INTERVIEW : DUBMATIX
Interview by : Sébastien Jobart
Pictures by : Benoit Collin
on Saturday, March 31st 2007 - 71 649 views
From electro to dub, Dubmatix took the leap between his first and second album, "Atomic Subsonic". Since he does not sing, this multitasking Canadian musician, producer and engineer hands the mic to others: Canadian artists, but also Freddie McGregor and Anthony B. An intelligent crossover of roots, electro and dub, "Atomic Subsonic" was a pleasant surprise, and a good reason to go and meet Dubmatix.
Reggaefrance / You are the son of Bill King, a jazz-rock pianist. How did you come to reggae?
Dubmatix / My father played rock, jazz, but also reggae... everything, really. At the end of the 70s, he left the United States. He was Janis Joplin's musical director, and when she died he settled in Canada. Lots of Jamaicans live in Toronto. Jackie Mittoo, Willie Williams, Leeroy Brown. My father played with the drummer Pablo Paul, a good friend of Jackie Mittoo's from the time when he was in Jamaica. They played around Toronto, that kind of place. I grew up in that atmosphere; those were my first influences. My mother was a big Bob Marley fan. When we moved to California, then to Atlanta, Georgia, she made the round trip Atlanta – Toronto to see him play. When he found out, he even had her come up on stage.
And the discovery of dub?
It was Pablo Paul, who lives in my neighbourhood, who gave me a record when I was 18. It was "King Tubby meets the Aggrovators uptown". I listened to that album and it changed my life. That was ten years ago now, when I said: "this is the music I want to play". I had started out making dance music (laughs). It was easy: boom boom boom boom! One day, I put a King Tubby sample on one of those dance tunes... and it worked! It gave a really cool sort of electro dub. That produced Journey to the Center of the dub, on my first album ("Champion Sound Clash", 2005). Everything I do now comes from that tune.
Today, the Canadian scene is reaping the fruits of the Jamaican diaspora of the 70s.
Yes, completely. Fifteen years ago, there was a really very active reggae scene. Leeroy Sibbles had settled in Canada, and there were many popular artists. And lots of clubs too, like the Bambu, which had to close. That was in the 90s. After that there was a somewhat hazy period, a restructuring, I'd say. Now there are loads of reggae bands, musicians, singers... Today it's a bit of a second renaissance of reggae in Toronto. In Vancouver and Montreal there's a good scene too. There aren't many, but it's good, and constantly improving. Clubs have to take their chances.
The sleeve and the title of "Atomic Subsonic" look very modern, for a result that is actually very roots. It was the opposite with your first album "Champion Sound Clash", which was very electronic.
Yes, the sleeve of "Champion Sound Clash" gave more of an idea of roots. That comes from the label. When we released my first album here in France, a graphic designer made a sleeve in that style. At the time, it was precisely to indicate that it wasn't exclusively reggae; we didn't want to mislead people. We kept the same design for "Atomic Subsonic", which has a bit of everything too: dancehall, electro dub, and a lot of roots.
Champion Sound is a real hit.
Really? In Canada, people like Freddie McGregor, Fistful of dub and My Selecta. Here, everybody talks to me about Champion Sound. I love that song, it's very nice to hear.
How did the connection with Freddie McGregor and Anthony B come about?
I met them thanks to Bobby Treasure, who works at Big Ship, Freddie McGregor's studio. It's thanks to him that I was able to get the songs. I'm working with him on another project, by the way. Working with international artists is something I want to do more and more: I write and play music, but I don't sing. I want to work with a French artist too.
Do you have anyone in mind?
I still have to think about it. I've been told good things about Baby G.
How long did it take to make the album?
A year and a half. It took longer than for the first album. In the end, I had written 25 to 30 songs. We kept 12.
So there's enough left to release a whole album...
I have two others that I've never released. We'll offer the tracks as B-sides, on the internet only.
How do you look back on this second album?
At the time of the first album, I was brand new on the Canadian scene. I didn't know many singers, which is why Fredlocks and Keuben appear on most of the tracks. For "Atomic Subsonic", I had time to meet several singers. So I was able to try more things. The selection was made afterwards; I kept the songs I preferred. I asked my father to decide the order of the tracklisting, because he's very good at that.
Will your third album be even more roots?
First, there'll be a remix album that I'm making with Bobby Treasure. It will be called "Dubmatix meets Treasure Chest".
The other project you were talking about earlier?
Yes, exactly. I take all the vocal parts and rewrite the music. It will come out in September in Canada, and will surely reach France the following year. There are already lots of names: Turbulence, Jah Mason, Luciano, Natural Black, Georges Nooks, Half Pint... There will be roots, but I'm also going to bring in a bit of drum & bass. It will be a bit of an album apart. My "real" third album will definitely be roots.
The record industry is in a very bad way. Was that something you thought about when you started out?
I thought about it and I still do, because I also work on the business side of my music. There's no money, that's obvious. For all independent artists, you have to pay: to make your dubs, your recordings... But I also think this may be the best time to be independent. The thing is, I no longer believe in the majors: they may have 300 artists on their label, but only five who sell a lot. So they'll concentrate on those five artists. The others are stuck with their contract, unable to do anything else. There's good and bad, of course, but in genres as specialised as reggae or jazz, it's better to be independent. Sales are falling or, at best, stagnating: you can no longer earn a living by selling records. It's as if we were falling back into the situation of the end of the 70s and the start of the 80s, before the CD: you had to go and play live. That's the benefit of the internet: now you can make a name for yourself, at least show your work. Even if it's free, you get known by people.
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