By Nils Jacobson
International distribution can be a major hurdle for South African artists who would like to find an overseas audience. Rerooted Media, the brainchild of Mel Puljic, attempts to bridge the transatlantic gap. Rerooted is barely six months old, but it's a major US distributor for South Africa's premier jazz label, Sheer Sound. The company also handles material for South Africa's MELT2000 label, as well as a New York electronica/jazz/experimental label called Rhythm Love.
Mel Puljic's approach is to seize upon music with a message--music that communicates something truly special. It's his way of getting the word out on South African jazz to a largely unfamiliar American audience: a mission to share the tunes that have moved South African minds and feet since long before the death of Apartheid in 1994. So far it's been a period of slow but steady growth. One day Puljic hopes South African jazz names like Zim Ngqawana and Moses Taiwa Molelekwa will become as well-known here as Joshua Redman and Brad Mehldau.
We asked Puljic to share his thoughts on the South African recording industry and particularly his love for jazz.
AAJ: What is your experience with music in South Africa, and of course more specifically with jazz... ie: your background, your philosophy, and your motivation?
Mel Puljic: My family moved to South Africa from Austria when I was six--and I lived in SA for about 25 years before moving to the US, four years ago. I grew up in a small town about 80 km from Johannesburg. Besides the occassional SA pop hit, my first real exposure to SA music was when I moved to Johannesburg during college and law school. Before that, in my town--which was very out of the loop and very into their White Supremacy--I didn't really encounter anything besides the big American superstars, the very depressing shoe-gazing Brits, and typical teenage stuff.
During college, I started working in a record store in Hillbrow--a ghetto of Johannesburg. That's when things became interesting--a real wild store, full of adventure, weirdo's and one that carried everything under the sun--the kind of record store that doesn't exist anymore. That's where I learned about music, jazz especially--which was completely knew to me as music.
I had a peculiar way of listening since I'm musically illiterate. But jazz lent itself well to the way I first listened to music. Each instrument is usually well articulated, and small ensembles especially lend themselves to listen in this way, so the way I learned to listen to jazz was, ironically, by improvising. I would concentrate my listening on one instrument at a time. The bass was my favorite for years--I'd often listen to the bass as if it was the lead instrument, and everything played off around it. About halfway through law school I decided that I might as well quit studies and work in a record store forever. That would have been the case had I not got fired! So I finished law school, but the music bug had bit--hard!
At the record store, I learned about all the big names--Coltrane, Mingus, Miles--and became completely obsessed. Mingus especially. The SA music and jazz scene in particular, immediately before apartheid collapsed, was in a terrible state--whomever wasn't in exile, couldn't find a paying gig. The cultural and economic sanctions contributed to this depressing situation. Working and living in Hillbrow was about as varied as a white person's experience could get in SA at that point. Anyway, after graduating I was at a loss--didn't wanna do lawyerly things. By accident I got a job at a music distributor.
Working in a record store is the best training in the world for anyone wanting to work in the music business. This is an immutable law. Soon after, I decided that I wanted to start my own distribution company. Here comes the shameful bit--initially through ignorance, laziness and various forces conspiring to keep me unawares of what was happening in my own backyard, my company's primary relationships initally were almost exclusively with labels in Europe and North America. Despite of, or maybe ven because of, we were very succesful. We started with no money, but we started at the right time. The music scene was raising its head immediately after Apartheid collapsed and we were nimble and enthusiastic (and naŒve)--we basically begged labels from SA and abroad to let us distribute for them.
We'd go see live shows and do a deal with the band right after they got off stage. There weren't many labels to speak of--just lots of bands who'd printed up a few hundred cd's. We knew how to access the market, so we had many happy marriages. I know it's vain to say it, but this company we started changed the parameters of what was perceived to be possible in the SA music biz. We set up an alternative distribution operation to the exisiting one controlled by one company. Many people were part of this success: the artists not least, the fact that legislation was passed that mandated broadcasting quotas, creating a ready market for domestic repertoire, that artists and labels WE handled by one publicity company which we hired--the distributor! The labels produced the music, and we stepped in with a lot of infrastructure and support.
The main thing that brought it all together was that we were all having the time of our lives doing exactly what we wanted to do. We basically started a company that was a successful party for all on every level.
Only once I left SA did I start listening to and loving African music in the way I do now. While I was in SA I was into Abdullah Ibrahim, Winston Mankuku and Philip Tabane, but mostly Township pop--there's an album of Winston's (a friend's bootleg copy--i've forgotten the name) that completely overwhelmed me. I listened to it for almost two years, every week, at least once. But from a business point of view, we didn't deal in music with SA Jazz--what we did of this was imported from the UK !! About two years ago, I heard a Zim Ngqawana album--and from that moment I'd been hustling to find the right time to launch Rerooted Media.
I felt Zim needed to be heard. And here we are.
I've always wanted to be happy at work--that's my main motivation. Music made me happy or made me dance or made feel more attuned to my emotions--these are important things, so I didn't reallty feel I had a choice about what to do for work. I've tried to get out of it once--it lasted about 48 hours ! So much great music is like a secret that u want share. That u have to share. When u tell someone about an artist or album u really love, and they switch onto it--it's an intensely human moment, a real connection--or so it seems to me--is made. Especially, girls!
