INTERVIEW : ALPHEUS
Interview & pictures : Sébastien Jobart
on Thursday, June 05th 2014 - 8 205 views
"One thing I learned from Mr Dodd and from my father is loyalty." In an interview with Alpheus, Coxsone Dodd, the Studio One producer, is never far away. This lover of ska and rocksteady cites other mentors: Sugar Minott and Roberto Sanchez. With the Spanish producer, Alpheus has (re)found an ideal partnership, which gave birth to his last two albums, "From Creation", and the very recent "Good Prevails": "Our musical relationship is incredible. We could make dozens of songs because we fundamentally understand each other."
A big football fan (a supporter of Chelsea, where he was born), who says he is "flattered" by the reviews of "Good Prevails", he now splits his time between England, France and Spain: "Santander is my home! I'm the king of tortillas!", he says with a burst of laughter.
Reggaefrance / Your meeting with Roberto Sanchez is a lovely story. “From Creation” was a very good album but “Good Prevails” is even better, isn't it?
Alpheus / My God! That's hard to answer. “From Creation” was a real shock, because we did things we love. Roberto loves roots, I love ska and rocksteady, and we made that blend. We understand each other perfectly musically, everything is clear, easy. It's incredible, we really know each other very well. He is brilliant, he's a genius. When we started on this second album, I was a bit afraid. I knew people had appreciated “From Creation”, so we had to do just as well, if not better. It's like with films: when you see “Star Wars”, you hope the sequel is even better. And it is! I can say we've progressed, we were even more rigorous. But both albums are good. They both serve a purpose, and for me they are both up to standard. That's the most important thing. I didn't want to let people down. I have new fans, I've gained new confidence, and I didn't want to let them down.
“Good Prevails” can be heard as a direct sequel to “From Creation”. What was your inspiration for this new album?
The spirit of “From Creation” was inspired by my everyday life: how hard it is, trying to earn money, wondering whether I should carry on making music… So I wrote about those feelings, about those friends who stop being friends… I'd say it's the same state of mind for this album, even three years later. It's still hard to make a living from music. I wanted to stay on that roots, rocksteady and ska vibe with Roberto. I turned down a lot of offers from producers. I didn't make much money with my small reputation, I was patient, but it was hard. I wrote about those feelings, about how strong you have to be to keep going, to get what you want. It's the same spirit, we didn't want to do something really different. To be just as good, with the same intention, and I think we succeeded.
What kind of producer is Roberto Sanchez? Does he give you a lot of direction?
Yes, a lot! He's a bit like Clement “Coxsone” Dodd because he's mystical, and wise. He has a lot of empathy, he's able to put himself in the artist's place. And thanks to that, he gets more out of you. Because he understands me, he can get what he wants. He's very technical, he's a genius, he can play any instrument… And he knows the instrument of the voice, too. You can trust him completely, it'll be right, no doubt about it!
 Coxsone me disait : "Utilise ta voix pour faire sortir ce que tu as à l'intérieur de toi". 
Did you finally learn to play an instrument with Roberto?
Roberto keeps telling me to learn to play an instrument. He tried to teach me the piano. But my fingers are too fat, man, I was hitting two keys at once! (laughs) I don't know… The only instrument I can play is my voice, but I understand instruments, I know how they should sound. One day maybe, I'll really get into it…
Apart from its musical qualities, the album is striking for its positivity. To tell the truth, we expected nothing else from you.
Thank you! I was raised in a family like that. My parents were very positive people, they were never condescending, but always looked to lift up my brothers and sisters and me. When we failed at something, they told us to start again. That's always been my way. I've had a hard life, it was tough in the United States for 10 years, it was tough coming back to England, it's tough being in France… Life isn't easy, you must never lose hope. Thanks to that upbringing, it's easier for me to translate that into music. A positive music, free of all negativity, that lifts you up and gives you confidence.
Like in the song Look in the mirror. I coach young people from my community at football at the weekend. There's this boy who calls me every Sunday, after every training session, to ask me: "Coach, how was I today? What should I do to improve?" I answered him: "Look in the mirror, man. Love what you see". And I left abruptly to go and write the song! He's the one who inspired that song, a 16-year-old boy… It's life that inspires you, everything you see. I have to live it, or know someone who lives it.
