Sun Araw: Echoes of Blackness Sun Araw (sound familiar?) is a master looper, sampler, and creator of ghostly, sun drenched soundscapes, often infused with remnants of past decades and previous masters. Cameron Stallones is the man behind name. He is originally from Austin, Texas but now lives in Long Beach, an element which is definitely factored into the equation when considering the numerous influences that inspire his tie-dye, beach fuzz music.
Sun Araw is a very interesting artist to consider while looking through the Afrofuturist lens. His music, techniques and philosophical approach quickly reminded me of those key Afrofuturist ideas like the exploration of time and space through music, the repurposing of sound, and the technical manipulation of instruments and electronic equipment. In an interview with M. Hugh Steeply, a writer for the online music and film webzine Tiny Mix Tapes, Stallones generously reveals the influences and drives behind his music. He explains that he is heavily influenced by other musicians (mostly from the 60’s, 70’s era) like Fela Kuti, as well as long-take filmmakers such as Tarkovsky, Altman etc. But even though Sun Araw’s music includes faded impressions of other artists within the dizzying overlap of timeless sounds, he maintains that in order to create truly authentic and personal music, he must first be in tune with his own creativity and emotional state.
Steeply: “That faded impressions idea is real interesting in the way that Heavy Deeds sounds so much swampier and toiled than both Beach Head and those afro-funk reference points; they sound really nicely tangential to me. So you're particularly drawn to putting new and personal energy and ideas into the older things you hear?”
Stallones: “[…] An organ idea from Steve Reich's “Four Organs,” or a guitar tone off a Big Star record, or a rhythmic idea from The Pyramids, or something like that becomes the wrapping for the idea that came from basking [in] the glow. It's important to me that the idea itself comes from beyond all that, but once the idea has been retrieved, it's a joyful celebration to deck it out in subtle hints and tributes to music, film, any cultural artifacts that I love. Those artifacts get fused with zones you've placed them in, and become important, glowing iconography in the mythology, and they help you find your way back there when you want to go.”
For Sun Araw, the environments in which he works are also important in steering the creative process. In 2012, Araw took a trip to Jamaica, collaborated with the aging reggae-roots band The Congos, and released the album entitled Icon Give Thank. Araw’s musical tools and techniques were originally developed by 60’s Dub producers like Lee “Scratch” Perry, and later carried across genres and geographical borders along what Nabeel Zuberi would call the “roads” of Diaspora and globalization. So this collaboration truly represents Dub’s journey across borders and trip back to the homeland, a tangibly Afrofuturist enterprise. In an interview at Festival EDP Paredes de Coura (which is great to watch as Cameron and his friend and band mate Alex beautifully account for the philosophy and experience behind Sun Araw), one of my favorite moments is when Cameron speaks of his trip to Jamaica and says: “These people live like kings there because they still remember how, you know, and they remember how to improv, you know?”, and Alex continues the statement and says “improv in life, not just music”.
So, is Sun Araw an Afrofuturist? Is he furthering the black legacy in music? Can he faithfully embody blackness if Cameron Stallones is a white man with a handlebar mustache? Should that matter?
Blackness in the Afrofuturist sense is not a single, unchanging identity, but rather a continuously metamorphosing one. It is neither a stereotype that black people follow, nor an archetype that they “ought to follow�. Sun Ra and George Clinton, two important and influential musicians, have both created incredibly distinct and representative personas, and they often rally their listeners and talk of going away and conquering space. However, their mission is definitely not to carve a path or provide their fans with a mould for what blackness is or should be. Instead, Ra and Clinton are honoring pure creativity and potential, and invite their fans to do exactly what they do, which is to express themselves in the most authentic and liberating way, even though they make reference to elements of black culture. They seem to be promoting inspiration rather than emulation.
And this is what Sun Araw’s project is all about. He chose not to adhere to any musical conventions, pushes the boundaries of experimental music, and promotes intuitive improvisation, all the while channeling echoes of AfroDiasporic and black sounds, among other cultural influences. But once again, does he actively participate in the celebration and exploration of blackness? Or is Sun Araw one of many individuals who have simply been exposed to black culture through globalization?