Sargent Garcia, the star of Cairo World Music Day, spoke to Serene Assir prior to his Baron Palace concert last Thursday -- in flawless Spanish Sargent Garcia is said to rival Manu Chao, one of a handful of artists who have managed to fuse pop with world sounds. On my way into the Umm Kulthoum Hotel, where he is staying, only one thing makes me nervous: will the conversation have to be conducted in French? When I finally locate him in one of several hotel lounges, it is with a sigh of relief that I realise he speaks Spanish: "My father is Spanish, and I lived in Spain till I was five years old. I spent the rest of my youth in France -- that's where my mother comes from. But now I live in Valencia, on the eastern coast of Spain..." Relief is reinforced by the warmth of his personality. For someone who has "made it" all over the world, he is remarkably modest and unassuming; that he is more concerned with the truth than the sensationalist "spice" (aka hot air) of many star musicians makes this conversation, in the context of the contemporary scene, a breath of fresh air. "I come from a very cosmopolitan family," Garcia explains with the same warmth, "which is why I grew up listening to all kinds of sounds. Aside from the Spanish and the French connection, I have cousins in Algeria, and family in sub-Saharan Africa and South America. World music and fusion come naturally to me." It was on the streets of Belville, that ethnically varied part of Paris where he grew up, that Garcia first took on the name Sargent; Bruno, his real name, was understandably cast aside: "My identity was formed on those streets, but at the same time, I believe that music is inherently mixed. It has no borders. There is no music which is pure -- except perhaps for religious music, which is restricted by ritual and traditional form. But look at all the other styles that have emerged in modern times. There would be no rock'n'roll without African music, nor would there be any without Irish traditional music." Travel is essential for Garcia, especially in South America, where he acquired a Caribbean base for his sound. Given that his search for self has centred on auditory expression, Cuba gave him the ideal platform. "When I'm in France, I miss the Latin element in my music. When I'm in Spain, I miss the mix. When I'm in Cuba," he says, "I have it all. Of course, this is only the start. The point is not merely to mix. There has to be a reason. But try and think of it this way: if you enter a garden filled with only one kind of flower, you may have a pleasant enough experience, but it remains lacking. You will inevitably seek more. But if you enter a garden full of colours, wild and joyful, then you feel you want to stay. That's my philosophy, it's from that basis that I communicate." Add the party factor, and you end up with a more or less balanced picture of Garcia's music: "No good revolution lacks happiness. The music has to be joyful and positive in order for it to be powerful -- for the message to truly reach out to an audience. Think about it, if you hear some interesting but depressing music, then however well it manages to make you understand something new, it will never inspire you to move ahead or do something different. That's why I choose this mode -- it drives you. By listening to powerful beats, you stop being complacent." Though best known for the political drive reflected in his lyrics, Garcia objects to being labelled a political musician: "I would say that my approach is more philosophical than political. I simply respond to what happens around me, and I include those responses in my songs. I believe that artists have a very important role to play in the world, more poetic than political." Rather than talking directly about immigration and the problems it gives rise to, for example, he'd rather write out the story of a man who sets off in search of employment -- that man's homesickness and his futile yearning to integrate into his new context: "That way the song reaches people, because the issue is illustrated in human, simple terms. And everyone can relate to it deeply, directly." Yet he declares himself to be a Zapatista sympathiser: "What I admire about [the Mexican movement] is the way it avoids fighting for power, but rather for the very basic human rights of a particular group of people. The Zapatistas fight for water, health, education -- rights which should be but are not on the agenda of world politicians. It isn't the only movement I admire -- I met a group of activists in Venezuela who told me they were engaged in the revolutionary process. And that is something that should always be present. Things should always move and change; otherwise power, in whatever form, becomes stagnant." Middle East power relations, for example, "seem to me to be working at their worst, always to the detriment of the population. A real shame -- this part of the world was the cradle of some of the greatest civilisations in history." Having performed here, nonetheless, Garcia feels that people are "like people everywhere -- they want the same things: to dance, to forget their problems and simply to live".
