Album · 2018

Diamond's, Gold & Mobile Phones

I recorded this album in Senegal in my friend's living room on my 10 year old laptop, a 15 year old version of Cubase, and the cheapest drum mics I could find.25 people lived in the compound including screaming babies and goats but despite the settings and resources, I had amazing local musicians join this recording journey. An album is a journey. You write the songs, arrange them, arrive in the studio (or living room), hopefully prepared and the recording is followed by an intense process of mixing, editing and accepting. Often followed by a tour where you get overexcited by the mass printing discounts on CD quantities and end up with boxes of albums left, which you over ambitiously weren't able to shift.
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Diamond's, Gold & Mobile Phones
  • 1.Love In The 21st Century
    3:07
  • 2.Casamance
    3:38
  • 3.Understand This
    3:34
  • 4.Diamonds, Gold & Mobile Phones
    3:13
  • 5.No Future In This Government
    3:27
  • 6.Tree
    3:03
  • 7.Mariama
    4:07
  • 8.Flowers On My Grave
    4:53
  • 9.Born To Dance
    4:02
  • 10.Madrugada
    4:56

Diamonds, gold & mobile phones That's why they destroy our homes

Diamonds, Gold & Mobile Phones

Credits

Produced — Edd Bateman and Hill Briggs

Recorded — My Laptop, Ziguinchor (Senegal)

Mixed — Hill Briggs

Mastered — Hill Briggs

All songs written by Edd Bateman.

Track Stories

Tony is a member of the Diola tribe, one of the ethnic groups of Senegal that I found myself most connected to. I was given the honorary name Ampa Bounuk, which translates as "the father of the palm wine." Because of times when I would turn up with ten litres of this traditional drink to enjoy with my Diola friends. When you watch the video of Casamance, you'll see the bounuk clearly that we're drinking and actually, when we set up to film, everyone was a bit shy and wasn't really putting the energy in, so we paused and sent for ten litres of bounuk before continuing. "Casamance" is a composition by Tony calling for peace in the region.