From Kingston to Dublin with dub...

This is shaping up to be a late night thing...and to be honest it's been one of those days with nothing much to report on, bar one or two exciting things which if I told you, would result in me having to kill you afterwards to ensure your silence. One thing, however did happen which I'm allowed to talk about, and leads me nicely to what I believe to be a story worth keeping an eye on...

Chopping brambles up in the garden. That's what I was doing when the phone rang. I dropped the piece by which I was holding everything at bay, and the whole lot just attacked me. I fished the phone out of my pocket, negotiating the thorns which had attached themselves precariously close to my crotch, to be greeted by the soft Aussie tones of the one and only Mr. Jay Sharp (or Jason Rymer to his Mum) of Dirty Dubsters. I exchanged pleasantries through gritted teeth as I disentangled myself from the testicle threatening tentacles. Anybody who knows me knows what a massive fan and supporter I am of the lads, who are probably Ireland's biggest reggae export, whether people here know it or not. Sometimes the mind boggles at the lack of pick-up on these guys in the media...but hey, other territories definitely know what's good for them! Right now, one half of the team Barry (aka DJ Obese), is in Ontario touring the Dubsters' sound while Jay handles the business back home for their labels "Irish Moss Records" and "Dirty Dubster Digital". He's also finishing off a couple of tracks and working on some really nice additions to their live show. Anyway top geezer that he is, he offers us an opportunity to have a couple of drops done by the wonderfully talented Sista Quanna, straight out of Kingston JA. Yes, yes indeed I said, count us in! Praise Jah I said.

Sista Quanna

So how did this happen? Well this is where it get's really interesting. A couple of months ago while in the process of releasing their debut album ("Fire It Up"), the guys decided to start another record label...this time in Jamaica. The Boys had been working on a track with Jamaican based Turbulence (I&I Productions) and had received another vocal from Sista Quanna on the same riddim that they liked so much they put both versions on the album. Things started to bubble and next thing Jay was mixing and mastering Quanna's album here in Dublin, the Dubsters are buying into a Kingston studio, and the parties on both sides of the Atlantic have decided to join forces and form Aya Productions, a label dedicated to conscious roots vibes. A bit of a jump from Irish Moss's dynamic and evolving dancefloor slayer style of reggae...but where would we be without roots?!

This my friends must be a historic moment in Ireland's musical timeline. As a reggae fan I find it incredibly exciting to know that there is a studio in Kingston pumping sweet reggae directly into our back yard! A point I have always admired about the Dirty Dubsters was their decision very early on to go out and hit up the right vocalists from around the world to work on their tracks. From their first 7" release back on Bula Beats with Bass Nacho, through the list of artists like Whandah The Dainty Queen, Danny Red, YT, Top Cat, Blend Mishkin through to this latest venture, the Dirty Duo have never been afraid to look just that little bit harder and further than most. Watch this and see what happens, and if anybody in the music media is looking for a scoop on the Irish-Jamaican link up here it is...

Personally I'm looking forward to a couple of nice bits of original audio to work with, especially in the Irie Ireland show which myself and Shimmy (that's Aunty Shimmy to you!;P ) are tightening up the nuts and bolts on right now. The mention of this, and all this talk of Concious Roots Rastafari vibes has turned my mind to the gig in Cork at the start of next month, The Irieland Roots & Reggae Festival. I'll tell you a bit more about that tomorrow perhaps...

You can check out some tracks from "Voices", Sista Quanna's debut album on Aya Productions here, and below you can check the vid for Dirty Dubsters current release "Real Bad Boyz".

Irie!