Authors, Composers, Artists - Amadou and Mariam

On inspiration and creativity

Inspiration comes from different sources. It comes from something inside you, your personal history, and, for me, the history of my country, which has marked my own life story. A lot of other creative artists - especially those I listened to when I was young like Jimi Hendrix, John Lee Hooker, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder - have also influenced my work. French music has especially influenced my lyrics.

You can’t program creativity, it comes instinctively - a sudden idea. But there is nothing magical about it, everyone is gifted in different areas.

Mariam and myself sing to be together, to affirm our identities. Music is a passion. It is our life. We sing of freedom, love, peace and solidarity among people, and mostly of justice.

On the path to success

We started performing a long time ago and success came bit by bit. At first, it was just playing with some friends, then it became a neighborhood group, then a professional orchestra, then building a career with Mariam in Côte d’Ivoire, then West Africa, then Europe. It took a long, long time. But we never gave up hope. It took courage to keep moving forward, to keep looking, to keep working.

It’s hard to get good recording facilities in Africa, and that makes it difficult for us as song-writers to get established in the music market place. That and, above all, the problem of distribution.

People like the fact that our music and our message are universal, and the simplicity of the lyrics. Our music is Bambara * inspired from n’goni [traditional lute] music, and it is influenced by rock and blues. This mix is the essence of our success. We met different people, we played and sang with Colombians, Syrians, who did different things to our music and who all helped to make it original.

On copyright

It is logical that copyright follows creativity to defend the creator’s rights. Copyright is vital for us. We can’t survive just on what we are paid for giving concerts. We also need our rights to be protected. When we compose pieces we hope in return to benefit from the fruit of that work. Rights are what enable creators to earn a living and to carry on producing. Copyright is the lifeblood of the cultural industries.

I have some involvement in the management of copyright. I set up the National Association of Malian Artists...

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