INTERVIEW : ROBERTO SANCHEZ
Interview by : Sébastien Jobart
Pictures by : DR
le Thursday, December 26th 2013 - 12 408 vues
From his A-Lone Ark Muzik Studio, in Santander, Spanish producer Roberto Sanchez gave birth to the splendid 'Branches and Leaves' albums with veteran Milton Henry. Another roots gem to his credit. The young musician, sound engineer and producer is found of the Jamaican roots sound from the seventies. In 1997, he created the label A-Lone Muzik with his friend Borja Juanco in order to release the second album of their band, Lone Watti. 100% analogic, A-Lone Ark Muzik Studio was built the following year. Roberto has shown many proofs of his talent over the years, working with Earl Zero, Freddie McKay, Alpheus and Milton Henry amongst others. "I would love to work with Prince Alla", he told us.
Right now, Roberto Sanchez is working with Sly & Robbie. He just completed Alpheus' new album to be released in March on the Spanish label Liquidator. He also completed an album with French sound system and label Blackboard Jungle, and is preparing a new showcase album with Earl 16.
Reggaefrance / You are passionate about 70's: did you fell in the roots reggae jar when you were a kid?
Roberto Sanchez / Yes, I felt in love with it as a teenager. I was 13 years old the first time I listened to a Bob Marley album, which was the easiest reggae artist to find in the late 80's early 90's in Spain. After that I discovered the real thing; producers, musicians and singers like Augustus Pablo, King Tubby, The Revolutionaries, Johnny Clarke, Lee Perry, Scientist…
Do you remember the first songs that stroke you?
Yes, when I started, with no internet it was quite difficult to get records, so we listened to the same records over and over, those first albums stroked me! I loved to listen many of the early Black Ark albums like "Kung Fu Meets the Dragon" or "Musical Bones" (I learned how to play and record many instruments playing over this records and recording after, for example the bass drum placement of Carlton Barret´s style, on "Musical Bones" is like a master class!), same thing with Augustus Pablo's "King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown" and "Original Rockers", these albums are like an instrument/production/engineering master class.
You studied sound engineering in Madrid, is school the better place to learn this craft?
Yes, it´s the best place to learn some basic technical aspects that are really important for all kind of music engineering. Then, for the specific reggae engineering/sound production there´s no better school than the records! When I went to learn engineering in Madrid, I was already involved in recording/engineering and producing reggae, but after going to school I improved some technical aspects that were really important for me… Even if sometimes I have to do exactly opposite from what I have learnt in school to get the sound I like!
 Trop de détails et de clarté ne laissent aucune chance à l'imagination… C'est trop froid. 
As a sound engineer, what is your major concern when you record a song?
Maybe the drum is the part I spend more time when engineering/recording a new song or riddim. It is like the foundation of a new house. You can spend hours tuning the kit, changing skins, placing microphones and selecting pre-ams…
Can you describe a typical studio session in your studio?
It depends if it´s a life recording session with different musicians or if it´s me recording most of the instruments life, but one by one. I prefer being at the studio with more musicians than me as the feeling flows better and quicker too! First of all come the drum kit setting and tuning. After that the mics placing and sound test. Then we check bass sound and after that the piano and the riddim guitar, trying to avoid sounds from the drum on those last instrument takes, so every riddim is able for dubbing. Then it´s just time to play music and feel it. When I do riddims by myself I have to create firstly a guide-line of the riddim over a metronome playing bass, piano and guitar. Then the process is the same one than having more musicians but just recording one instrument at a time.
How did the craft changed with all the new technology like Pro Tools etc.?
The craft has changed a lot, bringing different sound changes within. But if you know the sound you like, it doesn´t matter if you record on Pro Tools or reel… Of course starting a roots reggae production on a reel to reel recorder will make you reach the sound quicker, but it doesn´t mean you can´t get it out of a Pro Tools system.
 Lone Ark Riddim Force
We love your work for being so accurate and giving space in you music: you do not overweight the sound spectrum. We wrote in our review: "poetry is between the words, between the notes". Would you agree?
I fully agree. You know, when I started listening reggae music couldn´t understand English. I felt in love with the poetry between the notes. That is what firstly caught me, the message of the music. So I´m glad and thankful to have the opportunity to hear that from someone who loves reggae music.
How much time can you spend working on an album like you did for Alpheus or Milton Henry?
I use to spend like three months for composing, building and recording the riddims and having the correct feeling and sound for an album (recording more riddims than needed to have the chance to select the best material).Then, after voicing, the mixing takes like three weeks more or something like that.
The Milton Henry album complies with the showcase format, just like in 70's. Is it important for you to respect those standards?
For me the "showcase" album is the perfect format for roots reggae music. You normally can include six songs from the artist to fully enjoy him, plus six dubs to enjoy the band and the engineer´s work. It gives you the full spectrum of what it really is.
Does the future of reggae reside in its past?
I don´t know… What I feel is that there are some kind of reggae feelings, sounds, productions from the past that are really standing the test of time. That is something to think about. I think that the past is important for this music. For me there´s nothing like the 70's in terms of feelings and message. It was maybe a fashion then, but they created something that is passing the test of time moving people´s soul’s forty years after.
Is there a chance you ever produce "modern" reggae?
I´m producing modern reggae! It´s made today! If modern means fashionable reggae music or trying to create a new sound or something like that, then I´m not modern at all. I just do what I feel; it´s not about following a fashion from the 70's or something like that, it´s about feelings. It makes me cry when I hear a "new" roots reggae tune from the 70's I have never herded before, it doesn´t happen to me with dancehall or some other music from Jamaica. For me that sound, message and feeling is like seeing an old picture where you have to imagine some of the colours and details, which transport you to a different world… Nothing to do with the new digital cameras and photoshop! Too much details and clarity give no chance for imagination. Too cold.
How did you see the music industry evolve since you started?
I started pressing music seriously not so long ago, by late 90's. But since then everything has changed a lot. Finally I'm in the music industry because of the music, not because of the industry; I mean, I make my living out of the studio, production works and live shows but not from records, like labels used to do. Pressing any kind of music today (and overall reggae) is not profitable. If I keep on doing it´s because of my love for the music, but the business around it is minimum.
You are musician, engineer, producer… What activity would you prefer?
Anything related with music I love it. I love play my bass or any other instrument when it´s time for it, but also mixing and recording is something that I love. I see it as a whole thing I couldn´t be producer without knowing how to engineer the sound I want to get. And I cannot get the sound I want if I cannot play it with an instrument.
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