Reggae has of course since decades gone international and widened its fan base, but I have known individually quite different reggae fans within the Netherlands. Black and white (and Asian, or mixed etc.). Males and females. Old and young. Some with little education, some highly educated. Of different class backgrounds. Some combine liking reggae quite equally with other genres (e.g.: some with African, funk, soul, some with hip-hop, some even with non-black music genres), while others on the other hand adhere almost “strictly” to reggae music, and do not get into much else. Some like roots reggae more than dancehall or vice versa. There are even reggae fans – believe it or not - who do not smoke the “ganja herb”.
Furthermore, some have an interest or sympathy for the related subject of Rastafari, some do not, or even despise it. The latter, despise, I find somewhat odd since Rastafari is not the same as reggae, but is nonetheless connected to it.
These differences (and similarities) between and among reggae fans/lovers intrigue me, also in relation to personal backgrounds. That’s the reason why I would like to interview specific individuals who love reggae.
Before this I have interviewed 12 persons – reggae lovers I know, “breddas” (meaning “brothers”, or "friends" in Jamaican parlance) or "sistas" of mine – here in the Netherlands.
I started the series on this blog with a post of June 2012, when I interviewed Abenet. In April of 2013 I interviewed Bill. After this I interviewed Manjah Fyah, in May 2014. For my blog post of August 2015, I interviewed, somewhat more extensively, (DJ) Rowstone (Rowald). In August 2016, then, I interviewed Vega Selecta. In October 2017, I interviewed DJ Ewa. Then, for my post of September 2018, I interviewed for the first time a woman, namely Empress Messenjah or Empress Donna Lee. In August 2019 I interviewed another woman, namely Sound Cista. For my blog post of September 2020 I interviewed another Reggae-loving woman, French but living in the Netherlands, Selectress Aur'El. For my blog post of September 2021 I interviewed again a "bloke" (fun way to say" "man") selecta Hobbol Backawall, and in my blog post of September 2022, I interviewed again a woman, Mystic Tammy
EVE LIEN DUBWISE
This time, October 2023, I interviewed another woman, one that I recently met in the Amsterdam Reggae scene. I might have seen her around before, but I got to talk to her for the first time earlier in this year 2023. She is called Eve Lien, and was when we first spoke “selecting” – playing as Reggae dee-jay – at Café Havelaar in central Amsterdam (close to Spui). There earlier in 2023, there were still weekly, Wednesday Reggae sessions under the title Rocking Time, with varying selecta’s/dee-jay’s from the Reggae scene. I played there sometimes too.
Nice place, Café Havelaar, though with a “low ceiling”: I was aided a bit by my South European genes (Dutch men tend to be taller), but I had to be careful with some of my (Masai-inspired) dances involving “jumping”, haha.
Some memorable moments at Café Havelaar: Lila Ike – the Jamaican singer – trying out some selecting after her show, semi-incognito (two latin words, ha!), the interesting Mexican Reggae band Leones Negros (Black Lions) with a nice, groovy performance with sound and even instruments. Plus: the many (mainly local) selecta’s/dee-jay’s playing good Reggae and Dub music, from records: mostly vinyl.. anything between old and new Roots Reggae, Early Reggae, and UK Steppers and more experimental Dub, was played during those Rocking Time sessions.
Due to some conflict, these Havelaar Reggae sessions came to a premature end before the Summer of 2023, but in one of these last ‘Rocking Time’ sessions at Café Havelaar (June, 2023), Eve Lien, my interviewee now, could still try a selecta/dj session with her (vinyl) records. Good selection, I remembered, including also old Roots Reggae, besides what I call “nowadays King Shiloh-music” (incl. steppers).
Later, hearing/seeing more from her (also online, via social media), I noticed she was really a King Shiloh sound system fan, but also of other “crucial” Reggae and Dub sound systems, also those she travelled to places like Germany, Italy, France (Dubcamp!) and London UK (Notting Hill carnival!!) - or elsewhere - for, Dutch-based and international, including “sounds” like: Indica Dubs, Rootical HiFi, Covenant sound (NL), Rootical HiFi, but also Channel One in London, and Ariwa/Mad Professor’s sound system. She also went to Reggae festivals, like Reggae Geel in Belgium.
This she shared on her Facebook page, so I got an idea of her interests: she surely loved those “big speakers” Reggae/Dub sound systems, but Reggae in general, I deduced.
After the Rocking Time sessions at Café Havelaar in central Amsterdam had to end - around the Summer of 2023 - Oliwia (selectress name: Pinedub) - and other organizers - searched other places for Reggae selecta/dj sessions in Amsterdam. They eventually encountered open arms at the - Reggae-minded - Earth Works music studio, with Ben King as custodian. It is at the grounds of the ADM-terrain (free artistic area), in the North of Amsterdam.
Somewhat peripheral at the brink of Amsterdam-North, Earth Works studio, but a nice place, combining a recording studio (where local musicians, but also Jamaicans like Micah Shemaiah came to record), with a record store, a record "burner" even, a “chill out zone”, and.. a sound/equipment for Reggae selecta’s/dee-jays to play their records. Selecta’s known from the Amsterdam Reggae scene played there (like they did in Café Havelaar) – some of whom I interviewed before on this blog -, I was selecta there also once, but also Eve Lien could continue at Earth Works her selecting and dj-efforts, playing good (also older) Reggae also from vinyl. She did this several times until recently before I write this (October, 2023), mostly in the weekends.
