Tim Hughes on a band which knows what it’s like to swap guitars for guns

With their flowing robes and turbans, Tinariwen cut an imposing dash. Their name means “people of the desert” and they look as if they have just stepped out of a Saharan sandstorm.

Tinariwen are Tuareg – members of that noble, nomadic tribe who inhabit the shifting sands beyond Timbuktu.

But if their homeland is a blank on the map, their intoxicating music has captivated the world – their soulful sound hitting the charts and even earning them a Grammy award for their 2011 album Tassili.

“We will always be people of the desert,” bass player Eyadou AgLeche tells me. “Our desert is like our mother.”

It’s a haunting, evocative sound, which combines traditional Tuareg tinde, sung in their native Tamashe tongue, with Algerian rai, North African chaabi, Berber tunes, Malian folk and Western rock as played by the likes of Led Zeppelin and Carlos Santana.

It is performed on electric guitar alongside traditional instruments like the shepherd's flute, one-string imzad fiddle, teherdent lute and drums.

“We call it Assouf, the blues of the desert,” Eyadou says. “It’s a mix of ancestral Tamashek poetry, tinde, and electric guitars with their specific sound from low battery amps we’ve been using in the desert.”

The band was founded in 1979 by the band’s elder statesman, Ibrahim Ag Allabib, who was inspired to play the guitar after watching a Western film. He used what was to hand: a tin can, stick and length of bicycle brake wire.

The band evolved in exile in refugee camps in Libya, where the Tuareg were embraced by the then leader Muammar Gaddafi – who had visions of creating his own Tuareg desert army.

When conflict broke out in Mali, they swapped their instruments for guns, headed over the border and joined the fight for Tuareg independence. Fighting over, they returned to music – bootleg recordings of their soulful tunes being traded across the Sahara, and earning them a strong regional following. When they were discovered by Western musicians performing a festival in Mali, their reputation spread, their music striking a chord with world music around the world.

“Like the American blues our music is about nostalgia, exile, nature and love,” says Eyadou. “I guess it's the reason why we have such a big audience in the US.”

And where do they find their influences?

“Mostly our own Tamashek culture,” Eyadou says. “But we like also artists such as Ali Farka Toure, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix and Bob Dylan.”

When fighting broke out between Al-Queda-backed rebels and Malian government forces supported by the French, Tinarwiran found themselves, once again, in the middle of it all.

“We and our community are still very affected,” says Eyadou. “There are still many refugees in Mauritania and Burkina Faso. We were hoping for the talks in Algiers but it seems that the situation between the Tuareg and the Malian government is in status quo, unfortunately.”

But he says “I am proud we are making known the issue our community is facing, as well as helping young musicians in our community. There are many.

“Our music is It is about the current situation and suffering of our people, but also our desert, love, nature and animals.”

And camels. He explains: “It is inspired by tinde, which is part of our ancestral culture. The percussion is inspired by camel dances, by their walk. This is what gives us this specific rhythm.”

Interest in this enigmatic bunch of musicians has seen them elevated to the status of desert superstars – touring venues around the world, including, tomorrow, Oxford Town Hall.

To what does he attribute his music’s appeal? “Maybe because our music is sincere?” he suggests.

“We are very grateful to meet such various audiences around the world,” he goes on.

“It’s important for the band and for our Tuareg community. We can’t really speak with all these people, unfortunately, but we are glad they understand our feelings through the music.”

With members of the band scattered across thousands of miles of sand in northern Mali and southern Algeria, it’s something of a logistical feat to get them all together.

“Travelling can be tiring, but we enjoy playing for people,” he says. “We enjoy a lot the different natures and landscapes while touring. Meeting natives is also very important for us, sharing about the complexity of our situations in this global world.

“The worst thing is when we can’t make our specific tea. But we make sure to have it always with us while travelling.

“We always miss the desert when we’re touring, but it’s part of us; we tour with the desert in our mind.”

Tinarwiran
Oxford Town Hall
Friday May 29 2015
Tickets: £22 from wegottickets.co.uk