Interview: Extreme
From New Caledonia, Extreme features possibly the youngest band members to enter Pacific Break so far. Caroline Lafargue spoke to Eliah Tidjin in Nouméa about the national events that inspired “Le 5 Mai ’88″.
10 young Kanak teens aged between 13 and 21. Some of them at school, some at university, some unemployed. But all the members of Extreme are close cousins from the Titch tribe at the very north of New Caledonia’s main island.
The story of Extreme started amidst a family tragedy: the death of the mother in a car accident a few years ago, killed by a chauffard. Father Eric Tidjin decided to help his 3 sons by creating a band to overcome their grief and anger.
Extreme wrote a song for their mum, “Sourire Volé” (stolen smile). But they also sing about Kanak and Caledonian society, about the necessity to hire local people rather than French people coming from the metropole, or even about the Kanak independence movement.
Eliah Tidjin, 20 years old, is the main musical and lyrical composer of the band. He also uses music as a way to discover more about the history of his country. On April 22 1988, Kanak separatists from the FLNKS attacked local police/gendarmerie on Ouvea Island. Four gendarmes died during the assault and 16 others were taken hostage and brought to a cave in the Gossanah area. On May 5, Paris sent a group of elite soldiers to free the hostages. Two militaires and 19 Kanak separatists were killed during the assault. This was the climax of revolutionary unrest in New Caledonia, just a few days before the presidential election in France.
What does the young Kanak generation know and think about this tragic Ouvea cave event? Eliah Tidjin was interviewed by Caroline Lafargue from Radio Australia’s French service, right after a rehearsal in Nouméa.
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