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) 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. For the blog post of October 2023, I interviewed another woman, Eve Lien Dubwise.
ME, MYSELF, AND I
Most of these were selecta’s (dee-jay's, at events): I encountered them more, and were maybe more willing to go public openly talking about Reggae music. Some told more, some less. They had different backgrounds, so that was interesting.
After interviewing all these people in the “Reggae scene” (Amsterdam and around), with some recurring questions, I wondered if by now maybe I should ask my own questions to myself, instead of acting just as “distant” analyzer.
Some changes I personally went through, even since starting this series, so that adds substance. It also would give an overview also for myself, of the role of Reggae during my life.. “Since the day I know myself, I’ve been a drifter”, Dennis Brown sang on a nice song (The Drifter), but can we really know ourselves fully?
I am not even – mainly – a selecta/dj, yet I still was willing to do the interview with myself, haha. I am more a musical artist, but that will show from my answers underneath. Answers to the same questions I asked the interviewees mentioned before.
Where were you born and did you grow up?
I was born in Nieuw Vennep (behind Schiphol airport, 20km from Amsterdam, Netherlands), I grew up there until in my late twenties, after which I went to live in Amsterdam (West). There still.
Since when (age) do you listen Reggae music?
Around my 11th my brother got via another guy some cassettes (we're talking mid-1980s) with reggae albums. Listening together we got attracted to it. Bob Marley (Kaya) was on these cassettes, but also Peter Tosh’s Mama Africa, and some mixed/various artists tapes.
True, it started with “big names”, oh cliché, but some songs on Tosh’s Mama Africa appealed to me a at first a bit more than Bob’s songs on Kaya. In time I got to like Kaya too (songs like Misty Morning), but by then my brother had some more Reggae albums I liked, we both listened to (others by Bob, Wailing Souls - first album we heard: On The Rocks -, Eek-a-Mouse, Burning Spear, Half Pint, Don Carlos, Itals, etc.). Still in my teens. The love affair continued.. and became less and less commercial, haha.
All in that village Nieuw Vennep – with then about 15.000 inhabitants - , when I could not go out much. Perhaps my brother and I were already 30% of the whole Reggae scene of that village, haha..
What attracted you to it, then?
Partly the rhythm, I think. Plus (parts of) the lyrics, as my English was already quite good by then. Reggae had some spiritual and mystical energy, I then sensed and appreciated, interestingly combined with social comments or descriptions. Some philosophy too (Glass House, Misty Morning). I did not smoke weed then, or even later in my teens (started much later in my mid-20s), so the “ganja herb” was not the reason I liked Reggae, per se.
I have always been curious about other cultures, and the wider world, even as a child.. that helps..
What other music genres did you listen to?
My parents are Italian (father), and Spanish (mother), so Italian and Spanish songs were listened to when I grew up, and also Latin American music, or Flamenco-influenced music from South Spain. My mother liked to dance much more than my father, so listened also to Latin American music, or rhythmic flamenco, haha. My father listened to some (more classical) Italian songs too in the house. In his young days in N-Italy, he played the accordion quite well, and he had harmonica’s (which I of course tried out), so my dad had some interest in folk music as well.
Some of what I heard my parents played I liked – especially when a bit groovy -, and I understood Spanish. My brothers and I, though, sought other – Anglophone - (pop) music, on radio and tv, like funky music, rock, and pop. I remembered I liked some Stevie Wonder and other songs, and that James Brown groove. Until around 1985, when we both "discovered" Reggae.
Has there been a change in your musical preferences since then?
Well, I got through life changing, which naturally expanded my musical interest.
Some old-school hip-hop I liked through Yo! MTV raps (Kool Moe Dee, LL Cool J, BDP, Public Enemy, Slick Rick, PRT, De La Soul). I was around 15 years old, around 1989.
Some compilation albums of African music (sub-Saharan Africa), I borrowed from a travelling Spanish business man (whom my mother knew) – he was also “world wide vinyl music” collector -, with “pop” music from Congo and Burkina Faso, such as Soukous. Nice (Congolese) soukous songs on these albums. Nice polyrhythms. I recall further specifically the songs Dounougnan by Kambou Clement (Burkina Faso): nice mellow, “griot” vibe. For some (mystical?) reason this album made a lasting impression. It directed my musical eyes/ears more toward Africa. I was then about 17 years old.
