25.01.2007

Adrian Sherwood, an interview

If there is one person who is synonymous with dub, and doesn’t come from Jamaica, it has to be ace superstar producer, DJ and artist Adrian Sherwood. Since his formative years listening to old reggae tunes a bedroom in Slough, he’s gone on to work with some of the biggest names in the dub world, and many from neighbouring worlds too – Prince Far I, Black Uhuru, Michael Rose, Trinity and Dillinger to name a very few. He also set up the legendary On-U Soundsystem, and had a hand in the formation of Carib Gems, Hitrun Records and Soundboy.

He’s still one of the busiest roducers out there today, working at the moment with the likes of Asian Dub Foundation, Primal Scream, Queens Of The Stone Age and Lee Perry – again, not an exhaustive list of his current colleagues. A busy man, we were lucky enough to grab a few moments of his precious time and managed to sit him down on our knee for a quick chat.

So how did you get into all this dub stuff then?

When I was about 11, I used to go round my mate’s house and sit with him in his sister’s bedroom listening to old reggae records from the late 60s. I also liked Tamla, T-Rex, any soul, James Brown, Fatback Band, but the reggae just stayed constant – the uality of the songs was amazing. The message in the songs was like nothing else in the world to be honest. And it stuck with me for my whole life. I still like funk, African stuff, folk music, but the thing that I constantly go back to s the stuff from Jamaica. That little island produced the most amazing stuff ever. I produced my first album in ‘77 when I was still 18, which was dub by Creation Rebel. We were like fans, getting stoned listening to Augustus Pablo, and I made the first record for fun. A year or so later I did an album called ‘Starship Africa’ which again was a dub record. I was importing records from Jamaica, running a reggae label and running a distribution company. I released a lot of very good records on a label I had called Carib Gems and another called Hitrun, and I eventually started On-U in the beginning of 1980.

How did you get into production?

I’m not a musician. I used to just shout “more delay, more reverb” at the engineer! Then eventually I started doing live gigs, and one time I realised that the PA man didn’t have a clue – he was used to mixing guitar bands. Someone said, “You know what you’re doing, just have a go yourself,” and threw me in at the deep end mixing Prince Far I at the 100 Club. Bit by bit, you learn your craft and you get your own style and your own ideas. Prince Far I always used to say, “It’s my sound, it’s my sound,” and everybody used to talk in terms of creating their own sound. That’s what I’ve attempted to do since then, to try and create my own sound so I can survive and people can identify my productions. I’ve learnt a lot from the frequency and the space contained in reggae, so whether I’m producing Primal Scream, or whoever, I’m making sure it’s got the space in it.

I’ve got lots of little techniques and sounds for changing the EQ throughout the mix using delays, phasers and effects which have become idiosyncratically my own. You can probably identify a lot of my productions for using the same effects over the years. Then when I was 22 I started On-U. It was at the time of the punk/reggae party, and I was in the right place at the right time. I brought Bim Sherman over from Jamaica, and I was also working with Prince Hammer. We toured with The Slits and The Clash – it was a time when you thought anything could happen. It was a very, very healthy period.

You mention the punk/reggae thing. At a glance they seem diametrically opposed, but there are some very close ties between them. Why is that?

ou have to bear in mind the climate of the time. It was just as Thatcher was coming in, it wasn’t really greedy like it is now, you could still squat, people were much more interested in politics than they are now – people are now completely complacent towards anything political. And you had the Legalise Cannabis campaign, which is obviously of interest to everyone, and also the Rock Against Racism movement – you had people making monkey noises at football games back then. There was a very unpleasant undercurrent of racism throughout the whole society, even more so than now. A lot of kids were going to school with their West Indian friends, and people checked each others music.

What’s with your album titles? ‘Never Trust A Hippie’ – that’s good advice.

That was rooted in the fact that all the people running the world – the Bransons, the Blairs – and all that were these idealistic 60s people and they all turned into corrupt fuckers, to be honest. It was a bit tongue in cheek.

What stuff out there at the moment excites you?

Obviously I like the roots stuff, but the 2-step and dubstep stuff has lots of energy to it. But if you put a double speed beat underneath roots, it’s 2-step or jungle anyway. I also like the grime things that my son plays me.

What are you working on at the moment?

I’ve started work with Asian Dub Foundation on their new album. I’ve just started work on a few tracks with Primal Scream, and I’m working on a new album with Lee Perry. On top of that I’ve just finished an album with Harry Beckett, the jazz trumpet player, which is basically a contemporary dancehall cum jazz record. I’m enjoying myself and doing lots of gigs. I’m enjoying my life.

Catch Adrian Sherwood at his live show with JVSS, Friday 23rd March at Mass in Brixton. He’ll have lots of singers and special guests.

This interview was published in One Week To Live magazine