Hardest Working Men In Show Business Selected utterances from the University Of Dub crew |
 
Judah is a joyful, uninhibited giant of a rastaman. "In the bible it says that when your sin is terrible, then you have to work hard to alleviate it. Well, my sin is terrible, so I have to work very hard." he says and breaks into booming laughter that echoes around the Brixton Recreation Centre where his legendary dances take place. The University Of Dub has changed the face of roots music in England and beyond. This has been achieved by creating an advertising campaign that has become a unique phenomenon. The three original and full time figures behind University Of Dub are Judah, Steve and Joanna. "We three are the engine room. It's Steve and I that deal with the road." If you've been to a roots dance or stage show in London in the last five years, you'd recognise Steve instantly. In person this white rasta brother is quiet and thoughtful. It makes sense when Judah says that the "Aaaahbahshanti!!" chant and thrusting distribution of flyers didn't come quite so naturally in his case. However these two very different men are united in a cause. From the very beginning the University Of Dub flyers have featured the speeches or 'selected utterances' of Haile Selassie. As Judah explains. " People are used to rastafarians putting out biblical quotations. But we said we would put out political and educational material so that people can see the other side to His Majesty. We want the people to see not only the biblical side of Rastafari, but also the secular side." These two have covered thousands of miles and personally distributed hundreds of thousands of flyers. Steve is clear about what motivates them. "My greatest satisfaction, and this is why I don't give up going out and giving out leaflets, is when I give someone a leaflet and then ten, fifteen minutes later I see them sitting down reading in deep meditation. That's my job done." "Jah gave the word; great was the company of those who publish it." Quotes Judah. This mission has made them familiar, not only to reggae fans, but Londoners of all races, ages and backgrounds. School children all over the city greet them with the "Aaaahbahshanti!!" chant and cockney market traders near one of their regular pitches have adopted "Ave a shandy!" as their own greeting.
Aba-Shanti-I, the hugely popular roots sound, is the resident at University Of Dub. He plays every month and is joined by two other guest sound systems. Steve explains the philosophy, "The whole point and purpose is to give sound systems somewhere to play and give them a name. We bring new sounds that don't get promotion or to play in front of big crowds; but are good sounds still. It's about trying to achieve a balance. They don't all play the same kind of music, so you try to please as many people as possible. Because its three sounds playing in rotation, you don't have to wait long for the one that you like." Judah concurs, "The key is that we want to establish Aba-Shanti, Channel One, King Shiloh...The 21st century sounds. Since we have been in here every sound has made progress. Iration Steppa has made tremendous progress, Shanti tremendous progress in every aspect of the work that they're doing. And we want to see Jah Youth come up too, because all of us love Jah Youth." The monthly dances at Brixton Recreation Centre have given roots sound systems in the UK and Europe something to aspire to. In the same way that Premiership football clubs look to the Champions League, sound men see the University Of Dub as the highest level, where they can play alongside the best. As Steve says, "Over the last couple of years a lot of sounds that park and give up, or sounds that are just starting up, they get inspiration from the University Of Dub. They see that there is somewhere that they can play. All they have to do is aim to get here. All the sound systems that are out there are on our case and want to come here. We tell them you have to be able to come and play. We can't just give you dates. You have to be able to do the job. It wouldn't be good for them, us or the people if anyone flopped." I asked Steve which new sounds they are thinking of putting on, but he's giving nothing away. "It's confidential, but they know who they are. We go and see them play and we judge whether they've got the weight, the quality, the music.. not necessarily exclusive music. The key thing is the vibes, because every man play sound different. So look at how skillful the sound man is and how the sound stay. There's a couple that are up and coming that we're looking at." If aspiring sound systems are looking for inspiration, then Steve says that they should check what's happened to King Earthquake from Birmingham this year. "The first time I saw them I came back and said to Judah "we must get King Earthquake." When they came they had some technical problems. We gave them a while to sort it out. I went to see them again in Bristol and I came back and said "Judah, they're ready now". They came back down and people didn't stop talking about it for two months. They were awesome." Judah gives an example, "When I put my car in for MOT, the brother said to me "oh by the way I heard you had a sound the other night .. King Earthquake. The next time they come, you must tell me!" That's the effect King Earthquake is having right now. Next year he's got four dates. Two with Iration Steppas and the next dance is with Jah Tubby's. I don't know what is going to happen that night!" So a true battle of the bass bins is looming. I asked them how competitive the sessions are. Steve is quick to point out that these are not clashes and he describes the sound clash scene as 'horrible'; however, "Competition is very good. if you put Aba-Shanti on with say King Earthquake who is heavier than Shanti, he'll have to pull some tune, play hard. Earthquake has the weight, maybe Jah Youth have tune. He'll have to think how he's going to play, he'll have to excel, to push himself when he's up against another sound. He'll have to step up." Judah agrees, "That is the beauty of three sound system. Every man is thinking of bringing in new tune that you haven't heard before. It injects a lot of energy and vibration." Steve is in agreement with my feeling that the competitive element to the dance has added quality and variety to the music we hear; forcing even the most established sounds to step up. "Channel One are the most improved over the past five years. They came, they saw, played a couple of dances, realised they'd have to build up and went away and did it. it's very good."
Perhaps the greatest contribution that the University Of Dub has made to to the UK roots scene is to simply gather a loyal audience together. Whether it was planned or not, a united nations theme has emerged which is far more than merely symbolic. Flyers featuring speeches that Selassie I gave at the UN, bring people to a dancehall decorated with the flags of all nations. Most significantly, the crowd in the dance are a harmonius mix of all races and nationalities. The hard work has paid off and the word has spread. The University Of Dub draws a diverse blend of people to Brixton from all over the UK and Europe. The UK dub scene now has the ideal arena and Judah is vociferous in his praise for the staff and management of the Recreation Centre who've shown both loyalty and understanding year after year. There really is nowhere else that an event like this could happen. So there is no room for complacency and no sign of the promoters taking it easy. Judah and Steve will continue to work 'the road' and spread the word - the hard way. So go on .. 'ave a shandy!
August 2004
University Of Dub website: www.universityofdub.com
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