RFI: Following the release of your début album, Exile, in 1990, you were categorised as a 'world music' artist. But these days you seem to be veering off on much more of a rock tangent. What's going on?
Geoffrey Oryema: One thing's for sure and that is that my new album's going to take quite a few people by surprise! I didn't just grow up listening to traditional African music, you know. I listened to a lot of British pop and rock. After all, don't forget my homeland has strong links with the UK; Uganda was a British protectorate for sixty years. And that's where my rock side comes from, I guess. My new album's also a result of my collaboration with Adrian Chivers. I've known Adrian for fourteen years now; he used to be a sound engineer at Real World (Peter Gabriel's label on which Exile is released). It was Adrian who produced my new album.

Do you feel you've left the 'world music' label entirely behind now? Does Exile mark a move towards your belonging to a new musical family?
Well, I've always been uncomfortable with the term 'world music.' It's a bit of a flimsy construct that doesn't actually mean anything at all. I mean, there are all kinds of music in this world, aren't there? So that means anything can be classified as world music, anything from rock and rap to jazz… I'm a singer, songwriter and composer and I make the kind of music I want to hear, the music that's close to my heart, with the influences I've grown up with. I still carry Africa deep in my soul and even if today I am bringing out a more 'crossover' style of album, my roots are still there. On Exile I play the lukeme (thumb piano), the nanga (harp) and I sing in Swahili and Atcholi as well as English and French.

In fact, your penchant for rock music was already there back in 1993, wasn't it, when you teamed up with guitarist Jean-Pierre Alarcen and recorded the album Beat The Border…
Yes, absolutely. And I have to say, my love of rock was there right from the word go, before I brought out my first album, in fact. Sometimes I think to myself I should have started out playing both, you know, mixing rock with a style of music that's more anchored in my roots. That way I wouldn't have the impression I'm 'betraying' fans today. In reality, I'm not betraying anyone, though. I grew up listening to rock as well as African music and I have the right to express myself through rock as much as anything else. Alarcen and I have kept in touch with one another over the years and I have to admit he's had some influence on my musical approach.

There are two important female contributors on your new album. Who are they exactly?
Well, first up there's my friend Nadine Marchal. I met her about a year ago now and she told me she was a big fan of my music. Nadine doesn't come from the music world at all. She's a designer, but it turned out she had a secret talent she'd never used before and that's songwriting. We worked on the lyrics of the new album together. The second female presence on my album is Peter Gabriel's daughter, Melanie. She's been touring with her father for a while now and she's currently working on her own album. I've known Melanie since she was a kid, when I used to go and work on Exile at the Real World studios.

Would you say your new songs bear echoes of your past?
Yes, that's true in some cases. There's a song called Flying which is a bit of an autobiography. The song's all about travelling and that's something I've done a lot of in my life. To me, travel is a wonderful means of opening yourself to new horizons and other people.

Travel can sometimes be enforced, too. You were forced to flee Uganda in 1977 under Idi Amin's dictatorship. Do you still consider yourself as an exile today?
No, I've turned the page and left all that behind me now, although my country's still very much in my soul. I may no longer be there physically, but I think I do my homeland some good with my music. Over the past 26 years a lot of people have come to discover Uganda through my music.
Sure, I can sit here and criticise my country for reasons we're all too well aware of. I'm as critical as anyone when it comes to the stupidity of corrupt dictators, tribal wars, the spread of disease and the state of enforced poverty… But at the same time, even though the political climate is still not very favourable for me, to me Uganda's a truly beautiful country. It's no coincidence Winston Churchill once called it "the pearl of Africa."

Have you been back to Uganda since 1977?
No, like I said, I've turned the page now. I don't want to come back as an exile again. Besides, I'm still suffering the consequences of what happened to me the first time round.

After spending the last 26 years in France, doesn't an English speaker like yourself come to have some Francophone roots, too?
It's true, I do. I feel Ugandan, African and, somewhere down the line, English. I have to admit I still think in English, in fact. It's not surprising when you consider that my whole family lives in England now. And then there's also the historical link between Britain and Uganda I was talking about earlier. But, yes, I do feel French as well. I've got French nationality now. I vote here and, after all these years living in France, of course there's something Francophone, something French and even Parisian about me. I realise that especially when I go abroad. And I have to admit, I always support the French team in a match – even if it's France against England!

Geoffrey Oryema Words (Next Music) 2004