Later trips to Cuba, since my later 20s (years 2001-2006) – I had friends there – further opened my musical horizon toward Afro-Cuban music, and Yoruba music, so again an African connection. It increased my interest in percussion instruments.
My older brothers got into some other music, introducing me to artists I did not know really, but kind of liked (jazz, jazzrock, Parliament, Bill Withers, Flamenco, Tom Waits, Jacques Brel, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Nirvana, a.o). I liked some Blues, and songs by Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen too.
Yet.. I kept listening to (mainly) Reggae throughout all this, only interchanging and comparing more. Reggae remained my main path, you can say..
If anything, comparing with other Black music and African music itself was useful in understanding/overstanding the African retentions within Afro-Jamaican Reggae, even beyond the "shuffle" that is most known (call-and-response, polyrhythm, etc.). Interestingly, someone pointed at the fact that Reggae indeed shares some shuffle/swing aspects with Rhythm & Blues (which partly influenced it), but also some "straight rhythm" aspects from other parts of Africa (Central, Congo, etc.), adding to the feel of the groove. Good to know.
Do you have any preferences within the broad Reggae genre? Does, e.g., Digital Dancehall appeal to you as much as Roots Reggae?
I started with Roots Reggae, and some Early Dancehall. Roots Reggae attracts me most, still. I prefer conscious/social comment lyrics, and real instruments. Digital Dancehall appeals to me less, save some songs with good, energetic grooves (some songs by Beenie Man, Ward 21, Elephant Man, Chaka Demus, Bounty Killer, e.g.). I like it overall less, and follow it therefore less than Roots Reggae. Some Dub I like, but not all.
Within Roots Reggae, I like the harmony reggae classical groups (Abyssinians, Wailing Souls, Mighty Diamonds), and many great “old-school”, soulful singers (Hugh Mundell, Ijahman, Dennis Brown, Burning Spear, Jacob Miller, Junior Delgado), but I am thankful for the later Reggae Revival as well, as I certainly soon got to appreciate the work of “newer” artists like Richie Spice, Sizzla, Luciano, Bushman, Lutan Fyah, Queen Ifrica, Iba Mahr, Protoje, Ginjah, etcetera..
A high quality standard is luckily maintained within Jamaican (New Roots) Reggae up to now – good musicianship -, as well as the Rastafari message.
Since when are you a Reggae selecta/dee-jay?
Haha, I collected – quite informally – over time many vinyl records: just in case, but I also listened to CD. Via my brother and a friend I got more of a Reggae vinyl collection. When the vinyl scene came up, including with dee-jay/selecta events playing vinyl, I started to join them on some events. This started not long ago, around 2014, I think. I played the years after in some Reggae clubs (Café the Zen), other clubs, and squatter places in Amsterdam, but only occasionally (“open decks” events), up to now.
Do you have a preference for Vinyl or Digital/CD? As listener, and as selecta?
As selecta vinyl, but at home mostly digital, I must admit.. Sign of the times .. and no money for a good longplayer needle, haha..
That vinyl music sound is "fuller" than the digital sound, nonetheless, which is logical in some sense. My more technical (electrician) brother Carlos explained it to me once well: the digital counts and translated - also music - into 0-1-0-1 codes, as many may know (hence the word digit-al). On the other hand, what’s “analog” is more fluent, flowing..while what’s between the 0 and 1 digits gets lost..
Any special experiences or encounters over the years (e.g. with producers or artists)?
I before did not go often back stage at concerts. When I went to Jamaica, though, in 2006 and 2008, I soon got connected with Buju Banton’s Gargamel studio in Kingston, Partly by coincidence, believe it or not (long and strange story, never mind here..). There I met some musicians recording there (like Ghost): Buju was abroad then (Japan and Florida).
From there, they took me in 2008 on a visit to (then named) Judgement Yard, of Sizzla Kalonji, elsewhere in Kingston (August Town): a sudden visit, but Sizzla Kalonji himself was there. I remember that the guys that brought me were busy (buying fruit o.s.), so I was there alone a time and saw Sizzla walk: I got a bit shy, but dared to present myself to him. Someone beside him told him with whom I had come (“Buju people”), so that was cool. A cool memory from Jamaica.. As there were more..
Later, in more informal concert settings (between 2010 and 2020), such as organized by Café the Zen (a Reggae club in Amsterdam), I got to meet other Reggae artists a bit, often very friendly, but mostly short encounters: Vivian Jones, King Kong, Bunny Rugs, Warrior King, Fantan Mojah, Iba Mahr, Keida..
