Lindigo

Lindigo, Maloya Power (Hélico)
Led by the charismatic Olivier Arasta, Lindigo was formed in 1999; based in Reunion, it has specialised ever since in maloya with a Malagasy slant, rooted in the legacies of the past, yet firmly contemporary.
Now the group is back with a fourth album: “Maloya Power”!

A glass of rum, a cigarette... In the dressing rooms just before going on stage, Olivier Arasta, the charismatic frontman of the maloya group Lindigo, always leaves a small offering for the Granmouns, the ancestors: a small ritual as a reminder of the roots of the music he performs. When he takes the stage – barefoot, as a token of respect – this musician of Malagasy origin never forgets the servis kabaré, the ritual ceremony in honour of the ancestors. Lindigo's music induces a state of trance. On stage, the eight members of this merry band are never alone: amidst the vocal polyphony and the swirl and tangle of rhythms produced by the pikèr (bamboo idiophone) roulèr (cylindrical drum) and kayamb (rattle), the Granmouns are there, taking part in the festivities. “They give us faith and courage: a very strong feeling, like the taste chilli pepper,” explains Olivier.
With an average age of thirty, the members of Lindigo look persistently to the past, but their approach is neither locked in nostalgia nor caught in the shackles of sterile memory. Such strong foundations give momentum; such roots build up the future. Their motto? “When you know where you come from, you know where you’re going.” Which is surely the reason why Lindigo appeal so much to the younger generations. Today, with over five hundred concerts and three albums under their belt, Lindigo are one of the island’s most popular groups: constantly good sales, appearances on radio, in clubs… And on stage the jubilation of their performance, linked to the past, yet open to new horizons, is inevitably contagious, delighting the audience, composed of people of all ages.
Rougail maloya
It all began when he was very young. Olivier was already grooving to the rhythms of maloya in his mother’s womb. His grandparents used to play at the servis kabaré, and he was born with the maloya sound in his blood. When he was knee-high to a grasshopper, he would toddle around the simmering cooking pots, drumming on their lids and singing – for which his delighted mother would reward him with a piece of meat or bread, a bit of onion or a spoonful of gruel. Ever since then Olivier has associated maloya with good things to eat. He readily compares it to “rougail tomate”, a Creole seasoning made with ingredients such as ginger, spices and chilli pepper – maloya shows Malagasy, African and Indian influences. During the servis kabaré ceremonies Olivier learned the recipe: first listening and clapping his hands, then adopting the instruments and singing. At the same time the young prodigy played the guitar, the accordion and drums, and by the age of nine he was playing with various groups: the Dalleau Orchestra, El Diablo, Doom, Dan keur, Grinn Dofé, Paille en queue, Françoise Guimbert... As a teenager looking for his path, he tried hard rock, maloya fusion, played at dances and weddings. Wherever he went, “Gogo”, as he was nicknamed (a tribute to Inspector Gadget), refreshed the music, gave it pep. Then gradually, by extension, “Gogo” became “Lindigo”, a medicinal plant whose root is ground to make a refreshing drink that stimulates the appetite, and is also very useful for sobering up after parties.
Turned towards Madagascar

At the age of seventeen, in 1999, Olivier returned to his first love, the one that has always haunted him: maloya. Thus returning to his Malagasy roots. With his partner Lauriane, he founded the group Lindigo, which gradually expanded as it was joined by friends from Paniandy, his district in Bras-Panon, in the east of the island. Playing for dances and all kinds of celebrations, Lindigo built up a reputation, before releasing its first album, Misaotra Mama (“Thank y