Besides this what she shared, I still did not know so much about her. I noticed some “exotic looks”, but she spoke Dutch well, unlike Italian, Polish, French, Spanish, or Balkanic bredren and sistren, I also know from the Amsterdam Reggae/Dub scene. I found it therefore interesting to know more about Eve Lien Dubwise – as is her FB name -, and her evident passion for Reggae music, and asked her the following questions, which she gladly answered (translated from Dutch).
Where were you born and did you grow up?
I was born in Gdansk, Poland, but I grew up in Hoek van Holland, the Netherlands. I am Polish myself too.
Since when (age) do you listen Reggae music?
As a teenager I on rare occasions listened to Reggae songs, from Natural Mystic and Masada for instance. I think that from about my 25th years of age, I really started to listen to Reggae much more.
What attracted you to it, then?
The tranquility it gave me, and the lyrics.
What other music genres did you listen to?
Reggaetón, moombahton (a Reggaetón-influenced House genre), dancehall, Nigerian pop music, R&B, hardcore.
Has there been a change in your musical preferences since then?
Yes, because now I mainly listen to Roots Reggae and Dub.
Do you have any preferences within the broad Reggae genre? Does, e.g., Digital Dancehall appeal to you as much as Roots Reggae?
I prefer to listen to Roots Reggae from the 1970s, and to Dub, and not so much the “newer” Dub styles, with a few exceptions.
Since when are you a Reggae selectress/dee-jay?
Haha, I am not “really” a selectress yet, I think, but I am seriously working on it. I think I can describe myself best as an “upcoming” selectress.
The very first time I really could play as selectress was at Café Havelaar (Amsterdam), which was – I believe – in June, 2023.
Do you have a preference for Vinyl or Digital/CD? As listener, and as selecta/selectress?
As selectress strictly Vinyl, at home both vinyl and Digital.
Any special experiences or encounters over the years (e.g. with producers or artists)?
At Rastaplas (Reggae festival in the Netherlands, near The Hague) I met Brother Neil from King Shiloh. This was very special for me, because King Shiloh is one of my favourite sound systems
Are you active in other ways within the Reggae scene as well? E.g. radio, organizing events, design, or otherwise?
I go regularly to sessions and festivals, and recently I started to spin/play regularly as selectress from vinyl at Earth Works (Amsterdam).
Do you play any musical instruments?
I used to play organ, and still can play a little, although I forgot how to read notes.
Does the Rastafari message in much of Reggae appeal to you? How does this relate to your own background, or beliefs?
I am not a Rasta myself, but I certainly agree with aspects, such as the equal treatment of people, “do good, and good will follow”.
What kind of music (reggae) do you prefer to listen to now – at this moment -, what specific artists? Any new “discoveries” you would like to mention?
Twinkle Brothers, The Gladiators, Danny Red, Horace Andy, Dub Dynasty.
New discovery; Henry Skeng.
Other things you would like to mention?
“It’s better to be hated for what you are, than be loved for something you are not”
REFLECTION AND COMPARISON
Well, within the constraints of time of us both, I am still glad that she, Eve Lien Dubwise, could answer some questions. Indeed, I learned some things about her I did not quite know.
These include her Polish background, being born in Gdansk (the German occupiers called it Danzig), a toponym I always found funny/intriguing, with a remarkable combining of consonants, making Polish words – or surnames – sometimes difficult to pronounce for non-Poles. Anyway, it maybe explains her connection to Polish people like Pinedub or Vega Selecta, and others, in the Amsterdam Reggae scene, but that’s cool and understandable too.
She additionally told me that she initially did not know there were so many Polish people in the (Amsterdam) Reggae scene.
I noticed these Poles in the Amsterdam Reggae scene early on (even more than 15 years ago), and in an earlier (2016) interview I did for this series with Vega Selecta (also Polish), I learned it might be linked to the active rebellious and underground Punk, anarchist scene (with also Reggae influences) during the communist regime in Poland, up to 1990. There is thus also a connection with the (anarchic) Squatter scene in e.g. Amsterdam.
Eve Lien’s Reggae preference is toward (older) Roots Reggae, so that she shares with me. I listen to Dub less, but can appreciate some of it, if not too digital or Euro “Techno” like, but that is a matter of taste.
Eve Lien is a King Shiloh sound fan, and I've been to their sessions too. I liked these often, but to my taste, sometimes a bit too much digital “steppers” was played (personally I prefer with actual musical instruments), but mostly still nice or audible, and just danceable enough. Other sound systems Eve Lien mentions and visits play more (older) Roots Reggae.
Nice also how she could practice her skills as “upcoming selectress” – as she calls herself – also at Earth Works studio in North Amsterdam, alongside other Reggae selecta’s/dee-jay’s like DJ Ewa, Selectress Aur’El, Pinedub, the Zen Rockers, Sound Cista, Jah Code, Loddy Culture, and several others, who play from Rocksteady and Early Reggae, via Roots Reggae, and New Roots, to Dub, and Steppers.
