Bedouin Soundclash exploring new horizons
March 11, 2026 4:55 PM
On March 5th 2011, Bedouin Soundclash preformed in front of a packed house at The Inn. The band, consisting of Ontario natives Jay Malinowski (lead vocals), Eon Sinclair (bassist), and Sekou Lumumba (drummer) sat down with The Xaverian Weekly prior to the show to discuss their new album Light the Horizon, their past experiences, and going through a transition phase in both their line-up(after losing former drummer Pat Pengelly) and their musical sound.
Xaverian Weekly: With your new album Light The Horizon, what were some of your inspirations for this new music?
Bedouin Soundclash: Ourselves a bit for sure, I think some of our history was part of, you know the fact that we went through some changes in our line-up and we weren’t really sure about what we were gonna do next. Some of the songs like ‘Mountain Top’, definitely speak to us coming back together, and keep going with music as Bedouin Soundclash, so I definitely think there’s a theme of that throughout the record among other things.
XW: Why did you choose ‘Mountain Top’ as your first single off the new album?
BS: I think it was the most upbeat song on the record. The song itself is about coming back together as a band, and the whole record is future oriented, so I think that song sets the tone for the album lyrically.
XW: Can you describe what Lumumba, your new drummer, brings to the table in comparison to the previous one?
BS: [Lumumba] is a really good drummer. A really, really, really good drummer, and beyond that well...nothing really (laughs). I think when we sat down and talked initially about playing together, there was a definite indication that we wanted to do something different than what we’d done, and explore new things, and I think that we’re all gifted enough that we can take ideas and go different places with it. You can kind of hear on the album there’s some non-traditional Bedouin beats and guitar parts happening.
XW: On the current tour, do you have any pre-show routines or traditions?
BS: Juggling apparently (laughs). [Malinowski] juggled some fruit last night in St. John’s, first time he’s ever done it.
XW: What kind of fruit?
BS: (Laughs) Two oranges and an apple! We kind of huddle though, because we tend to have people hanging out backstage with us before the show, so if we can we try and get just the three of us to get connected. Right before we go on we huddle but we can never think of the right things to say (laughs)! But now we’re going to think of something tonight. Apples and oranges maybe…
XW: Your new album was recorded in Philadelphia. Why did you choose that location?
BS: Really because King Britt was with us, based in Philly. He was the producer on the record, and when we decided to work with King, I always think it’s important to go to the source, you know go to where he’s more comfortable, putting yourself out of that comfort zone in Philadelphia where it’s such a musically deep city.
We went down there really because of King, but I think with all the records we do we always go to a place to record, because you know you’re there for the record, and you get forced to do things differently. We also had access to one of the best studio’s in the world probably, Larry Gold studios. For us it was the first time recording an album in a high, high level studio. We had access to all of his musicians as well. He’s really well connected there, his network is so far reaching.
XW: You guys recently collaborated with Beatrice Martin and you (Malinowski) also have an EP with her, so how was that experience?
BS (Malinowski): I did a song for the Olympics with Beatrice and I love her voice, so around this time last year we started working on some stuff together. The first thing that came up was ‘Brutal Hearts’ (a song featured in the movie The Romantics) and we needed a female vocal on it. Then we just released this thing called Armistice, with her singing and this band called The Bronx from LA backing us up.
XW: So talking about the 2010 Olympics, I’m just wondering what you’re experience was like performing that show?
BS: It was great actually. That was the first time we preformed with [Lumumba]. We did three shows.
XW: Pressure?
BS: Yeah the first show he played with us there was 10,000 people there. It was like welcome to the band, by the way we have a show next week, 10,000 people (laughs). We didn’t even know it was going to be that big of a show either. We were like “oh my gosh there’s a lot of people here”. But it was really great. It was such a festive atmosphere in Vancouver at the time.
XW: Also talking about side projects, could you talk about starting your own record label? I know you’ve recently signed some artists to that too.
BS: Yeah we started Pirates Blend with Sony around the same time we were going through a change over in the band, where we’d done things a certain way for a while. And with the new line-up with [Lumumba], around that time we started Pirates Blend which would allow us to do side projects and give us a lot more creative control and freedom over what we do. If we wanted to do something we wouldn’t have to ask any questions.
XW: You preformed in 2008 at the Summer Sonic Festival in Japan, alongside some huge and amazing acts. Could you describe that experience?
BS: Well actually it’s funny, we played with Xavier Rudd, that’s kind of how we got to know him. But the festival is amazing, with Alicia Keys and Coldplay and a couple other guys (laughs). But it’s so well run. Japanese people love to make sure things are run well and all in order. It was like 20 people per band. We’re sitting in this room at there’s 15 people with us, a person for each piece of our gear. We never saw our gear the whole time.
This is a funny story though. When we first met [Xavier Rudd] at the Summer Sonic Festival, there’s one in Osaka and one in Tokyo and you go between them and all the bands fly at the same time. So we were talking to [Rudd], and he was walking around barefoot, he doesn’t wear shoes ever. So he’s walking around [...] with no shoes, and he’s got a half drunk can of beer. As he gets to the security, they put the little tray out for him, and he puts the half drank can of beer in it, and then he pulls out a little knife and puts the knife in it. And people were like holy shit, and cause it’s airport security and you’re not really supposed to bring a knife with you, but they just let him go through, they didn’t say anything! XW: Also you went on tour with No Doubt. How was that? BS: They’re such nice people, so gracious. What was really interesting to me was that they all brought their families on the road, it was the first time I’d toured with a band that had their own bus for each member and their families. When we were at the venues, they did their own thing a lot. Their show was pretty inspiring in a lot of ways, and their bass player really took a keen interest in us, and I think he’s still in touch with [Malinowski].
XW: So is there any artist out there that would be a dream collaboration for you?
BS: I think the Gorillaz definitely. It would be so cool to do that. There’s actually so many it’s hard to pick one. Peter Gabriel yeah he’d be incredible. We were kind of what-iffing what it would be like to produce an album with him. That would just be mind blowing.
XW: Since you guys started at Queens, and there are a lot of bands here at X that play and met here, do you have any advice for university bands looking to be successful?
BS: Yeah, we’ve played a lot of shows, so just keep playing, and making music that people wanted to come out to see. I mean I think it’s a really important thing. Very obvious one but I always think when you see a band, what makes what they’re saying important? Why would I want to listen to you?
XW: Going back to your current album, I’m wondering how you believe your sound has progressed and changed, or if you feel you’ve changed since your beginning?
BS: I think now, I feel like in terms of how we approach, and collaborate to make the songs has changed. [Malinowski] does most of the primary writing, and then we’ll come together to make it a Bedouin sound. I think in the beginning we rested a lot on reggae and punk, things that made the connection in the beginning. We explored that really well, and we’ll continue to do that but now it feels a lot less focused on one thing and more open ended. I think especially after [Malinowski] did his solo record, he was able to bring that feel, that texture as a writer that maybe didn’t always show through with the stuff we did before to now this record. That in itself I think shows a great progression from where we started on Root Fire (the band’s first album in 2001), which was just a collection of songs we made that year, to this place, where we’ve experimented with a bunch of ideas and now we have a better idea of our strengths and weaknesses, and we’re going to work towards those.
XW: Before going on, do you still get nervous? Are you nervous for tonight?
BS: No. Should we be?! (laughs)
