Main Stage

Sunday, July 12th · 6:30pm

Watcha Clan

Hailing from far and wide, from Algeria to Agadir to Andalucia, Watcha Clan has been spreading their innovative Mediterranean grooves across the globe for over ten years with the group ultimately coalescing in the melting pot of the French city of Marseille.

Altruistic dealers in cultures and humanities, Watcha Clan juggle rhythms and languages (French, Arabic, Hebrew, English) to the beat of the memories they have, the people they meet and the places they see. From the Eastern European melodies singer Karine's mother sang to her when she was little, to the Algerian blues (chaabi) Nassim introduces to the mix, to the cherifian grooves of Amarg Fusion, to the hip-hop kick that appeals to Clem, the clan's music man and sampler extraordinaire. The clan are musical nomads on a mission in search of space and freedom, embodied in the voice of Sista K whose mixed Ashkenazi, Sephardic and Berber ancestry epitomizes the borderless roots of Watcha-Clan's music manifesto.

"Watcha Clan is one of the most exciting bands I've seen on the world music circuit. They were controlled chaos in action -at times sounding Balkan, others Brooklyn and then Egyptian. There were also Moroccan rhythms and Sufi trance mixed with the electronica. For all the reasons I've mentioned this shouldn't work -- but it does. It is the talents of these musicians and their magnetic and charismatic presence that makes it so." - NPR Music

watchaclan.com
Watcha Clan on MySpace