INTERVIEW : GEORGE PHANG
Interview by : Benoit Georges
Pictures by : DR
on Sunday, November 02nd 2008 - 7 811 views
There are records that every selector worthy of the name has in his box: Half Pint's Greetings, released in 1985, is one of them. Famous throughout the world, the productions of the Powerhouse label represent only a five-year parenthesis, during which Sly & Robbie's riddims left their mark on the dancehalls, paving the way for the advent of digital reggae. George Phang, the label's boss, nevertheless enjoys a very different reputation in Jamaica. The man the Jamaican papers call the "Don of Arnett Gardens" has in fact spent more time in the murky waters of politics than behind a recording desk.
A loyal supporter of the People’s National Party (PNP), George Phang has been involved in the life of his community of Arnett Gardens, near Trench Town, since the 1970s and today plays the unofficial role of leader of this neighbourhood, once nicknamed Concrete Jungle. The victim of an assassination attempt in 2003 (17 bullets in one go!), at odds more than once with the authorities and within his own party, he is a pure product of the Jamaican political microcosm who agrees willingly, but without saying too much, to be interviewed on the occasion of the exceptional release of an enormous compilation (four double CDs) devoted to him.
Reggaefrance / It is rather rare to have you in an interview, not least because, apart from your musical career, you are mostly known in Jamaica as a PNP activist. You also come from a family of politicians.
George Phang / Yes, that's true, and I have always been a PNP activist.
On two of the compilation's sleeves you appear with a red bandana around your neck, which was a clear sign at the time.
(Laughs) You can't judge people by the colours they wear! But it's true that I am an active member of the PNP.
How did you get started in music?
First of all, I give all the credit to Sly & Robbie. They are the ones who brought me into the business. It all started there: Sly & Robbie had their label Taxi, but I suggested setting up a label with me. I really do give all the credit to those two, because they did a lot for my music career. I had known them for a long time, we grew up in the same neighbourhood and I knew they were good musicians. They even designed the label's logo.
 Tenor Saw a toujours admiré Sugar Minott, c'était comme un père pour lui ! 
How did you work at the label?
We recorded at Dynamic Sounds, Channel One, Music Mountain, lots of studios. The artists I worked with are all artists who are rooted on the ground. We got together to work together.
You were still involved in the recordings, it wasn't just a matter of financing them…
Yes, absolutely, I mixed the tracks myself. Sly & Robbie made the riddims and I supervised the recording.
The Powerhouse sound was very special, somewhere between Junjo Lawes' dancehall and Jammy's digital. What was the concept behind that sound?
The Powerhouse sound lies in the type of riddims: riddims that were always more powerful, heavier, more “fat”. Robbie always said: “Powerhouse riddims, Powerhouse label”. That was the concept of the label.
And did you also have your own sound system?
Yes, of course. We played at Arnett Gardens.
Why was that neighbourhood christened Concrete Jungle at the time?
(Laughs) Well, I don't really know why people started calling the neighbourhood Concrete Jungle: it must come from the type of concrete housing that was built there. Before, it was slums, and the late Anthony Spaulding (PNP housing minister in Manley's 1972 government, "Tony" Spaulding is an emblematic leader of the communities of southern St Andrew, in Kingston; he was nonetheless heavily criticised, as the new housing was mostly allocated to PNP supporters, helping to turn the area into a party "garrison", fiercely defended, Ed.) came to build housing there. So the neighbourhood changed a lot thanks to those concrete homes. That is surely why it was christened Concrete Jungle.
Here are some of the label's main hits, could you comment on them?
Half Pint - Greetings
Actually, we recorded the riddim in Jamaica, at Dynamic Sounds, but the vocals were recorded in England. So you could say this track was recorded in England.
The riddim was one of the fastest of the time.
Yes, we tried to remake that riddim (from Studio One, Ed.), changing it a little. But it sounds like the original. In fact, I was working in England and I said to Half Pint: “this riddim is strong and powerful, my brother”. He had this song that went “humming on, humming on”, and we adapted it to make Greetings. When we recorded the track and played back the playback, the studio was on fire. We knew from that moment that this song would be a hit.
Frankie Paul - Tidal wave
Frankie Paul is a very creative artist, we worked together for a long time, we are still in touch, he is a great artist.
Barrington Levy - Money move
At that time, Jah Thomas had this song, Shoulder move. Barrington and I said to each other: “we take care of money”, so we made this track, Money move. Barrington Levy is a classic artist. Honestly, he knows his job, and when he was young he could already do things nobody else could do. He was a trigger.
Sugar Minott - Buy off the bar
We recorded it at Channel One, where Sugar Minott was already working. Sugar is a real dancehall artist. He came in with this idea and we decided to make the track. A good tune.
Michael Palmer - Lickshot
We recorded that one at Channel One too. In fact, he had already recorded the track and it had come out. But I found another riddim and I knew it would suit that song better. We recorded it on that riddim and it became a big dancehall hit.
The lyrics of that track are rather special: Michael Palmer says he didn't feel safe at home ("Down in my hometown, bad boys dem jook me down", “In my hometown, the bad boys hold me up”, he declared in the opening line). So was it true?
Yes, it's true. Michael Palmer is a personal friend. All the artists I have worked with are personal friends.
You also had strong connections with the Waterhouse artists.
Yes, Waterhouse is part of my community.
If I say Tenor Saw, Roll call…
Tenor Saw always admired Sugar Minott, he was like a father to him. In fact, I was the first to record Tenor Saw. When he first came to the studio, nobody paid much attention to him, nobody had really listened to him. I can't remember which riddim I was playing that day. He started singing over it. But when I heard him, I knew straight away that this youth sounded good. I considered him a creative artist right away. I called him over and said to him: "Tenor Saw, do you really want to come and sing?" He answered: "Yes boss, I really want to come and sing". We let him have the mic. I think the engineer was Solji (Hamilton, Ed.). Roll call was his song. I recorded it, I put the track out and things started to move for him. Other people got to know him that way.
Why did you stop producing music at the end of the 1980s?
You see, the community where I grew up and have always lived has a football club called Arnett Gardens football club. I slowed down my musical activities to develop that club, because it is very good and it is part of Tony Spaulding's legacy. I decided to take the club in hand to bring it back to the level I knew it at, for the glory of Arnett Gardens. That forced me to really slow down my musical activities.
You could even say that your involvement in the football club caused you quite a few problems…
Actually, the current Member of Parliament for that district is Omar Davies. He is a member of the PNP but he brought other people into the club. I have to say it: my ideas are not his and his ideas are not mine, so it became a problem.
Do you have any new projects in music?
I am putting together a project with Sly & Robbie to go back into the studio and record new riddims.
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