Local NEW! NEO TRIBAL VISION : In A Foreign Movie - Tape (2024 Ethical Hustler)

"NEO TRIBAL VISION was a musical trio active on Vancouver Island BC from 1982 to 1995. The founding members are Don MacGregor (vocals, flute, trumpet, keyboard and percussion ), Todd Harmon (congas, bongos and percussion) and Bill Konsorado (keyboards). Their self described styles of music “future primitive funk” and “tropical party” set them apart from other bands and the absence of guitar and bass gave listeners something different to groove on. A diminutive fourth member, ”Bruce” the TR 505 drum machine, often laid down a basic groove over which the band wove live percussion and melodies. Original compositions by Konsorado and MacGregor stemming from improvisations gave birth to instrumentals influenced by world beat flavours seasoned with synth pop. Edgy vocals full of social commentary penned by MacGregor added another dimension. As the band developed their original material they began to add their own take on other artist’s tunes and they had a set of danceable Talking Head songs, as well as some Elvis Costello and Joe Jackson gems in the repertoire.
The band name Neo Tribal Vision was inspired by MacGregor’s delving into the writings of visionary Marshall McLuhan who foresaw a new tribalism evolving through electronic media. Popular at parties and dances, the band performed at many community halls on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands and was the house band for fiestas at Gina’s Mexican Cafe in Nanaimo.
On stage, MacGregor’s bigger than life persona and multi instrumental antics captivated audiences. His early paraphernalia included “ Jingling Johnny”, a wooden ironing board full of percussion toys, a variety of flutes including the nasal variety, cornet and trumpet, tongue drum, xylophone and later keyboard. He had a unique rappy vocal style and anyone who heard “Pennies, Nickels, Dimes and Quarters” had it indelibly embedded in their ears. A self taught musician, his playing, singing and composing progressed as the band evolved.
Balancing MacGregor’s energy, Konsorado, being the only “schooled” musician, added structural harmony and a love of improvised solos to the mix. While early band compositions stemmed from his piano based ideas, the band sound grew as he added more keyboards to the mix and he often had a rack of three with an electric piano the motherboard. Between Konsorado and MacGregor, Harmon added an earthy natural flowing rhythm on the skins of his congas and bongos. He intuitively followed the ebb and flow of the tunes and added much of the world beat flavour to the music.
Playing at festivals, family events and schools, “NTV” were happy to have avoided the bar scene and only ever had one bar gig at Harpo’s in Victoria where they opened for San Diego Rockabilly band the Paladins. Another memorable Victoria gig was opening for Donovan at the Roxy. After amicably deciding to disband, Neo Tribal Vision played their farewell performance on April Fool’s Day 1995 at Gina’s Mexican Cafe.
Rediscovery: In the fall of 2020 music archeologist, DJ Richie Digs in Victoria BC found a copy of the NTV cassette recording and posted it on Youtube as he had done with countless other obscure and interesting recordings. At that point he had no contact with any band members. The YouTube posting stirred some interest abroad from some like minded music collectors. Konsorado began to receive emails from interested parties in the UK and France. Apparently the only reference online about Neo Tribal Vision was in his bio on his wife Donna and his Konsorados website which features their duo. Donna first received the emails through the website and soon there was some international interaction. Konsorado felt it best to contact Richie Digs, who by this time had taken the recording off YouTube. Richie was thrilled to make contact and was excited to have more details and know that there were more recordings. He admitted that the music became a favourite and that he wanted to share it with a new audience and generously offered to do a cassette reissue at his own expense. And so the Neo Tribalism continues in the electronic age as McLuhan predicted. The recordings had never been digitized and the original masters are missing, but because the cassettes were well recorded, Digs was able to do some reasonable remastering and the dwindling number of cassettes has been enhanced by digital files.
Konsorado and wife Donna sometimes collaborate with Harmon and still play fiestas at Gina’s Cafe under the band name Los Konsorados Tribalistas and some of the old material gets revived. Harmon and Konsorado are in touch with MacGregor who lives on another continent and have discussed making a new recording."
- Bill Konsorado