Accessibility links
Zieti: Amid Brutal Conflict, A Musical Friendship Survives The afropop ensemble formed when two American expats met two Ivorian musicians in the late 1990s. Separated for a decade by civil war in Ivory Coast, the group has reassembled to record its lost songs.

Music Interviews

Zieti: Amid Brutal Conflict, A Musical Friendship Survives

Heard on All Things Considered

By 

NPR Staff

Zieti: Amid Brutal Conflict, A Musical Friendship Survives

Listen · 10:24
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/148310390/148374511" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Enlarge this image

Zieti's members and extended family in the band's early days. Left to right: Tiende Laurent, Gnakale Aristide, Michael Shereikis (in back) with wife Natasha and son Nicholas, Yeoue Narcisse and Alex Owre. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artist

Zieti's members and extended family in the band's early days. Left to right: Tiende Laurent, Gnakale Aristide, Michael Shereikis (in back) with wife Natasha and son Nicholas, Yeoue Narcisse and Alex Owre.

Courtesy of the artist

Hear The Music

"Zion Do"

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/148310390/148180607" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

"Zemelewa"

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/148310390/148180617" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

The musical group Zieti started when two American expats met two Ivorian musicians living in a seaside shantytown. They became fast friends, rehearsing on the beach and even recording a few tracks together. The tracks then went missing when Ivory Coast fell into a brutal civil war, scattering Zieti's core to the four winds. Then, after a decade apart, the players reconnected and set about re-recording their lost songs.

NPR's Guy Raz speaks with Zieti's two American members, guitarist Michael Shereikis and drummer Alex Owre, about the new album Zemelewa and the long path to its creation.