Just got back from an amazing trip to Africa where I was doing lots of recording for the new N.A.S.A. record and also the Maximum Hedrum record. Spent some time in Ethiopia hanging with Ras Congo and my new friend Israel who is Mulatu Estatke’s music director.He was a good dude and really showed me the musical landscape down there. I told him I wanted to record some people playing traditional Ethiopian music, not the Ethiojazz I’m more familiar with. He ended up taking me to this village in the south of Ethiopia where his family is from called Dorze, and I ended up staying there for a couple of days and recording the villagers there doing their local songs.The kids got down too.I slept in this grass hut while I was there.After Ethiopia, we headed down to South Africa. We started in Johannesburg, where we went to a friendly World Cup game in Soweto (the worlds largest slum).I recorded a women’s choir from Soweto before leaving Joburg. They were the best choir I have ever worked with, and good vibes too.After Joburg, I headed down to Cape Town where I linked up with Spoek Mathambo from Sweat X. He is a great dude, and we hit it off. He linked me up with some percussionists and we ended doing a song. Spur of the moment, I flipped some of the stuff that I recorded in Ethiopia for the track.Look out for this new N.A.S.A. music. Fresh off all of that inspiration, I’m back in LA, now cooking up some serious chicken grease in the studio.
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