Diandra Reviews It All- Interviews Louis York: Weirdos & American Griots

Louis York’s American Griots is fun, funkadelic, and also introspective. Griots is the name for “storytellers” in West Africa; a group of people meant to keep the records and history of their village, which seemed to be the goal for Louis York in terms of America. Their new record is a balance between social and spiritual commentary; often seeing both as intertwined. In our interview, members Claude Kelly and Chuck Harmony discuss how touring, their church upbringing, and sheer desire to find their place in this world moved them to become American Griots.

Diandra: How do you feel American Griots is an elevation, for you, on how you see your artistry and elements of masterpiece theatricality?

Chuck: I feel like American Griots is an elevation of our Masterpiece Theater mixtapes because we were able to tour, meet fans, and really understand ourselves. We were able to take our original idea of Masterpiece Theater being this big, theatrical thing and fine tune it for the stage and conversation pieces and make it make sense for all that we want to do as musicians.

Claude: It is all very spiritual for us. To say you are a musician professionally is, you know, “pat yourself” in the back because it is not easy to have that as a career. In this record, we were trying to find ourselves more spiritually and personally and see what it means to be a black man in 2016, 17, 18, and 19. American Griots is us to a lot of realizations in seeing where we fit and what is missing. It is us seeing how our gifts are God-given and how to create them.

Diandra: What led you to name your album American Griots and how do you feel it clarified the world’s current state to you?

Chuck: It definitely did. The word came from an interview with a website and us researching what was “griots.” We then had a conversation that word, instantly, gave us the a lot of structure and intention in the platform we are building to figure and fill what we were missing in this world. The term means “storyteller, musician, and poet;” a person that goes from town to town telling the oral history their country. We drove a connection to the term right away because we want our platform to tell the stories of spiritual revolution, music revolution, fashion revolution, and tell the stories of all the things we picked up along the way in our journeys and, hopefully, inspire people. You have a responsibility to your platform.

Claude: To answer the second part of your question. At the time of making American Griots, we moved to Nashville and made a lot of new friends and lost old ones. Ultimately, I think what we found was joy again. It something we do not talk about in terms of spiritual, economic, health, or even day to day worth. We don’t discuss it as something that makes us thrive. We were discussing why we were so angry; so angry at tv, the news, music, the world, at all kinds of stuff. We realized what was missing is finding a space to express yourself, and by expressing yourself you learn to celebrate and have joy. There are so many different agents trying to keep you divided, angry, fearful, and confused. Towards the end of the album, we discovered that our joy is equally as important as our protest. We are two guys coming together to wear bright colors and make a joyful noise. We discovered the importance in teamwork and expressing ourselves in making us us healthy humans and artists. That is the gift I have gotten from American Griots, I am much more grateful and happy.

Louis York – Don’t You Forget (Official Music Video)

Diandra: I think that is deeply powerful because I don’t know a lot of people that make joy a goal. They think it is something that simply happens and get frustrated when it doesn’t.

Claude: Right! We make money a goal. We make fame a goal. We make a house a goal or a good career a goal. Those things are supposed to be vehicles to joy: not joy itself. We want people to leave our show feeling like that feeling is okay and important.

Diandra: You have the Tiny Book Club to the Weirdo Collective. Do you thin identifying as a “weirdo” is someone that is woke to how society does not make happiness a goal?

Chuck: I, usually, shun away from the word woke but I think, in this case, it is applicable. For us, weirdo means being original. I think to Claude’s point there are a lot of agents trying to stop us from doing that.

Louis York – You Gotta Be (Reimagined) [Official Music Video]

Diandra: Well, I always say, “If someone calls you woke then it is okay, but if you call yourself woke then you are probably asleep.”

(We laugh: Fair enough!)

Diandra: Was there anything in particular, during touring, that made you pinpoint exactly what you wanted to deliver to the masses?

Claude: Yeah! To be honest, the whole album came together because of our touring. After Masterpiece Theater came out, we were uncertain on how we wanted to deliver our music to the people. The idea was to really get out there and find our tribe. We were able to see how much people miss soloing or being able to talk through music. We were able to see how to sing songs in a way so that people can be affected. American Griots is the way it is, even in order and arrangements, because of our tour. We performed these songs lives so we were able to see which ones worked for them; what made them cry and claim that they are a weirdo. We took this album on the road to see how it played before people and in that molded the record.

Diandra: Do you feel that, in some ways, you are teaching the industry new ways to approach the artist or the work?

Claude: I think so…. (they laugh). We are not arrogant and thinking that our way is the high way. I feel our way is a better way or another way that is effective. There is a lack of direction in terms of artist development and freedom. It takes time and patience to develop an artist and see who they are when making music. We have been in this business long enough to see that there is not really a plan when developing artists, and we do our best to fill those gaps. I think we are so tied to our labels. We are the artists and you are a music journalist, but we are all fans of music first. Music is supposed to fulfill a certain need and if it doesn’t, then we are not doing it right.

Louis York – You Gotta Be (Reimagined) [Official Music Video]

Diandra: With your belief that music can add light to the world, what is one personal memory of music adding light to your life?

Chuck: That is a great question! I would have to go back to the very first time music gave me a chill. I had to be seven years old, and we were in a choir with the adults and we were singing “O Holy Night.” We were doing the harmony and I felt chills all over my body. It was so light and clear and I will never forget that. I have been chasing that ever since.

Claude: Side Bar! That song messed me up when I was a kid, too. “O Holy Night” is probably one of the most beautiful songs ever written. Every year it has the same effect on me; it always gives me chills. So since Chuck took what I was going to say, I remember when I was about 8 years old I was going to camp and they had no radio. It was kind of isolated with no music, which killed me So my mom gave me a walkman and it had Michael Jackson’s Bad cassette tape. I remember the whole process was magic. End of summer camp was magic, getting a walkman was magic, the cover of the album was magic. I remember putting in the tape and listening to it for 8 hours straight and thinking it was perfection. I was literally crying because I did not know music could be that good, and I thought “I have to be a musician.” I have been on that journey ever since.

For More Information On Louis York and To Buy American Griots Click Here.