Were you involved in choosing the riddims you covered?
Yes, it's a choice we made together. I looked for rocksteady and ska riddims, because I love that. He loves minor-key tonalities, I'm more of a major-key guy. And then he launched into his fantastic compositions and we chose from all those riddims. There's very good cohesion between the two of us.
There are riddims from Phil Pratt, Leslie Kong, Winston Riley… But none from Duke Reid! Unconsciously, didn't you want to cover the rival of your mentor, Coxsone Dodd?
(laughs) You know what, I love Duke Reid's riddims. Treasure Isle is a fantastic label! But I don't know, I never thought about that. My home is Studio One! Every time I walk into the studio, I think of Mr Dodd and all his instructions. He likes to do a single take, if you can do it, because he's looking for the natural. Roberto looks for the same thing. And then, we love Phil Pratt. I think he's a very underrated producer.
It was Tony Brevett (of The Melodians) who introduced you to Coxsone; how did that meeting go?
When he told me he was going to introduce me to Coxsone, I hadn't heard properly. With his accent, I hadn't understood “Mr Dodd”. I only understood after standing next to him for an hour! I was supposed to meet Tony at Coxsone's in New York, but he was late. Coxsone - I didn't yet know it was him! - told me to wait, and it was only after an hour, when Tony arrived in the shop shouting “Coxsone!”, that I understood where I was and who I had in front of me. It was a great opportunity, I was aware of it. I sacrificed my job at the time to devote myself to it. For 20 years, my profession was carpet fitter. I was very good at it, but in New York, I decided to stop. It was too good an opportunity.
What's the best piece of advice Coxsone gave you?
One day, he was trying to explain something to me without me taking it the wrong way. Because I was very young when I was there. He was trying to pull me upwards. One day, at the end of the day, he called me into his office: "Use your voice to bring out what you have inside you." It stayed in my mind and I think it helped me make the last two good albums. He always wanted to help me.
You also recorded with Sugar Minott, another reggae figure.
Yes, he was also a mentor, a teacher. When he came to England, around 2005 or 2006, I was with him a lot. He had himself made an album at Studio One in 1998 that was never released, on which I sing the harmonies with JD Smoothe. It's a great album, but only two songs came out, on the compilation “Studio One Dancehall Selection” (on which Alpheus himself has two tracks, editor's note). I learned to sing harmonies with him; he's the one who taught me. He was always there for me. He was a truly very generous man, he helped you whether you were big or small. He's the one who told me: "Man, stick with the rocksteady".
Your second album “Everything for a Reason” was more contemporary reggae.
Special Delivery was an excellent label, with two great musicians, Bost & Bim. At the time, in 2008, we wanted to stay contemporary, we were replaying rocksteady in a more modern vein. It's a good album, but I felt I had to do “real” rocksteady. It was around then that Sugar Minott told me to do it.
Speaking of Bost & Bim, could you work with them again?
Yes! They made a magnificent riddim for Chronixx, Rastaman Wheel Out, with a great video. That riddim is fantastic! If they give me something like that… I know Bost & Bim are capable of making retro riddims. They are first-class musicians; Bim is perhaps the best guitarist in France today. He plays rocksteady guitar excellently.
When can we expect an album produced in England?
England is one of the homes of reggae, but musically it isn't mine. I love lovers rock, I was raised on it, but I don't think I'd get into that style. If someone makes riddims like Roberto, why not? The quality has to be there.
Peckings has the Studio One riddims…
Everybody tells me that! It's worth thinking about; they do good work, Bitty McLean's album is fantastic. I really like what they do. But I'm happy to play with musicians, not on tape. I like going through the different stages, starting from zero. It's harder, more stimulating, and you offer something fresher. For now, that's my approach. But I respect all of Peckings' work.
Can we dream of a third album with Roberto Sanchez?
Roberto is a real genius. He told me: "You know what? I'm working on the next album! Think about some songs!" If I could make twenty albums with Roberto Sanchez, I would. But we have to move forward little by little. First, let's think about “Good Prevails”. We worked hard, we spent a lot of time, we went way over budget, we stayed apart from our families… We hope people will get it legally, so that the money can come back and we can carry on making good music. Otherwise, we won't be able to do it any more. It hurts to see dozens of pages of illegal downloads. It really hurts.
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