The
new album, The Acoustic Sessions: A 10 Year Anniversary, will
be released June 8, and is the seventh full-length album under
the Indigenous nameplate.
Sioux
Falls, S.D. Indigenous' Mato Nanji is preparing to embark
on the next chapter of the Native blues band's story with a 10-year
anniversary album and world tour.
Indigenous,
whose original lineup comprised Nanji, his brother Pte on bass,
sister Wanbdi on drums and vocals and cousin Horse on percussion,
now is led by Nanji, who plays with a new lineup of musicians.
Working
with new musicians took some getting used to, but has its benefits
too, he said.
"Working
with my family, like any band, (was) always tough," Nanji said.
"With family it just makes it that much harder, especially brothers
and sisters. We got along fine; it's just one of those things where
everyone doesn't see eye to eye after a while. I think that happens
with every group."
The
family recorded five full-length albums and a pair of EPs together
before deciding to take separate musical paths. Nanji retained the
Indigenous name.
The
new album, The Acoustic Sessions: A 10 Year Anniversary, will be
released June 8, and is the seventh full-length album under the
Indigenous nameplate.
"I
wanted to do something special to thank all the Indigenous fans
out there for supporting us from the beginning, and for the continued
support as we open a new chapter with this album," Nanji said.
Though
the anniversary album includes songs from past albums such as "Things
We Do," "Now That You're Gone," "Little Time," "Should I Stay" and
"Fool Me Again," it's diverse in that it's an acoustic album.
"This
is the first acoustic record I've ever done so I'm pretty excited
about getting it out and seeing what the fans think about it," Nanji
said.
He
said every song he's ever written began with the acoustic guitar,
so it only felt natural to create an acoustic album.
The
band had discussed an acoustic album in the past but never had the
opportunity to do it, but recently it all fell into place, he said.
Nanji's
manager, Chris Hardin of Hardin Entertainment, approached Nanji
about doing the anniversary album with acoustic versions of favorite
Indigenous songs.
"That's
when we talked about putting it together as a celebration of 10
years of making music as Indigenous, starting with the first record
which was Things We Do,' in 1998 to the most recent one, Broken
Land' in 2008," Nanji said. "We just took a couple songs off each
record and put them on there and went from there."
Nanji,
who is a citizen of the Nakota Nation, said his culture has had
a hand in Indigenous' music.
"Just
growing up where I grew up on the reservation, it definitely had
a part in who I am," Nanji said. "In what I do, the way I make music
and play music. My dad helped me through that. I'm always going
to hang on to part of that because that's who I am."
Nanji's
father, Greg Zephier, was the one who introduced Nanji to blues
and guitar playing. Zephier was also a musician who later was a
spokesman for Native American rights. Nanji credits Zephier, who
died in 1999, as his biggest influence.
"My
dad got it going for me," he said. "He brought the records home,
and when I was trying to learn guitar licks off of Hendrix or Stevie
Ray Vaughn records, he'd be able to hear it once and show me how
they did it."
Indigenous'
tour kicks off June 4 in Sioux Falls, S.D., which is also where
Nanji and his wife Leah reside.
"The
shows are piling in pretty quick," Nanji said. "I think as soon
as the album comes out it's going to be a pretty long tour. We'll
go all over the place pretty much. We're finally getting the opportunity
to go to Europe in September.
"I've
always wanted to get over there and get our music over there more
and we've never really had that opportunity."
Nanji
said he's excited to take blues music to Europe.
"If
there's a goal or future plan that's what it is to take it
to the world," he said. "I always hear a lot of stories about blues
and rock bands traveling over there. The fans really like that kind
of music over there."
Music
gets lost in America some, Nanji said.
"People
tend to follow more what's on TV or what's popular," he said. "A
lot of times, a lot of the people that are on there and that are
the most popular aren't very talented in my eyes. It's a frustrating
deal too for a lot of great musicians that are out there that are
still working hard and doing their thing."
Despite
the changes over the years, Nanji said there's one thing he's never
stopped doing.
"I
haven't really ever stopped making music," he said. "I've just kept
it going. I just felt it was the right thing to keep the Indigenous
name going because that's what it was all about for me. That's what
I've been trying to do ever since."
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