Veljača nam donosi novo izdanje Vibronics Meets Conscious Sounds - "Half Century Dub (5 Decades In The Mix)" s kojim će se Vibronics i Conscious Sounds predstaviti na ovogodišnjem 15. Seasplash festivalu. Uoči navedenog izdanja i gostovanja na jednom od najstarijih festivala u Hrvatskoj, porazgovarali smo sa Steve Vibronicsom. 

Reggae hr: You have new release in February which it cames with a specific message "Half Century Dub (5 Decades In The Mix)", and you are celebrating a half-century of dub along with Dougie Wardrop (Conscious Sounds). How did the idea and the realization came?
Steve: We had been talking about making some music together, and after the little '3 The Dub Way' series I released on SCOOPS Records with us, Conscious Sounds & Vibronics making some music together, that kind of kick started the whole thing. We thought it could be interesting to take a look at how dub has evolved over 5 decades, and to take a look at our place within that scene – so the idea was born
HR: Svojim novim izdanjem koje u svom nazivu nosi konkretnu poruku "Half Century Dub (5 Decades In The Mix)", obilježavate pola stoljeća duba zajedno s Dougie Wardrop (Conscious Sounds). Kako je došlo do ideje i same realizacije?
Steve: Već smo razgovarali o izradi glazbe zajedno, a kratka serija Conscious Soundsa '3 The Dub Way' koje sam objavio na SCOOPS Recordsu bila je početni udarac našoj suradnji. Mislili smo da bi moglo biti zanimljivo sagledati kako se dub razvijao posljednih pet desetljeća, kao i koje je naše mjesto na njegovoj sceni – i tako je ideja rođena.

Reggae hr: In your opinion, what are the appearance and development of dub brought music in general?
Steve: Dub has brought a lot to the world of music, it invented the notion of re-mixing music and of using effect to enhance the sound and experience of dancing to music. It also introduced the idea of creating beats for MCs to freestyle over that hip-hop took over with.
HR: Prema tvom mišljenju, što su pojava i razvoj duba donijeli glazbi općenito?
Steve: Dub je pridonio mnogo svjetskoj glazbi, izmislio je pojam miksanja glazbe i korištenja efekata kako bi se poboljšao zvuk i time pridonijelo iskustvu plesanja. Također je uveo ideju izrade beatova za MC-a koje je hip hop preuzeo.

Reggae hr: Sound System movement have the megalomaniac spread through all Europe. Sometimes I feel that the bass took dominance over the message in dub. What is your experience with the audience on this point?
Steve: As the dubscene has got bigger, the political and spiritual message at the core of the music is still there, but as audiences get bigger more and more people just want to dance and enjoy the music, so the bass kind of takes over. But the message is still there for those that want to dig deeper, and we have seen many people start off with being attracted to the sound of the music, then getting to know about the spirit of the music in time.
HR: Sound System priča se megalomanski proširila diljem Europe. Nekad mi se čini da je bass preuzeo dominaciju nad porukom u dubu. Kakva su tvoja iskustva s publikom po tom pitanju?
Steve: Iako se dub scena povećavala, politička i spiritualna poruka je u srži glazbe ostala, ali se publika povećavala i sve je više ljudi htjelo plesati i uživati u glazbi stoga je bass preuzeo priču. Ali je poruka još uvijek tu za one koje žele kopati dublje. Vidio sam mnogo ljudi koje privuče taj sound, a zatim se tek kasnije krenu upoznavati s duhovnom stranom glazbe.

Reggae hr: With name Vibronics always went the slogan Future Sound Of Dub. What is you vision of dub in future?
Steve: I always wanted to incorporate technology in my music productions, in the same way that King Tubby, Scientist & Lee Perry were experimenting with new sounds back in the 70's. I still try to keep the sound futuristic, but still very much Roots Reggae music – so in that sense nothing has changed for me.
HR: Uz Vibronics je uvijek išao i slogan „Future Sound Of Dub“. Kako prema tebi izgleda svjetska budućnost duba?
Steve: Uvijek sam htio pripojiti tehnologiju s vlastitom produkcijom, kao što su King Tubby, Scientist & Lee Perry eksperimentirali s novim zvukom u sedamdesetima. I dalje se trudim da mi zvuk bude futuristički, ali da to još uvijek bude roots/reggae glazba, stoga se u tom smislu ništa nije promjenilo.

Reggae hr: From your rich past of cooperation, I wanted to allocated cooperation with Brain Damageo on releases of "Empire Soldiers" and "Empire Soldiers Live", which marked the story about the First World War. How did you get the idea to treat the First World War through the dub?
Steve: That idea really came from Madu Messenger, he has an amazing knowledge of history, and in particular, the history of black people in Europe. Madu taught me a lot about these subjects which are really interesting, yet hardly known by people. When it came to create a concept for the Album with Brain Damage, I proposed the idea to use these historical stories and then the project just grew from there.
HR: Od tvojih mnogobrojih suradnji, izdvojila bi još i suradnju s francuskim Brain Damageom na izdanjima "Empire Soldiers" i "Empire Soldiers Live" kojeg je obilježila priča oko Prvog svjetskog rata. Kako ste došli na ideju da obradite Prvi svjetski rat kroz dub?
Steve: Ta ideja je došla od Madu Messengera, on je izvrstan poznavatelj povijesti, posebno povijesti Afroamerikanaca u Europi. Madu me učio mnogo o temama koje su zanimljive, a slabo poznate ljudima. Kada je došlo do stvaranja koncepta za album s Brain Damageom, predložio sam ideju da uzmemo povijesnu priču i tako je taj projekt počeo rasti.

Reggae hr: What is the formation that we can meet Vibronics inlive today? I saw that you are announced on the 15th Seasplash festival with Dougie Wardrop, can we get a hint how your performance will look like?
Steve: Yes, Seasplash was our introduction to Croatia when we played at the 2nd ever festival. Now it will be our 5th time at Seaspalsh, and our first with Consious Sounds, so we hope to bring the vibe of our new album, a celebration of five decades of dub.
HR: U kojoj live formaciji danas možemo susresti Vibronics? Najavljeni ste na 15. Seasplash festivalu i to zajedno s Dougie Wardropom, možemo li dobiti hint kako će vaš nastup izgledat?
Steve: Da, Seasplash festival je bio naš uvod u Hrvatsku kada smo nastupili na njegovom drugom izdanju. Ovo će sad biti naše peto gostovanje na Seasplashu, a prvi put nastupamo s Consious Soundsom, stoga se nadamo da ćemo donijeti vibru novog albuma i proslaviti pet desetljeća duba.

Reggae hr: You had lots of live act in Croatia, what is your vision of our dub scene?
Steve: I have seen it grow from very humble roots into this much bigger scene. For a country with a relatively small population, Croatia has an amazing dub scene. Helped for sure by the Seasplash and Outlook festivals, it has become one of the key European places for dub. Zagreb, especially at Medika, has a thriving scene with soundsystems, producers, artists and crews.
HR: Puno si gostovao u Hrvatskoj, koje je tvoje viđenje naše dub scene?
Steve: Vidio sam kako raste od vrlo skromnih korijena u mnogo veću scenu. Za zemlju s relativno malom populacijom, Hrvatska ima nevjerovatnu dub scenu. Tome su pri pomogli Seasplash i Outlook festivali, oni su postali ključno europsko mjesto za dub. Zagreb, a posebno Medika ima uspješnu scenu sa soundsystemima, producentima, izvođačima i kolektivima.