INTERVIEW : POW POW
Interview by : Benoit Georges
Pictures by : www.powpow.de
on Saturday, March 26th 2005 - 10 706 views
A few days before their visit to Paris, it was a good opportunity to shed more light on the German sound system Pow Pow. To get better acquainted, here is an interview with their selecta, Ingo, conducted at the last edition of the Splash Festival in Germany.
Reggaefrance / Can you tell us about the birth of Pow Pow?
Pow Pow / Pow Pow is a sound system that started in 1990. It was founded by me and my friend Backra. We’ve been doing reggae ever since. My passion for reggae began at the age of 14-15 with my parents’ records. Then I put it aside for a while. One day, I stumbled on a tape of a Jamaican sound system, it must have been Stone Love or maybe another one. It really inspired me, and I kept that tape for a long time. Since then, we’ve been looking for tapes and records.
Back then in Germany, there weren’t big parties or big concerts like now. There were only, occasionally, reggae parties, for example with Rodigan. He was with English Soldiers, who were based in Germany. He had his show on the BBC. We didn’t really start out as a sound system. We threw parties, and since it went so well, we decided to become a sound system.
You then kept on playing several parties, and then you were chosen to represent Europe at World Clash 2000.
We started playing in Cologne, but little by little, we connected with people from other cities. We started touring Germany, and the reggae scene grew bigger year after year. We did local clashes, in other countries too. The clash scene became really popular.
We were invited to World Clash 2000. That was the time when sound systems were starting to go international. We were playing dates abroad. We had spent years cutting dubplates, so being nominated for World Clash 2000 was great for us. In fact, it was our goal at the time.
New Yorkers, used to American and Jamaican sound systems, are tough on European sounds... If you could play the Sound Clash again, what would you change?
It’s hard to say after the fact what should have been changed. The New York crowd is ''ruff and tuff''. You really have to impress them. The thing is, tunes are no longer enough for a World Clash today. They used to be: you could ''kill'' a sound with one tune. But today that’s not enough: it depends on who’s on the mic and how he hosts. Our MC must have been having a bad day. Normally, he’s really wicked, but maybe he was impressed by the crowd.
They know exactly who they want to see win, even if you have the best dubplates. What happened with Mighty Crown the year before will never happen again. I’m convinced of it. Because the Jamaicans will never again let the Holy Cup of the World Clash go to another sound. They’ll never do that! Mighty Crown deserved it in 1999, and it’s good that they brought fresh blood and a new sound, a European sound. Europe is really a very big stage. Over the years, things change and the clash world looks more and more towards Europe.
Which do you prefer: clashes or juggling dances? What’s the difference when you play them?
The difference is that it has to be entertainment for the people. For me it was great before, when we were cutting dubplates, specials. The crowd had that ''war vibes'', a warlike, competitive vibe, but always in fun. Now, I prefer juggling, because people are really happy. They dance, they enjoy themselves with their girl, it’s popular, it makes people happy. In clashes, like in New York, there are 2,500 guys but no girls. It’s different, it’s a competition: who will be the strongest? Both are good, they’re different. To be honest, I don’t much like what has been going on in the clash scene for the last two years, what the clash has become today.
Are clashes over?
We don’t know if we’ll go back to clashes, or when. We’ll see how it develops, but it doesn’t give us the pleasure it used to. When I don’t have a good feeling about something, I don’t want to do it. It used to be fun, but I think the young sound systems take it a bit too seriously sometimes. It’s supposed to be fun.
That’s why we’re staying away from clashes at the moment, and concentrating on production. In fact, it’s the same vibe as when we were laying dubplates. We keep creating something for the people. In my view, the dubplate business has become out of reach. It’s no longer fun.
We still do dubplates, but only with artists we’re connected with, or ones we have a chance of getting... It’s a real business now, a huge business. I preferred the time when you really had to work and do something special. Today everybody plays the same Special Set. You do a special, and the next day everybody has it in their hands.
Your activity is also your label, Pow Pow. How did it all begin?
The first record came out in 2002, but we started a year after the World Clash. After a few more clashes, we gradually moved into production work. We started building riddims on our computers. Then I went to Jamaica to find musicians to play on them. We have a lot of links with Jamaican studios because we’ve been recording dubplates there for ten years. We stick to artists we know personally, with whom we have a direct link. We tell them what our idea is, the overall sound, the production... Since they know us through the sound systems, they know we do good work in Europe. They helped us at the start.
The first riddim, Celebrate, was very successful because it came a bit out of nowhere. Gentleman’s single was a big hit in Germany, Runaway is a real anthem over there today. That’s how we work. We start with an idea, a bassline, a drum rhythm... Then I do the bulk of the production work for the labels. Then I go to Jamaica to look for musicians or artists. Sometimes, when they’re passing through Germany or Europe, I record the vocals here. Artists from France, Italy, Spain, or Portugal. I want to bring the big reggae family together. There are good artists everywhere, not only in Jamaica. That’s what I’m focusing on right now.
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