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I
have been working with the Reggae Revolution for nearly
four years, and have toured all over the world with them.
My interest in the music business started in 1983, when
a friend asked me if I wanted to buy a synthesizer from
him. So after scraping the money together I bought it.
I have been fascinated with the recording process ever
since I was a small boy and I immediately set about recording
and experimenting with my new synthesizer.
That
was it, I was hooked. I was pleased with the results but
little did I know how much I had to learn. A week later
I bought a drum machine, they were very expensive in those
days and I got into an awful lot of trouble with my mother
after failing to pay the house-keeping because of all
the hardware I was buying.
A
couple of months later another friend of mine asked if
I wanted to join their band, of course I said "Yes".
But what I failed to tell them was that I couldn't play
well...........not really. Only what I had taught myself.
I would often play along with the adverts that came on
the television. But it was along with these ads that I
was able to work out the relationship between notes, melody
and the construction of musical passages, I couldn't afford
keyboard lessons and this was the only way that I could
see to gain playing experience.
The
Keyboard that I owned then, could only play one note at
a time, so I found that I was able to bluff my way through
the audition. Miraculously after the audition I got
the job. I couldn't believe it. For the next few weeks
I hardly saw the rest of my family. I locked myself in
my bedroom and just tried to get myself to a reasonable
standard of playing because my first gig was only four
weeks away.
My
first show came round far too quickly for me, but come
it did. I didn't feel at all nervous..........until I
stepped onto the stage When I arrived on the stage I was
absolutely petrified. I didn't actually expect to perform
in front of 'real' people. It was from then that I decided
that I didn't like playing in front of an audience. But
I stayed with the band for a further three years where
I gained an interest in the production side of the music
business.
"My
first show came round far too quickly for me..." |
As
the years passed I was asked to work with many different
bands but started working with Pato Banton and The
Reggae Revolution in early 1997. To me as a sound
engineer the most important thing about working with any
band, is to get a good sound under a variety of different
conditions. The musicians use the same instruments
every time they play, but I sometimes could be working
with forty or fifty different P.A. systems on any one
tour, and every night I have the responsibility of getting
the best sound out of the available equipment.
If
the show doesn't sound good then the whole band will be
looking at me. You never get a second chance with a live
show; there's no room for error. Things can and do go
wrong but a good engineer needs the resolve to deal with
the problem quickly and calmly. One of my golden rules
when taking control of any live show is not to try and
blow the audience away with high volume levels, but to
deliver power with clarity.
I've
seen it more than once where sound engineers have the
volume way too high and then spoil the enjoyment of the
show because most of the audience have their ears covered
with their hands. It gives me the greatest
satisfaction when people come up to me after a show and
say that they enjoyed the show and that the sound was
awesome. Mission accomplished in my opinion.
Complacency is something that I don't subscribe to and
there's always room for improvement.
The
equipment has changed so much, even over the last five
years; I am constantly having to keep pace with the latest
technology. It's a constant learning process for
me, but along with the experience that I already have
I manage to keep ahead of it.For the present, I continue
to work in my recording studio in Birmingham, England
along with Pato Banton , The Reggae Revolution and many
other artists. I love what I'm involved in with Pato and
the Band. They make it so easy for me. They're a
great bunch of guys.
As
for the future I hope to continue doing what I'm doing
now. I also have a few projects that I am working on. |
