Marcus Gad’s talent spreads from New Caledonia to around the world
Photo courtesy of Easy Star Records. Photo credit: Damalistik.
Daily Reggae caught up with Marcus Gad to learn more about his stellar new album, “Ready for Battle”, role as a musical ambassador for New Caledonia, and collaboration with Easy Star Records / BACO Music.
You are an ambassador for New Caledonia around the world? How did life on the island impact your life and journey as a musician?
Well you know, life in New Caledonia is so much different from all other places I’ve had the chance to experience.
We live very close to nature, which is very well preserved on the island. Diversity there is like nowhere else on earth. 76% of wildlife on the island is endemic, which means it does not exist anywhere else on Earth.
New Caledonia’s population is composed of about 50% Kanak people, who are native to the island and live in 386 tribes, speaking 28 different languages, for as little as 150,000 people approximately! The rest of the population is mostly made of French deportees (New Caledonia used to be a jail where French revolutionaries and criminals were sent without a return ticket…), Polynesian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and Melanesian people.
So there is a huge sens of diversity going on.
A profound connection to the land is what characterises Kanak culture, as well as deep respect and humility being the core values of society.
So all these things have always been of great guidance to me, and being a Pacific Islander I feel it is a duty to testify about our view of the world, that is literally unknown overseas.
What are some of the subjects you cover in the new album, “Ready for Battle”?
As I was saying before, this album has a very militant feeling to it. The interesting thing is that it was finished recording before the pandemic happened, but when you listen to it, there are a lot of songs that seem to speak about that challenging time the world had to go through. Looking back, there was a kind a predictive feeling to it. A sense of urgency, like something crucial was just about to happen and we had to stand still and tall, stand our ground and defend what is rightfully ours.
Of course a lot of lyrics speak about the Earth, soil, biodiversity, and the human birthright of sovereignty.
Do lyrics or music usually come first as you’re creating?
As for creating music, there is no definite pattern in which a song happens. Sometimes I will sit down and start writing about a specific subject because it is needed. Sometimes I will just be walking and suddenly a full song with melody and lyrics will pop up in my head, just as if it always existed, waiting for someone to tap into its frequency and materialise it.
How is it collaborating with Easy Star Records and BACO Music? It must be amazing to have that collaboration with Easy Star in New York and BACO in France!
It surely is! Working with Easy Star is a real pleasure, and for me, coming from where I’m from, was like a dream come true. Our music has been getting great reception in the US through the internet, and to take it a step further by working with Easy Star is all we could’ve asked for. We are really looking forward to coming to the US and share our music with the people..!
As for Baco, they are the biggest Regge record label in France and have their own studio, which makes it great for us to work with them. Having one foot on each continent is also a great means of spreading our message!
