The Wajang Diskotheque Podcast Series

Wajang Diskotheque is a collective of creators and curators in Trinidad’s capital Port of Spain. It was founded by Trinidadian Writer Attillah Springer, German DJ, producer and Cree Records head honcho Merten Kaatz and Scottish artist Peter Doig. Since 2017, the Wajang Diskotheque has existed as an ad hoc underground club night focused on offering vinyl classics and contemporary Soca, Rapso, Zouk, Soukous, Reggae and other music of the Caribbean and African diasporas.

But it’s more than just catching the power on the dance floor. The Wajang Diskotheque is steeped in the work of contemporary documentation and archive activism. Trinidad and Tobago is sixty years into Independence and still grappling with legacies of colonial rule, while reconnecting to the vast cultural contribution its artists and thinkers have made since the beginning to the 20th Century. Calypso, the steelpan, rapso, soca, chutney, all reflect a society punching way above its weight when it comes to global cultural contributions. And that’s just the music.

Wajang Diskotheque is concerned with finding the threads that connect strident Pan Africanist voices like George Padmore and Claudia Jones to the films of Horace Ove, to the music activism of Lancelot Layne and Brother Resistance and the transformative nature of the hundreds of panyards that are present in every community. All these stories are woven into podcasts, covering themes like Black Power, Food and Land Security and the journey of Afro-Latinx musical traditions to Trinidad.

Interviews are also a mainstay of Wajang Diskotheque’s work and the series ‘I Belong to the House of Music’ takes a deep dive into the life and work of some of the region’s most prolific creatives. Past guests have musicians like the late Brother Resistance, Trumpeter and Guggenheim Fellow Etienne Charles, Calypso King David Rudder and authors including the Trinidadian novelist Earl Lovelace and the Jamaican essayist Kei Miller.

Featured Podcast

The Black Power Hour

On April 21, 1970 the Government of Trinidad and Tobago declared a State of Emergency. To mark the occasion, we’re looking back at some of the music and poems that told the story of what happened during the Black Power Movement of the 1970s.

Voices : Elisha Bartels, Adam Andrews
Poems : Muhammad Muwakil, Arielle John and Keshav Chandradathsingh
Concept and text : Attillah Springer
Production : Merten Kaatz
Sources: Personal interviews, Articles Wired868, Trinidad Express.

Tracklist

Dis Place Nice – Brother Valentino
More Weight – Malik
Power – Lord Fluke
White Power – Lasana Kwesi
No Revolution – Bro Valentino

Roots of Carapichaima – Andre Tanker
Child of the Storms – Kenneth Vidia Parmasad
Everybody is Somebody – Shadow
Ah Fraid Karl – Mighty Chalkdust
Blow Way – Lancelot Layne

Jericho – Kitchener
Fireflies for Beverly – Malik
Over Yonder – Maestro
I have had no Youth – Eintou Springer
Trini Groove – Brother Superior

Shango – Lord Nelson
Stay Up Zimbabwe – Bro Valentino
Tabu – Family Tree

More Podcasts

← Overcome BarriersI Belong To The House Of Music →

More Projects

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Image of Kambule Theatre Performance — Kambule – Theatre Performance

Screenshot of Women in Pan — Women In Pan

Painting of Lancelot Layne by Peter Doig — The Legacy of Lancelot Layne

Screenshot of I Belong to the House of Music — I Belong To The House Of Music

Screenshot of Overcome Barriers — Overcome Barriers

Screenshot of We Going Pan — We Going Pan