Heads High

When Sound Iration’s ‘Seventh Seal’ 12” rumbled onto the streets back in 1988, it heralded a fresh chapter in reggae music’s evolution. Haunting melodica lines and scattered percussion referenced the ‘golden-era’ of late 70s roots music, but the exchange of a live drum and bass section with pounding digital drums and the minor key melancholy of the cut led many to regard it as the first in a new wave of ‘UK Steppers’ dub records. Built between Jah Tubbys and Rock studios as part of the ‘Sound Iration In Dub’ collection, the whole approach to the production was a radical departure from the norms set by Jah Shaka and the rest of London’s roots heirarchy during the 80s. Nick Manasseh, one half of the Sound Iration production team explains

“There was something about that record that had a different approach. UK roots had been present throughout the 80s, but it was in the hands of Shaka, Mad Professor and the Twinkle Brothers. They all worked in proper studios recording to 2” reels. Sound Iration was one of the first home studio records in the roots scene at that time. We used drum machines and were heavily influenced by that Augustus Pablo minor key sound so it was a different angle. Their [Shaka et al] tradition was still working from a Scientist, raw drum and bass, rub–a-dub feel. I don’t think anyone apart from Russ Disciples had put out a melodica style record at the time.”

Of course, the story doesn’t begin there. By 1988, Nick Manasseh and his then production partner Steve ‘Scruff’ Guilder had more than completed their reggae industry apprenticeships. Scruff had provided the basslines for West London’s legendary roots outfit Night Doctor whilst Nick had secured a much-lauded heavy roots radio show on the then illegal Kiss FM on the strength of the Manasseh Soundsystem. A system he co-founded with Eddie Manasseh and Billy T and debuted at the 1985 Notting Hill Carnival .

“We literally finished the boxes on carnival Sunday 1985. My girlfriend helped me put the last box together on the day. We played carnival from 85 to 90 and then again in 94 and 95. The sound thing was an ambition from the lower sixth form for me.  As a young kid growing up in London and I’d gone to carnival for the five years before that looking at Java playing and was like wow!”

Sticking with soundsystem, Manasseh is no stranger to the clash, his most memorable being the first time they met Jah Shaka in the dance.

“We had a new set. Our first four boxes had been nicked from a van which had been given to us by Joey and Norman Jay.  Rob Catto came in with some money and invested in the sound so we could build 12 new bass boxes. We’d also just bought some more amps from Tubby’s. We cut dubs for the session and it was fantastic. I wasn’t actually that nervous because I’d been going to Shaka solidly for the last three or four years and I knew the difference between him really playing well, and just playing an average session. To be honest, that night was the best that I’d ever seen Shaka play! He was just blazing! We were sounding good though and got a couple of good forwards off the crowd. The Jah Tubby’s crew said that we booted him.  I dispute that. We didn’t boot him by any means, but we made a good strong impact. The victory for us was in not looking stupid! That night we played a lot of our own productions. Funnily enough though, the second time we played Shaka in 1989, he had just got the Sound Iration album on a white label. He dropped ‘CTUFB’ and the whole place erupted! “

In the 20 years between the original release of Sound Iration In Dub and its now imminent reissue, Manasseh has demonstrated a diversity which many of his peers in the UK reggae scene lack. He’s cut plates for the Acid Jazz label, mixed pop tracks for the Chimes, and made successful forays into the hip hop world with the Columbia released Riddimwize project. Home is where the heart is though, and for Nick, reggae is definitely home. Take your pick of reggae royalty and you can be almost certain that he’s worked with them at some point. Either making records, or cutting dubplates for a myriad of soundsystems, including his own.

