Tinariwen discovered guitar without Jimi Hendrix. In the wide, empty desert, many decades ago, the band picked up scrap instruments and in- vented its own tuning according to gut reaction. This music grew and played a role both spiritual and political for the Touareg tribe’s culture. After a discovery and a burst of ac- claim, the band began playing internationally just a few years ago. We caught them twice: at Coachella 2009 by grabbing guitarist and founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib as soon as he walked off stage—five minutes before a golf cart whisked him away— and then this year at Royce Hall, we spoke with guitarist Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni. This interview by Daiana Feuer.

What does the desert mean to your music?
Abdallah Ag Alhousseyni (guitar): To us the desert means freedom, identity and inspiration, infiniteness and clear sky. It’s where we feel at home. The word Tinariwen is from the Touareg language Tamasheq. Tinariwen means ‘many deserts,’ and we each bring our own experience of identity, freedom and inspiration from the land where we came from. The music we play is called ‘assouf,’ which means nostalgia. Every time we play, we feel the nostalgia for our home—even we are at home.
Despite a long history, your first album came out in 2001. Why did it seem right to finally deliver your music to the rest of the world?
AAA: We always think to play here in the world when we played in the desert. We waited to have the right opportunity. During the first years for Tinariwen, of course, it was not a priority to play internationally. We were not a regular band just for entertainment. After many years for Tinariwen to play at home with big success in our community in the Sahara, we were ready to give a positive answer to the invitation to play outside.
What has the band brought back to your culture?
AAA: We see a lot of things that are not at home. We bring information to our people about all the experience we are doing in traveling to do shows and meet different people and see different places. The life is completely different. All what we are seeing here became an experience to bring to home, to transmit to our people. For the people in the desert, Tinariwen still and always will be very important. We come from a place where there are not so many people that leave the desert. It’s a continuity for us that has evolved and is still important to our people.
Do the people want the world to know their way of life?
AAA: They are happy for this, the people. They wait a lot to have Tinariwen in international representative and to help the world population to know there is some tribe in the desert—and to protect their culture, their way of life, their frustration, in a way to preserve their culture in the modern world. Like some thing make people happy—some local artist play everywhere in the world. It’s important to feel you are in the actuality and not forgotten somewhere.
How many Touareg are there?
AAA: Maybe two million but they are scattered everywhere.
What is the biggest misconception about who you are and where you come from?
AAA: I never listen to Jimi Hendrix. I am not curious for this, but this is my personal interest. There is the city around us—no radio. Only what you bring yourself and make yourself. That is what we have and all I want. We develop our own music style. It was natural. We don’t know how to tune so it’s a hearing idea—without a teacher. We discover guitar. What people forget to understand about us is that there is not information—there is not really the opportunity or occasion to be interested in our culture, really. We most want for you to see a picture of our style of culture. We are working for this—for people to understand us more. It’s difficult to explain what we are in ten minutes—the whole mode of life. It’s a small community that did not choose to write a history book. There’s no newspaper, no TV. Some started to watch the TV and had their eyes open to understand the information they can have, but not too many things go out to explain our own population—the antique life in that part of the world with special conditions.
What’s something you’ve encountered that would never fit your culture?
AAA: All what we are seeing, all culture we meet, we can not bring it home. Only to adapt some things that are good for the desert life. All culture is welcome but to change our culture, it’s not easy. Only to observe our manner to live—this could help you in your life. It’s important to have an authentic social relation. We have a special manner. It’s interesting, the difference. Some live in house, small towns, some in tents. There is a government. The families are together. The life and government is a good source of energy to understand the world. It’s a good point to observe for the world social situation. We have our eyes open to see what’s happening but not too much capacity to change. One’s mode of life is very important. Everyone should think of how he is living and is it good? Maybe there is a better way. To run for money all the time is not very good for emotion and value of life.
How has your guitar playing evolved?
AAA: It became more pure. We are working to develop this style but not to change. The style is born in the conditions—the life of the desert day after day. I got an opportunity to get a guitar and play. We would take anything we could get to make music, traditional percussion, vocals, clapping. For all ceremony we use music to dance and celebrate. So the style is born from this condition, this style of life. Over our time we developed a special style to play and try to make this the clearest possible for all musicians and to make a new authentic style of Touareg guitar playing.
Can you describe the poetry in your music?
AAA: The game in our manner to write and practice poetry—in fact, we are not saying exactly what you should understand. We sing about something that you should let your imagination do its understanding. That’s all we want you to hear. Everyday, the poetry is always recited. Each one does and lives his kind of poetry every day. It’s a manner to live, it’s also a game. It is very present in our culture to do the transmission of poetry generation to generation. We do the same with songs. We reflect what is happening in our country— how we live, good or bad.
What makes good poetry?
AAA: When it gives you good imagination. Make you happy. You dress on stage in traditional clothing.
How is clothing a form of language?
AAA: In the life each one has his manner to be dressed. It’s in relation to your own land, your culture. We must deal with sand and wind so it’s a manner to protect. It’s simple, but also a way to keep our culture. And music is not only a language. It’s a universal way. But it’s not practiced only to say something—it’s because you love to play. For me, it’s a natural expression of how I feel. This is important aspect, the personal sensation of the musician and composer. When you get the inspiration to do this language, it’s because you like to do this personally. So it’s a discussion between the music and you. It’s not a demonstration but you give the people the permission to see how you do this, to look at this picture of who you are. You can understand someone with his music without need to understand the lyrics. Only with the color of the song and the manner to play, and if it’s ‘ba ba baba pow,’ you will feel differently.
As musicians in a band, you come from different places but communicate one sound together. How do you describe that chemistry?
AAA: The facility you can have with another musician to tune your music, this is why you are with this other musician. It’s not often you find inspiration to compose a new song with a group. A song you write twenty years ago, suddenly today you find a new way to play it or it makes sense in a new way, because you find it together with a group.
[Rewind to Coachella 2009. Tinariwen’s founder Ibrahim Ag Alhabib walks offstage after playing music like no one there ever had heard before. He is intercepted with only five minutes to talk.]
Do you find it strange that we set up this environment in the middle of nowhere, and add grass and palm trees?
AAA: I was surprised. I was looking for camels, indeed.
Being your second time in the United States, how do you feel about this festival experience?
Ibrahim Ag Alhabib (guitar): It’s natural. We feel at home with the sun. People are hot, smiling. There is so much sun, it reminds us of our country. And people are really, really nice, and really hot.
Why do you dress traditionally? It’s so hot.
IAA: It’s the national dress—our national suit—and it’s how we protect ourselves on stage or riding in the desert. It’s a way to show our Touareg culture.
How did it feel to come off the stage?
IAA: As I’m going on stage, I feel happy because I am going to give something to people. And then people give me something back. There is a conversation between the artist and the audience. So I got that.
What’s your message to everyone?
IAA: My message will be, peace around the world and no more war. We have to take care of little people and share everything.

TINARIWEN’S IMIDIWAN IS OUT NOW ON WORLD VILLAGE. TINARIWEN.COM.