Musically Mad - Roots Reggae Sound Systems

The global release of Musically Mad - Karl Folke and Andreas Weslien’s film about the current generation of heavyweight, UK based, ‘warrior style’ roots reggae sound systems is cause for much celebration. These two devotees from Upsalla in Sweden take us on a journey powered by the question “What is Sound System?” The answer is conveyed in so much more than words.

Trailer for the documentary Musically Mad

Today’s mobile sound systems like Jah Shaka, Aba Shanti I, Iration Steppas, Channel One and Entebbe Sound, to name but a few, maintain a tradition that goes back, in the UK, to the 1954 arrival in London of Duke Vin – a veteran ‘sound man’ from Kingston, Jamaica. For decades it has been the sound system operators who supplied the hottest news from back-a-yard to Britain’s black community. It came on 7” singles and dub plates and was transmitted via a serious amount of wattage and stacks of hand-crafted speaker cabinets. In 2009, the story continues.

Back in 1993, sixteen year old Andreas Weslien was smitten with the reggae bug and by 1996 he was making trips to London, digging for tunes. “I’m still haunted by sleeping through my first invite to an Aba Shanti I dance,” laughs Andreas, the film’s producer. “My first time in sound was in 1996 but in 98 I went to a Jah Shaka dance and that blew me away! I had tapes of Shaka’s dances that I used to play in my bedroom at full volume but nothing prepared me for the real thing.”

A clip from Franco Rosso’s 1981 classic film ‘Babylon’ featuring Jah Shaka Sound System

In order to explain to others what sound system meant to them, in 2004 Andreas Weslien and Karl Wolke decided to make a film. It was never intended to be a history of sound, more an explanation, and that’s what Musically Mad delivers. Take a look at the Selected Extras: Can Sound System Be Too Loud, King Shiloh on Specials, Vinyl vs New Technology and you get the picture.

“It was great talking to the older guys like Fatman about the past…or hearing Levi Roots talking about Coxsone sound,” says Andreas but sadly, they never got to meet the mighty Jah Shaka. “We tried hard! For me he is without doubt the biggest influence. Lots of sound system operators and followers today would agree on that.”

The future generation comes through in an illuminating conversation/collaboration between Young Warrior and Joe Ariwa, the sons of Jah Shaka and Mad Professor. But overall, it’s via a stack of interviews with sound system activists and actual dancehall footage, that Karl and Andreas create a picture of a thriving racially mixed underground scene that is highly individual, conscious and roots orientated. It a very different branch of the tree that also gives us Yard style dancehall systems like Stone Love.

“We have our own sound system – Meditative Sounds - in Upsalla. We built our own sound in 2001. We bought our amp from King Tubby and we have a new pre amp from Marc Mostec.” says Andreas - he is clearly enthusiastic about that pre-amp. “We’ve played in Malmo and in Stockholm. In the smaller towns in Sweden they don’t really understand what you’re doing. But today, in Upsalla, which has a population of 175,000 people, there are four sound systems with their own boxes!” Andreas and I could have gone on forever chatting about the enticing hiss at the beginning of dub plates or discussing weight versus sweetness. Throughout our conversation, and throughout this film, there is pure enthusiasm for a JA rooted art form which has been honed over half a century and continues to develop outer-nationally. Snap up your copy of Musically Mad today and file it alongside Babylon.

Paul Bradshaw / Straight No Chaser

Musically Mad
Directed by Karl Folke
Produced by Andreas Weslien [Sweden, 2008]
Running time: 60 mins plus 60 mins extras + Steel Horns and Bass Bins in Blighty a 16 page booklet written by David Katz
Subtitles: English, German, French and Spanish

www.musicallymad.com
Sounds source: legendary reggae specialist www.dubvendor.co.uk

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