“I used to have a studio in Brixton which became a big specials studio. Specials sessions can sometimes be a bit of a nightmare! Dennis Brown would come down with like 20 people accompanying him, guns, you know, heavy. This was in a house with a two year old and a pregnant wife so it wasn’t always cool but it was great in a way too. Freddie McGregor once came in for a really good session where we built three new rhythms over Studio One tracks while he was sitting there. I did a brilliant one once for Rodigan with Charlie Chaplin, Brigadier Jerry and Josie Wales. That was a classic session. It was good doing that kind of yard style voicing. Its good to learn how to hold it down and not get flustered. I do remember one session with Everton Blender where he started getting a big screwy, saying it wasn’t so cool working outside of Jamaica with all these ‘foreign people’. I’ve always been quite accepting of that sort of thing though. I relish it in a way. There’s this little fiesty side of me that enjoys it.”

In line with the specials sessions but somehow incongruous with the digital melancholy of ‘Sound Iration in Dub’ are Nick’s newer productions. Even a casual listen to his recent work for the Brighton bred Roots Garden label reveal a much stronger Jamaican feel and production style.

“I decided quite early on that my taste is wider than UK roots. In a funny, paradoxical way, I’m not that good on the UK dub thing. I’ve always been more Jamaican in my taste than Joe from Aba Shanti or Mark from Iration. They’re much more UK steppers than me. Its great to see a resurgence in interest for the more Jamaican sounding reggae. For years I felt slightly isolated on the roots scene. I wanted to play new Jamaican music at a time where guys like Aba Shanti were saying they were only playing UK productions. Jamaican roots is a different vibe. A different tempo. Its not so bass driven, not so heavily minor key. Although I’m getting more and more into mixing dub again at the moment, my thing is all about the vocal. A good vocal turns me on more than anything else. “

Regardless of the creeping popularity of Jamaican style reggae, dub fans the world over will welcome the re-release of Sound Iration’s classic long player with open arms. With some of the original 12”s from the album changing hands for ludicrous amounts in the digital marketplace, those who missed out will now have a second chance to own a piece of dubwise history.

“We’ve been asked a lot over the years to reissue it. I was always unsure and didn’t want to destroy the collectors demand so I just let it be. Basically, Year Zero came along and wanted to do it properly with proper promotion. You don’t get offered that a lot these days, its quite special.  The fact that they wanted to do it, and that the album they just put out is X-Ray Specs, which meant quite a lot to me as an 11 year old, before I got into reggae, made me want to go ahead. It’s great to see six people tapping away at computers, employing PR agencies and the like. Even in these supposedly democratic internet days, its still about who can shout the loudest.”

Ever the ambitious producer, as the daylight begins to wane in Darren Mathers’ Jamtone studio, a regular workspace for the likes of Gussie P, Robert Lee, Earl 16 and of course Nick himself, the conversation shifts to future projects.

“I’m doing an album with Earl 16 which I’ve been recording here at Darren’s. That’s been a lovely experience. We work really well together. I want to do a themed Roots Garden album of the more digital sounding stuff I’ve done for them plus some more unreleased bits. Almost like a concept album really. The whole thing done on a Casio. I’d also like to do another proper Dub record. I mixed a track for the Resonators, one of the last dubs I did. It was one of the best dubs I’ve ever done! I definitely want to do another dub record. It might well be compiled though rather than produced as a dub record. The last proper dub record we did was ‘Step Like Pepper’. Since then it’s been strictly vocals. We’ve got loads of good vocals from our Roots Garden stuff and a proper dub, a reggae dub, always comes from a vocal track rather than being built intentionally as a dub track. There’s no doubt. For me, that is dub music. “

Sound Iration in Dub is due for release on 10th May 2010 courtesy of Year Zero. Follow them here for more information.

Nick Manasseh’s Top Five Roots LPs

1.    Heart of the Congos//The Congos (Black Art)
2.    Bobby Babylon//Freddy McGregor (Studio One)
3.    Visions//Dennis Brown (Joe Gibbs)
4.    Kaya//Bob Marley & The Wailers (Island)
5.    Dub Landings//Scientist (Starlight)

Special thanks to Darren Mathers @ Jamtone Studios for shelter, technical advice, and excellent ginger tea and SHOOK Magazine for allowing me to reproduce this piece for Heads High