Rebel Base

In september 2004 I started writing for the music magazine REWIND. 3R Magazine and RifRaf musiczine soon followed. Now I'm mainly writing for the Flemish reggae portal website Reggae.be and the world music blog Tropicalidad.be. The interviews I did and still do for them, are republished here. Enjoy!

INTERVIEW JOHNNY CLARKE HOVE LIVE 09/2004

Although Johnny Clarke has never reached the status of some of his contemporaries like Bob Marley or Burning Spear, he undoubtedly belongs to a select club of top vocalists in reggae's history. Probably the most prolific moment of his career was his collaboration with producer Bunny Lee. Using the so-called flying cymbal, they created what today is known as the rockers sound. Real reggae aficionados can spot the real deal immediately and Johnny Clarke is just that. After a well received set at the Hove Live festival, we were lucky enough to get the man to grant us this interview.

Johnny, how do you feel after your performance here at the Hove Live festival?
Johnny Clarke: "I really feel very much encouraged. It should have gone on and on and on. It's like a blessing for I & I & I, it's all about us, unification. Unity and strength is what I saw here tonight. It was really strong and powerful, both the audience and the performer were full of energy."
Most people think of the song 'Roots Natty Culture' when they hear the name Johnny Clarke...
Johnny Clarke: "Alright...The hit song!" 
Right, it's their favourite song. Is that the same for you?
Johnny Clarke: "Yes actually... it's my favourite number, because I wrote that song. That's a Johnny Clarke original that came from deep meditation. Those are the type of lyrics that keep coming out when I'm sitting alone meditating. That song has a real strong message."
Why did you do so many cover versions in your career? What was it that made you record these songs?
Johnny Clarke: "Well sometimes I covered songs of which I felt that they needed to be known more. Sometimes you have songs that are 'hidden' on an lp. or an album. A single or a 45 are more focussed on the public and gets more airplay from radio stations. So if I felt a song was strong enough, I did a version and put it on a single. I also did it to show my versatility, to show that I could my own material as well as that of other artists and to get the roots, the culture and the message across."
You have worked with a lot of producers during your career; people like: Bunny Lee, Rupee Edwards, King Tubby, Joe Gibbs, Mad Professor, King Jammy and so on. Was there one that you preferred before the others?
Johnny Clarke: "My favourite was the one that produced the most hits for me, who was involved in my most popular songs, and that was Bunny Lee.  He was the one that really established my name and made me popular throughout Jamaica and all over the world with songs like 'None Shall Escape The Judgement', 'Rock With Me Baby', 'If You Should Lose Me', 'True Believer In Love', 'Roots Natty Congo', 'African Roots' and so on.  But people like Rupee Edwards were there in the beginning, my dancehall days, with songs like 'Everyday Wondering', that he redid and called 'Irie Feeling'. It went straight up in the British charts. That was the first time one of my own songs went up in the charts. That was in the seventies, in the time before the flying cymbal. It was Bunny Lee who introduced the flying cymbal and made the tempo of songs more upbeat. The cymbal was the symbol! At that time it was like there was a new sound and a new singer: Bunny Lee sound and Johnny Clarke!"
One more year and you will have been getting at it for thirty years. How do you keep it fresh for yourself? Where do you keep finding the inspiration, because I can imagine that that is something that is not entirely evident after thirty years?
Johnny Clarke: "It's all about keeping active. Doing a lot of touring pays of, you get the vibes from the fans everywhere and that plays a big part for me, it is so encouraging and it charges my battery again and again. My fans play a big role and I give thanks for that."
You were born in Trenchtown. Could you tell us something about your youth there?
Johnny Clarke: "Kingston 13 and Kingston 12...in my time it was all about music. In those days I was still an amateur, I was no established artist. I was trying to get a break in the business, so I did a lot of small-time club shows within my neighbourhood and my community and I played at school concerts, barbeques and so on. In Jamaica you have to make name in your own community first and then after that you venture out into the national or maybe international arena. When you made it into a studio, automatically you became more known, because the studio released your music on a 7inch, and those 7inches circulated the whole island. Then if you had had enough singles that became hits, you got the chance to do an album."
It seems that nowadays everybody in Jamaica wants to become a singer, but only few still want to take the time to learn how to play an instrument. Is there any truth in that?
Johnny Clarke: "It's good to know that you have learned about that. If you heard it all the way over here, in Europe, so far away from Jamaica, there must be truth in it."
Isn't it also part of the musical evolution in Jamaica? A lot of these new dancehall or ragga riddims are created digitally on a computer.