AAJ: When did you decide to take an active role with respect to the recording industry, with whose support, and with what aim?
MP: The aim is for Rerooted to be a happy place of work for all involved, to break new ground, maybe even to do things that people say can't be done. I'm instinctively drawn to risky propositions, or so perceived risky propositons. I don't have a choice in this, really. I do what I love to do, it just so happens that world music and SA jazz in particular is what I love. I'm sure part of it has got something to do with giving back to the country and artists that were part of my growing up.
Aside from that, I do think this is vital work and important artists are not being heard because they don't live in London or Paris or New York. This will change, it will take some time, but I have no doubt it will change.
AAJ: Why is this enterprise needed?
MP: It's kind of a chicken-and-egg scenario--it is needed because it's the right time and it's the right time so therefore it is needed. Distribution in America is not an easy thing to do for niche music. We think we've figured a few things out that others haven't. We think we present an opportunity to the patient, the hard-working and the dedicated; artists and labels work with us because we don't lie to them, don't avoid the issues, or gloss over risks. We've established some very important relationships, and in many ways we are the eyes and ears of labels who are based abroad. The most important details in our communciation is integrity and enthusiasm. For domestic labels and artists the realities are more apparent, so we have less explaining to do. We know where we're headed, but we don't advertise our destination--it's multi-faceted, for one.
AAJ: What specific material did you decide to focus on and why?
MP: We started on a shoe-string budget, just as the current chaos unfolded in the music business. We keep our ears open for good music--that's our aim--to work with artists and labels we like to listen to. We distribute a New York label called Rhythm Love, who have a series out called Turntables on the Hudson. In May, a very exciting new Armenian artist, Gor, comes through. We also handle Melt2000 and Sheer Sound from South Africa. One of the facts we explain to labels in the niche that we work in is that we can not work as hard on every release. We state this up front: if they prioritize with their releases, then we can make headway. The plain fact is that there is a finite capacity at Rerooted, and there is a finite capacity in the market... so it's pointless running titles through a mill. In the end, they all suffer. We aim to to do good business and sell lots of records, not let anyone down, keep expectations in check and work hard to exceed them.
AAJ: To what extent is South African music in general, and jazz in specific, represented and understood outside of SA?
MP: Very difficult question because the answer could change from day to day. A single South African sound doesn't exist, least of all in jazz. I think SA music is understood and represented, but in a somewhat narrow sense, outside of SA. Certainly there is a considerable awareness about SA jazz, but that seems to have frozen around the players who made their names 20 or 30 years ago. The current SA jazz scene is without question the most vibrant it's ever been. Jazz artists are front page news in the newspapers, jazz releases, festivals and tours are routinely lead stories in the major media.
AAJ: What role has the recording industry played to promote or discourage this process?
MP: Each of the major labels in South Africa has a domestic artist jazz roster, even some with considerably large rosters. Sheer Sound leads the scene--they became heavily invested in SA jazz almost immediately after the collapse of Apartheid. What we are trying to do is inform folks that new and important artists have emerged. It's the incredible diversity there that posts a challenge. South African music is as varied as what is made in America, maybe even more varied. South Africa is far away from the main media and entertainment markets, so less spillover attention to it is manifested.
South African Jazz has a long history, and an authentic one. It has developed it's own distinctive traditions with the global jazz scene. Artists range from doing serious, provoking work to producing contemporary jazz sounds--what we might call 'smooth'. I find this very healthy, it speaks to the maturity and the size of the market. One of the biggest challenges to overcome is a kind of in-built resistance to modern African music--be it jazz or pop. I believe some significant players in the industry--in booking, at radio--can't come to grips with the fact that a modern Africa exists, despite what one reads in the papers and sees on TV. That a SA jazz artist has valid, contemporary things to say-- that a dialogue is going on with current developments in the US jazz scene. That Meldhau, Haden or Redman are listened to in Africa, especially South Africa, and that SA players are responding, commenting, engaging in the conversation, even pre-empting.
On the whole the industry, in general, has responded magnificently to the domestic scene. Also, very generally, they have had less success and probably had to deal with a lot more unexpected resistance to new developments when trying to promote the artists abroad. I'd hate to say this but to some degree, SA jazz abroad in particular was given more attention during the apartheid years. It seemed to be given more attention because it was associated with the political struggle and the main artists moved abroad ino exile. Every once in a while, the historical figures get written about or referenced--and only the historical figures. The net impression is that nothing new is happening. Which is a completely mistaken impression. I was in South African in Februrary 2002--and what has happened in the few years since I moved to the US is nothing short of phenomenal. An explosion, to say the least.
AAJ: To the best of your knowledge, who do you think represents the vanguard of South African jazz today?
MP: For me, the single biggest new talent is Zim Ngqawana. His latest album, Zimphonic Suites, will go down as a landmark of the new age. Zim's pianist, Andile Yenana, has just released his debut solo album--also an amazing talent. And the late Moses Molelekwa--how does one say, in a tactful way, that Moses was going to be a giant. His last record, Genes and Spirits, is a classic. A very adventurous and experimental spirit is evident in the album--hybridizing with other forms, questioning in unique ways.
For more information, visit Rerooted Media on the web or contact Rerooted directly.
