I'm Clyde Macfarlane, an NCTJ qualified journalist and illustrator.

Interview with Aurelio

“Yurumei”, the Garifuna name for the island of St.Vincent, is a complex interpretation of homeland for Aurelio. The singer was born and raised in Honduras, and with the release of his second album, Laru Beya, comes another strong ancestral pull: repatriation to West Africa. “St Vincent is where the Garifuna were born”, explains Aurelio. “It’s where the freedom of my people begins.”

There is something unique about the geography of the island. Its rocky shoreline caused a slave ship wreckage in the late 17th Century, and this allowed an unleashed injection of African culture- from the Ibibio people of what is now Nigeria, to be specific- into the Caribbean. The same rocky shoreline eluded European colonisation for a further hundred years, and by the time the British claimed the island in 1796 the Garifuna community had grown out of intermarriage between the escaped Ibibio slaves and the native Arawaks. The community was then deported en masse and scattered across the Caribbean coast ofCentral America.

This is the story that is embedded within every track of Laru Beya. Aurelio’s laid back, beach-culture vocals are always heavy with sadness. The inner sleeve notes show pictures of him staring wistfully out to sea. “St Vincent is my homeland, then Africa, then Honduras”, he continues. “It’s always been a big dream of mine to go to Africa to reconnect with my ancestry.” The album was recorded in Honduras and Senegal, encompassing Aurelio’s first emotional visit to the continent. It’s an interesting fusion ofCaribbean and African genres, mostly son (Cuba), reggae (Jamaica), punta (Honduras) and semba (Angola). The latter influence is particularly strong; “yes, many people think we are Angolan after seeing us live!” he laughs.

For many, a big appeal of the album will be in afro-pop legend Youssou N’Dour’s guest appearances. Both of his tracks are made more poignant by his stirring vocal style.  “It was pretty daunting being in a studio with Youssou in Dakar”, admits Aurelio. “He’s always been my favourite artist from Africa. Going to his house and meeting his wife and children- this was a very special time for me.”