By Colette Davidson
Jigme, one of three brothers that make up the Tibetan rock group, The Exile Brothers, has recently returned from his inaugural visit to America. His first impressions of the U.S.? “Nice. Very systematic. Very luxurious.”
Jigme, 28, and his brothers Jamyang, 29, and Ingsel, 26, have played their music throughout India and Nepal spreading their message of a free Tibet for almost ten years. In November, the Tibetan brothers boarded a plane for their first trip to America as a band to play a benefit concert with the Playing for Change Foundation (PFCF) in Denver, Colorado. There, they had the opportunity to play their freedom songs and share their love of music with musicians from around the world.
The concert, held at Denver’s historic Paramount Theater on November 8, united musicians from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ghana, Nepal, Tibet, India and America, and included Grammy-award winner Keb’ Mo’ and a performance by Todd Park Mohr of Big Head Todd and the Monsters. The concert brought in more than 1,500 spectators and raised money not only for the Playing for Change Foundation, but also their next project of building the first music school in the township of Guguletu, South Africa.
The Exile Brothers, who are managed by their mother, Neema, were discovered by PFCF during the Santa Monica-based organization’s trip to Mcleod Ganj, India in 2006. The foundation was there to give their support to Tibetan refugee centers, as well as to look for bands to showcase in their upcoming film, “Playing for Change International.” After a recommendation from their tour guide, the PFCF team wandered over to the family’s restaurant, J.J.I. Exile Brothers Café, to discover a very down-to-earth set of brothers with a style reminiscent of Crosby, Stills & Nash.
“It was the most amazing thing in the world,” says Grammy award-winning Music Producer and award-winning Film Director Mark Johnson, who co-created PFCF six years ago with business partner Whitney Kroenke Burditt, “we didn’t think we’d find this western sensibility, but we did [in the Exile Brothers]. We knew we’d keep the audience inspired by this music.”
Johnson was joined in India by a directorial and production team including Jonathan Walls, Kevin Krupitzer, Enzo Buono and Jeremy Goulder. The group took a variety of unconventional equipment with them—like a mobile recording studio powered by golf cart batteries and an Apple laptop—in order to record the Exile Brothers in a natural environment, which is a key aspect of the PFCF’s mission.
“In a studio, you close the door. It’s an isolation,” says Johnson. His intention was to record musicians in outdoor concerts and on the streets, where real music is played. “We wanted to document people in those moments to inspire every race, religion and gender to come together through music.”
The Playing for Change Foundation directs films, is a record company and runs a foundation to raise money for impoverished communities worldwide. Their mission is to connect the world through music by providing such resources as educational programs and supplies, as well as supporting projects initiated by those communities. They are working to rebuild Tibetan refugee centers in India and Nepal and to build an arts and music center in two different areas of South Africa.
Johnson’s crew recorded The Exile Brothers in the Himalayan Mountains in order to add their sound bites and video footage to the film, which included instruments and musicians not normally found in the same country. The Tibetan brothers’ guitar riffs would soon meld with Italian steel guitars and Indian tablas to create a fresh, new sound.
“In one country, a guy would play the guitar. In another, someone would play the sitar,” says Johnson. The result was a configuration of single songs played by different musicians from around the world. The PFCF has traveled to India, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Ghana and more, to piece together clips for their film, which was recently entered into the Berlin Film Festival. The organization also plans to produce a separate soundtrack for the film, which will include the 35 musicians performing Stand by Me and One Love together.
One of the goals for the PFCF, and a reason for the benefit concert, was to bring some of the musicians that the foundation met during their travels to the U.S. to record individual albums. Because most of the musicians hail from areas where money and resources are tight, the PFCF wanted to be able to produce a marketable album for each of the bands.
During their two weeks in America, The Exile Brothers recorded their first album, which is in the process of being finished, in Bob Dylan’s former studio, Shangri-la Studios in Malibu, California. Splitting time between Denver and California didn’t give the family much time to see the sights, but they were able to visit some American high schools and teach Tibetan dances to the students.
“We were at the studio, back to the hotel, the studio, back to the hotel,” says Neema, “everything was so fast and there was not much time.”
Neema discovered the boys’ talent back in 1998 and her support was enough to get oldest brother Jamyang to drop out of his thangka painting school and recruit Jigme and Ingsel to form a band. At first, the brothers played only for friends and family, but soon, the band was popping up before enthusiastic crowds in Mcleod Ganj, which sees vast numbers of Indian and Western tourists every day.
“I saw they were really talented,” says Neema, “they could be someone [and] do music for the cause of Tibet.”
Neema’s thoughts are echoed by her son, Jigme, who says that he just wants to “play music for my country.” Although he understands His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s viewpoints on Tibet, Jigme chose not to comment on the current political climate in his homeland. The brothers, who were born in India, play for the Tibet they have never seen and for all the Tibetan refugees living in India and around the world. The benefit in Denver was one such occasion.
“It’s not for money or fame,” says Jigme, “it’s just for a free Tibet. We just play music for a love of Tibet. It’s all we do. I’m a son of Tibet so I always have this feeling.”
Back in California, the PFCF music producers are busy arranging material for the musicians who participated in the benefit concert and recorded in November. The Exile Brothers album is near completion and features Keb’ Mo’ on the banjo in certain tracks. Besides producing the band’s album, the PFCF hopes to be able to offer more than music to the Tibetan refugee community.
The PFCF’s goal is to provide new beds, blankets, toothpaste and toothbrushes, a picture of the Dalai Lama and food to eat for six months for every Tibetan in the Mcleod Ganj, India and Kathmandu, Nepal refugee centers. These centers do the two largest intakes of Tibetan refugees in Asia.
The group of filmmakers and music producers has also toyed around with the idea of bringing children from Israel and Palestine to record songs together for their next endeavor. They raise money through donations by individuals and corporations, and from grants and benefits, such as the November concert in Denver.
“We want to inspire the world to use music to bring anyone together,” says Johnson, “we can’t eliminate the problems in the world, but all these people can come together through music.”
For more information on the Playing for Change Foundation, visit www.playingforchange.com.