Meeting Warrior King walking with his cute baby on his arms, when I arrived on a rented bike with friend John (R.I.P.) to a beach venue on the Dutch island Texel (NW Netherlands),- where he performed in 2017 - is also a special memory, because of the whole context/location. That was a Zen Social Reggae-event (Island Vibes, 2017) on Texel: I never went to that island before. Vibes!
Are you active in other ways within the Reggae scene as well? E.g. radio, organizing events, design, or otherwise?
I do not organize events myself, though I have some ideas for it, haha. Some event organizers asked for my help for reggae and other events, and I assisted.
Further not much: I do not present a regular radio or online program with Reggae, though it would be nice.
On this blog I write about Reggae sometimes, and I also contributed some reviews to other web sites (e.g. reggae-vibes.com).
Do you play any musical instruments?
When younger I had some keyboard lessons and a keyboard. My older brothers chose to learn to play guitars (Spanish and bass) – including lessons -, but guitars attracted me less – something with finger tips on strings, dunno. Drumming and key riffs I liked more.
I in time especially took up percussion and drumming. Since childhood an interest, but trips to Cuba (the home of conga’s and bongo’s) after 2002, increased my will to play percussion instruments. It seemed to me then also freer and less “robotic” than the standard drum set/kit, which I also considered (and tried)..
I started to play conga, bongos, as well as djembe drums, and other African drum types, as well as smaller percussion (bells, shakers, scrapers), taking serious lessons in 2014 and around (with Vernon Chatlein, a.o.), to get a higher professional level. After that I played on the jam circuit in Amsterdam (Bourbon Street, Waterhole club, Maloe Melo, a.o.), where I could join and contribute, but also kept learning. I liked and like that free, jazzy ”jam vibe”.
I played (mostly percussion) on all kinds of jam sessions (not just Reggae) in and around Amsterdam, but Reggae still remained my main love, through all this. I just started to listen to Reggae more from a percussion perspective: including the important details in songs, like of the kete/binghi drums, cabasa shakers, scrapers/guiros, flexatone, bells, rattles, etc...
Later, I also tried to learn more about playing standard drum kit (called "trap drumming"), as timekeeper more ordered, but crucial in music. A bit also (nonpercussive instruments like) as said keys, harmonica, and guitar..
I play and rehearse with some Dutch Reggae bands too, on occasion (e.g. Flavour Coalition). I also recorded percussion in studios for other artists' songs, at times. Unfortunately, there is also a lot of nepotism - i.e. favouring friends or kin - in (Dutch) music scenes too (as elsewhere), so it has to go via-via.
Are you a composing or performing musical artist?
Yes, I always liked to “invent” songs, since childhood actually. I'm the "creative type", I guess. I soon started recording them, so had some vague ambitions. Worked out some full songs, and recorded them later with computer software (DAW), meanwhile learning more and more.
Songs I made to my satisfaction, I released later in the internet age through my Soundcloud and Youtube channels (https://www.youtube.com/MichelConci).. I like that free sharing possibility of my music, but did not think commercially. Many songs I made public on my YT channel. Only later, I started to release my songs through official channels (and buyable and streamable digitally). Lately through Tunecore, as indie artist, and Bandcamp (https://michelconci.bandcamp.com/)..
Rastafari Live On, recorded with Robert Curiel, was my “official release” debut back in 2010, and that was Roots Reggae.
Later releases of mine show more the influence of Reggae's "harmony groups" on me.
I mostly made and make Reggae songs, but am not restricted to it: I try to keep a wide musical horizon, also making “Latin” songs, Flamenco songs, African-influenced instrumentals, funky and (international) folk songs, besides Reggae-(like) songs and influences. The world is my province. Good spirit for percussionists, btw: they need to be multicultural. Besides: I-man "originate", and don't "imitate"..
I like making songs with my own instruments, in any case.
I sang some songs of mine on sound during events, but “perform” more as musician/percussion player during jam sessions in a few clubs.
Does the Rastafari message in much of Reggae appeal to you? How does this relate to your own background, or beliefs?
Yes. I consider myself to be a Rasta.
My parents were only "loose" and socialist-influenced Catholics, but still got me baptized. At other times my mom criticized the Vatican, so I was not really "raised Catholic", more like a heritage and cultural/social connection.