Johnny Clarke: "You see, you know what is happening! Nowadays the technology increases day by day!"
And do you regard this evolution as positive or negative?
Johnny Clarke: "I see it more as a negative thing. The bible already told us about the singers and players of instruments, who play the harp and the tumbrel and the horns and so on, this, should not be erased from the music! It shouldn't be like that!"
This week a big reggae venue in London, in Victoria Park, was supposedly cancelled, because of protest from gay rights activists who protested the coming of performers like Sizzla and Vybes Kartel. It seems now that this whole issue is starting to have an impact on the whole reggae scene now, because stars that were also performing there and who are not involved in the whole debate, like Freddie McGregor and Marcia Griffiths for example, also saw their venue being cancelled. What are your views on this evolution?
Johnny Clarke: "Well you know, reggae music has been getting a fight for years. I don't really see what is new about it. Festivals have been stopped because of crime or violence too. I never made a distinction between whom or who was buying reggae, gay or not, I just saw a man, so if you are this or that, it is up to you to deal with that. It is also true that the majority of the people in the world is not gay, so we could also go with that fact. You have to realise that we in Jamaica are not even five million strong, so music wise we are mainly catering for the outside world and we have a lot of support from all over. But there are some people who have been fighting reggae from long time, and now they come up with new excuses about this and that."
I'm a rootsreggae fan myself, but I never heard a roots singer sing a song with a batty boy-lyric. Where did this trend come from?
Johnny Clarke: "It came from persons who were dealing with this issue or who were focussing on it. If someone wants to make name by singing about that, it's him not me...although they say ‘the good suffer for the bad', just like what happened with that show you just mentioned. But righteous people will ignore that and see it as just another stumbling block, because that is really all it is: just another stumbling block.  Years ago it was something else; they would have found something else to say about reggae. Look at what Bob Marley was doing, and still some people were speaking up against him! That's also part of this issue; after his death people departed from his message and from the roots music and went more into dancehall. It's a different style of reggae music, from the same tree, but a different branch. And with that comes a whole new bunch of people who let us know what they are dealing with through their kind of music. You have to make a distinction between roots rock reggae and dancehall."
There seems to be a lack in spirituality in that music though. In my view the blend of roots rock reggae and rastafari created not only a style of music but also a spiritual identity, while when I look at the dancehall community I only see them copying or propagating things they see in the west, like in the United States.
Johnny Clarke: "What they are doing is looking around the world and seeing what is happening and focussing on that. Dancehall is like a kind of retaliation. They are giving out a warning: "If you step on my corn, I will defend it!" Sometimes it's all about war. Maybe the lyrics have so much impact now because melody wise there is not much to listen to. In this way of course you may stumble on some things you don't want to hear. But what I&I is concerned, my way is about roots and culture."
Do you have any special message that you want to share with us to finish this interview off?
Johnny Clarke: "Just stay focussed! I hope that reggae music will become even more popular then it is now. You have, different eras in reggae music, and you have to know which one to choose, ask yourself which one can bring something more to you. It's all about what the music can do for you: the comfort, the enjoyment, the joy and so on. And remember god is responsible for the whole of I&I&I! I&I must be a servant, because H.I.M. knows best and no man knows better than the Most High. The man who created I&I is greater then the whole of I&I&I. The one who is greater then I&I lives within I&I, there are no secrets. I can hide things from you or do things behind your back, but from the one who is greater than I&I there is no place to hide. He knows everything and guides and protects us. He secures our levity from day to day. We are all depending on Rastafari. We are all one as man, some act negatively and some act on a more positive level, but as I said before, man will get the pay for the works he does. The father knows what pay we deserve. So leave everything to Rastafari, he will penalise who is to be penalised, and beat who is to be beaten. That is why I say: "Leave all vengeance unto H.I.M.!". Not even your tears will save you! Crying won't help just spiritual righteousness because the weak hearts shall fall and the righteous shall stand and no one shall escape this judgement. We will all have to face it when the right time comes. So just stay focussed and strong and live clean. Remember godliness don't deal with dirtiness! Stay clean inside out! When you smile make your heart smile as well. Bless."