[ No. 14 ]

New World Souls

by Cyclone Wehner

Aram sometimes wonders if the Australian public will ever accept his band, New World Souls. It's just that the concept may be too radical for a country that continues to embrace Cold Chisel. Aram needn't fear. Because, as Sam Cooke predicted, a change is gonna come . . .

Indeed, multiculturalism is producing revolutionary new music to challenge the supremacy of Oz Rock over the national imagination.

This country has proved itself more than capable of producing internationally successful dance acts (like, for example, Nick Skitz, Paul Main and Voiteck). And, increasingly, cosmopolitan listeners are making the big switch to community stations (PBS, Kiss), whose outlook is more progressive, if not realistic, when it comes to our pluralistic society.

This climate of social change has generated edgy dance groups such as Ping and NWS, each of them fusing together different cultural impulses. 'I think Australia is a little mecca for all the different cultures,' Aram posits. 'That's what NWS is all about: it's about that melting pot, where there are no boundaries. I think it's good to know your heritage and claim what is truly yours, but if you're totally secure in that, then you don't need to be tearing down other people's stuff.' In turn, he wholeheartedly believes that music can play a role in bringing people together.

While NWS started as a collective some five years ago, its core today is still made up of Aram, Diva and Ronin. Aram mostly takes responsibility for the musical component. The others are vocalists. 'I came up with the idea that I wanted to make what I called "New World Soul Music",' says Aram of the initial impetus for their eclectic vanguard.

NWS have just released their first CD: an indie self-titled EP, which includes songs like the jazz-hop "US To Connect"; trip-hop "Nature"; and the political big beat anti-anthem, "Ayatolla Coke A Cola", which, Aram explains, breaks down a few capitalist myths. The music is a sonic magnet -- with a strong pull towards different World Musics.

As such, Aram admires eclecticism in other artists. 'Even though I really love generic music -- like techno, jungle and hip-hop, the stuff that really touches me has never been that absolute. I've always gone for artists who've been much more involved in the melting pot.'

Although he identifies hip-hop, and later the DJ revolution, for further popularising the idea of musical cross-fertilisation, Aram's primary influence comes from an artist identified with neither: Prince, whose body of work in the 80s simply defied classification. Aram cites Prince's 1988 album, "LoveSexy" (on which Prince first fully promoted what HE termed 'New Power Soul'), as the catalyst for NWS. Likewise, Aram thinks highly of the now defunct Arrested Development, who effortlessly blended technology with organic vibes and universal philosophy.

Right at this moment, NWS are working on some all new material. 'We're doing some more dance-influenced stuff now, but at the same time it's not pure rave music,' hints Aram.