stick out from you in your history? Which of your smaller performances have been most special?
We have been so lucky. I expect each member must have their own favorite moments. For me I think it must be Fuji Rock Festival. We never expected to go to such a place like Japan. And then to have them dancing to our music like it was their own. It was unbelievable.
What shows coming up in the United States are you most looking forward to and what can we expect new in your performances?
We always love coming back to San Francisco. Somehow San Francisco always feels like our U.S. home. And the fans there make us feel like it is our hometown. We always look forward to San Francisco. But truthfully we love so many places and seem to have friends everywhere. We can’t wait to get back on tour! Our fans can expect to dance all night long as they always do.
