France

It’s easy to classify the French quartet Watcha Clan as world music, but to founding member, chief songwriter and sampler Suprême Clem, that’s oversimplifying it.

“World music is not a museum. It should be modernized so all generations can listen to it,” he said.

One of the band’s primary goals is to modernize a genre sometimes perceived as being archaic. They view world music as not only the boundary-smashing political movement characterized by organizations like World of Music, Arts and Dance and advocates like Peter Gabriel, but also as a means to get people on the dance floor.

Watcha Clan certainly satisfy both sides of the dichotomy; Clem says that the underlying message of the group is about open-mindedness.

“We hope to spread a message of a tolerance and freedom,” he said. “We’re inspired by the nomadic culture of France, of people who travel across the border, and by the idea of the Diaspora.”

The band is based in Marseille, but draws influence from the indigenous music of places as diverse as Algeria, Spain and the Balkan region. The fusion of these traditional styles of music and the group’s electronic influence provides the basis for their sound, which they will bring to the stage at the Lotus Fest on Friday.

“This is our first time playing in Indiana, and we’re on our biggest U.S. tour yet,” Clem said. “Our goal is to go anywhere we can go and bring with us not only world music, but our way of modernizing it.”