Afropop Worldwide's Sean Barlow and Banning Eyre interviewed Hanitra Rasoanaivo, the leader and singer of the group, Tarika, as they crossed the Indian Ocean island this spring on Afropop's Adventure in Madagascar tour. Hanitra and Tarika are currently touring the U.S., promoting their latest CD "Soul Makassar" (Triloka) which artfully investigates the ancient connection between the people and culture of Indonesia and Madagascar.

APWW: Two of your recent projects including "Soul Makassar" have been intensely historically based. Would you say that recovering the past is an important part of your music?

HANITRA:Madagascar is extremely rich musically and unfortunately, it has not been documented well in the past, or even the present for that matter. One of my goals is to keep the music documented. It is like there is a hole in the history of Madagascar when it comes to the music. It is for this reason that I wanted to research the origins of the Malagasy instruments and incorporate what I learned to enrich my own music.

APWW: Let's talk about the valiha(a long, tubular bamboo zither with between 16 and 21 strings running lengthwise). Where do you think it originated?

HANITRA: I would like to think that the valiha came from Madagascar. After having researched the issue and having seen very similar instruments in other parts of the world, I realized that it could have come from somewhere else. In Indonesia, there is a miniature version of the valiha called the sasandu. Just as I thought I had found the origin of the valiha in Indonesia, I went to Northern Thailand and encountered among the Pandonc people, another form of valiha which they call Jajuka and claim was brought from Burma.

APWW: How about the music itself in Thailand and Indonesia and how it compares to the valiha in Malagasy music?

HANITRA:Some music is very similar to the music in both Indonesia and Thailand but is very different from the music that Rajery, Done or Tarika plays. Now the valiha has developed into an extremely flexible instrument with many variations of the traditional instrument such as the chromatic valiha and the use of guitar or piano strings.

APWW: What do you know about the origins of the kabosy (similar to a guitar but with a box shaped body and usually four strings)?

HANITRA: From my understanding, the kabosy comes from an Arabic instrument. However, when comparing it to the Arabic stringed instruments, there is no resemblance at all. I think the kabosy has been here for many years and the Malagasy have adopted their own way of using it. Furthermore, the use of the kabosy varies tremendously from region to region within Madagascar. The way in which we use the kabosy in Tarika is also different. So, each player invents his kabosy: we decide where to place the frets as well as the number of strings on the instrument.

APWW: What is the role of the kabosy in Malagasy music?

HANITRA: After the valiha, the kabosy is the second most important instrument in the Malagasy tradition. It's the instrument that really keeps the rhythm for us.

APWW: In this Afropop trip to Madagascar, have you discovered anything new that you would like to integrate into your music?

HANITRA:Yes. Something that I really love is the bass kabosy with its two strings and its enormous box body. I wanted to buy one from a man but he refused to sell it to me so he is going to make one specially for Tarika.

APWW: How about your band members? How did they respond to the trip?

HANITRA: They are ecstatic. Especially Solo who plays the kabosy for Tarika. He has never experienced the kabosy as it is played in southern Madagascar where it is played in a more traditional style.

APWW: Let's talk about hiragasy. For our listeners who know nothing about it, why don't you give us a general introduction to what hiragasy is?

HANITRA:I would say hiragasy is theater, poetry and music all combined. It's done in a very colorful, artistic way and always has a moral.

APWW: How old is this tradition?

HANITRA: It started around 1875 as a way for people to communicate and send messages to each other. It was performed among the lower classes until 1875 when the king and queen asked the performers to come to their palace and perform for them.

APWW I find the moral quality as well as the competitive quality of hiragasy interesting. How does a group win the competition?

HANITRA First of, all you have to be a very good speech maker, what we call picabar. You must able to use proverbs and be very good with words. Of course you must also be a fine singer and be accompanied by talented dancers.

APWW: How does one of these competitions end? How is the winner decided?

HANITRA:There is no real winner or loser. The victor is determined by the amount of money given to the singer and of course by the audience's response. In the end, the most important aspects of hiragasy is its moral quality and its entertainment value.

APWW: How would you describe the current state of Malagasy music and what can you say about the lack of support for it?

HANITRA: What I've felt since the beginning of my career is the suppression of Malagasy music and Malagasy identity. I want to make the Malagasy people proud of their country and what they do. The problem is that the government and the people in power do not support Malagasy music and identity. Furthermore, the culture of music in clubs and bars does not exist here. Musicians only exist in remote villages and don't have venues or record companies where they can present their music to a larger audience. We didn't have any role models to aspire to when we were younger and we would like to take on that role for the younger generation.

APWW: Do you think the growing interest in world music affect the state of music in Madagascar?

HANITRA: Yes. It definitely has. It has made people think about our music and it has made us think about what else we could do to help popularize it. Now you see many young musicians electrifying traditional instruments and using synthesizers in response to outside influences.

APWW: When you look into the future, what are your hopes and fears for Malagasy music?

HANITRA: My hope for Malagasy music is still the same. My hope is that one day, all Malagasy artists, whether traditional or pop artists will have the possibility to present themselves in a freer, better way and with a lot more support than what we have today. My fear is that the tremendous quantity of music from the outside will swamp our artists and make it impossible for them to present themselves.

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