In time, first I became only a vague, loose “sympathizer” of the positive message of Reggae lyrics I heard. Around 2009, after having read some main works (e.g. by Marcus Garvey), and after travels to Jamaica, - and some trials and tribulations (loss and grief) – I became more spiritual. I not only started to wear dreadlocks, but saw these dreadlocks as a statement of faith, not as a fashion. I tried to be in the Livity since then, and am indeed vegetarian for instance. Naturality I find important. I now consider myself a Rasta.
Rastafari ideas further fitted well with my world view, upliftment of the poor goals (I before grew up with Left-wing ideas), and my longer interest in African culture.
Also the view of the “divine” as within (not outside) humans: the "I and I" notion, is also which I share and feel - Jah inna (hu)man, but is perhaps too revolutionary for many in this world of unequal relations (economics, religion, politics). This system after all is based on placing "authority" outside of yourself. It is good when a man can think for himself, as Burning Spear sings on the song It's Good (album Man In The Hills)..
Sometimes thus difficult, this spiritual journey in today’s Western society (Babylon), but I have to “carry Jah heavy load”, as Ijahman Levi sang. In my own way, as every individual, and I appreciate that space for individuality within Rastafari.
Haile Selassie’s wisdom I respect as well, including life philosophies, like of Marcus Garvey, and the Pan-African and African Diaspora connection have my interest.
Rastafari originated as a Black Power and resistance movement, within the African Diaspora, and "white" people joining the movement should at least know and respect that, I think. Some arrogance occurs, or white - to use a psychological term: "overcompensation", e.g. regarding tenets or Bible "teaching"/correcting, but mostly there seem to be mutual respect and openness within the Rastafari movement.
The songs I make as musical artist and release are lyrically and musically often influenced by Rastafari, directly or indirectly.
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?
I listen to all kinds of Roots Reggae, old and new roots. Culture, Mighty Diamonds, Burning Spear, Wailing Souls, Black Uhuru, the Congos, Israel Vibration, Gregory Isaacs, Alpha Blondy.. Sometimes Alton Ellis and Ethiopians, including older Rocksteady.. That did not really change.
There was a period that I listened to older Roots at home, and newer Roots (Sizzla, Tarrus Riley, Anthony B., Morgan Heritage, Romain Virgo, Beres Hammond, etc.) mainly “inna di club” (and good to dance to).. Over time, though, that changed: I now listen to artists like Sizzla, Luciano, Richie Spice, Bushman, Junior Kelly, also at home, interchanging older and newer Reggae.
The Jamaican Reggae music scene is broad and varied, and alive, so there are always artists I did not know so well, or did not get around to yet.. Recently I got to like artists like Black Am I, Ginjah, Aza Lineage, and Reemah. An artist like Norris Man is around longer, but I got to appreciate his style more recently: saw him recently live for the first time. Good songs.
Stranjah Miller, whom I recently met in the Jamaica Lounge bar in Amsterdam, is also an interesting new roots-oriented artist.
Outside of Jamaican Reggae I like Tiken Jah Fakoly, Dezarie, Batch, Jah Defender (from Trinidad, nice songs), Chilean group Gondwana, Misty In Roots, and some Netherlands-based Reggae.
Other things you would like to mention?
Amsterdam is not a very Reggae-friendly city, let’s be honest, despite its image. Even less than before. Café the Zen club was a period an exception, besides some occasional concerts in venues like Melkweg or Paradiso. After Café the Zen closed in 2020, there were a time no regular Reggae parties in any club, despite enough Reggae fans in Amsterdam.. Even after music events/nightlife picked up after the lockdown/plandemic period, though some Reggae concerts were given in venues in Amsterdam and Amstelveen again since 2021 (incl. by Zen Social, the organizing branch of erstwhile Café the Zen).
Some café’s and initiatives were started in recent times, playing or supporting Reggae more regularly, Jamaica Lounge in Amsterdam West, Molli Chaoot in Amsterdam-De Pijp, and Earthworks - also studio - in Amsterdam (far) North, can be mentioned in this regard, but some more places might come up, I heard. In nearby Haarlem (where - btw - my parents met and married), the Patronaat venue also organizes more and more Reggae concerts, which is nice. So it’s now all a bit improving, which is better for the Reggae Community.
Stay blessed.
