Half-Mauritian percussionist producer, Mo Kolours, is back with his second release, EP2: Banana Wine. Deliciously enticing, short and sweet. Mo Kolours lures you in with the seductive and unrelenting grooves of Banana Wine that drift downstream, drawing you ever deeper with each return. Echoing the roots of Sega music, he weaves a luscious blend of Lite party moods. But with his stripped-back sound he launches you into a rhapsody of movement “I want to go nuts… but calmly.”

How’s it going? What’s been going down recently?

I’m really good right now. I feel blessed to be doing things I love.

Banana Wine. Where did it come from?

There is an Afro-Mauritian Sega man, Ti Frere. He does a song called ‘Charlie O‘, about a drunken creole, addicted to banana wine, women and general looseness! That track cracks me up….and I wanted to do my own version.

You refer to yourself as a percussionist. What is it that attracts you to percussion?

I can’t explain what attracts me to drums and percussion. I just love rhythm. It feels so natural for me. I mean, you just move your limbs around! I saw an interview with Flora Purim, she said ”we are all born with two instruments, the heart beat (drum) and the voice”.

The ethereal grooves of Banana Wine lull me into a state of total immersion. It’s amazing the effects music can have on the mind, and the heart. Is your approach to music at all contemplative or is it more based on intuitive expression?

I suppose I’ve thought about music for most of my life, contemplating the ins and outs, like, ‘how is this guy making that noise’. But I like to work on instincts and feeling and just see what happens.

What are you listening to at the moment from the ‘now’ and the ‘then’, and the ‘possibly to be’?

Yesterday I was listening ‘Mr Isaacs’ by Gregory Isaacs. Cali producer Kankick’s new stuff is well worth checking out. And I’m really blessed to know some outstanding producers, Paul White, Tighface, JeanWilda, and Al Dobson.Jr.

I checked out the Maida Vale sessions you did a while back with Paul White, amongst others. The set up and flow of the live performance was quite unique. Do you have any plans to take it further in the future?

The Maida Vale session was an amazing experience, I have plans to get together with my people again. Watch this space!

Where do you stand with regards to the current unfolding of forward-looking music?

I like the the term you use ‘forward-looking’, I feel like the only way is forward.

What’s 2012 got in-store for you?

The release of EP2 and hopefully EP3, gigs, beats, collabs and some straight fun.

You can purchase Banana Wine here http://mokolours.bandcamp.com/

Words Johnny Fontaine.

This entry was tagged as Banana Wine, Creole, Drunken, London, Mauritias, Mo Kolours, Percussion.