Filastine is one of those globalistas, who bring their sound to every corner of the world and mix every sound they pick up into something very unique. In 2006 Filastine released his debut “Burn it” on Soot records, a fusion of revolutionary arabic, electronic, global beats´n´pieces and panhispanic elements, with which he successfully opened shows for Diplo and other global  music figures. After three years of hard work and hardcore touring with concerts in festivals as well as squats, Filastine finally brings out his new global sound diary in 2009, to be released on Jarring Effects!

Right on time for the Transmediale, where he performs, here is the interview with the sonic traveller.

When did you start making music? And with which instruments?

At about 19 years I was given a pair of beat-up mexican conga drums. It’s the first time I touched an instrument or thought about making music. Pretty quickly after that I stole an oil drum from behind a gas station, and started playing that with sticks. It was half full of petroleum sludge, so it never sounded that great, later I found a spot with clean oil barrels and started cutting those up to make a kit.

How did the passion for travelling and underground movements / street action arose?

That’s 3 questions, so I’ll just choose one to answer… street action. I don’t like representitve or symbolic politics, it always feels spectucular, like an act. With more direct street action you can actually shape reality, for instance block a financial meeting or remove a corporate store. Direct results are addictive.

You are around a lot and partly located in Barcelona? How is the feeling to be arriving while you are already leaving?

It’s only hard for where I live, which is Barcelona. Everyone else understands that you are temporary, but in Barcelona it’s difficult to maintain good personal relationships, perhaps because this is the place where I keep more of my equipment and is the only place I can get work done, I find myself very busy there.

What influence has movement in your creations?

Everything that I observe and learn in the world leaves an impact in the art that I create, so it’s a very wide spectrum.

How did the idea to use a supermarket cart as a samba instrument arise?

It’s the most obvious symbol of consumerism, so beating the shit out of shopping trolley is a simple way to transmit a political idea without words. Also practicality: You can find one anywhere, it also functions as a stand for much of my equipment. Also subversion: every promoter has to commit a crime to book Filastine.

Tell me more about the Infernal Noise Brigade.

A 25-piece marching band Built to soundtrack the global movement that was most visible 1999-2004. It was a music with a specific social utility, to actualize the mob, to add gasoline to the fire.

You released your debut “Burn it” on Soot, the label from DJ Rupture. Do you know him from his days in Barcelona or did get to meet later?

We met in Barcelona but were in touch via the interweb a few months before. We met by inevitability.

You opened for names such as Coldcut, Diplo and Rebel Familia in festivals around the world. Is there a difference between you as street artist and those big names when it comes to music?

I think I’m a different kind of person, not better or morally superior, but different. Basically when I’m in a large commercial music context I’m thankful for the opportunity to play, but know this isn’t my home and that I’m a stranger.  Similarly, I have to go to a bank or a supermarket sometimes, but I never feel like these spaces are for me.

Can music change people?

Short answer: yes. Also books, videos, and most of all physical experiences, music isn’t special in this regard, but music does has a stronger effect. As humans we have tens of thousands of years developing our brains in relationship to music, but humanity has only had the technology for books/video/film for a short historical time.

You conduct “guerrilla audio-interventions”. Where and when and with which tools / elements?

The Infernal Noise Brigade was one giant audio intervtion, but I’ve also done a bunch of “freelance” actions, always using loudspeakers in public space.

Aproximately how many times and in how many places did you get arrested by the police for being a musician as you are?

I’ve been chased, gassed, beaten, and shot at with rubber bullets many times. Only arrested once, because I don’t like being inside a cage I do my best to avoid it.

What does the word “home” means to you?

I just had to look it up in the dictionary (that’s a joke). Home is where there is the highest concentration of both personal relationships and physical stuff. It’s been very difficult shifting that magnetic center from Seattle, my last home, to Barcelona, my current home.

What lies behind the concept of “roots” for you?

The base of experience that one can call on. For many people this would be family, or hometown, but for me it’s different. My roots are dispersed web of community, and the experience and knowledge imparted by different teachers.

What are your plans for the future?

Filastine, as a project, deserves a few more years of effort, to see where I can arrive with the project. In a perfect world I can gain enough resources and contacts to leverage it into something else- what I have in mind is a nomadic city made out of a converted container ship. A floating pirate republic. It might sound unrealistic, but whatever, everyone has a dream. Plan B is a ecological off-grid house somewhere between some mountains and a sea, using that as a base for a life of continued intervention. Of course I’ll continue to make music, but not sure in what format.

Thanks! Keep moving.