Uoči gostovanja Zion Traina u Zagrebu (Močvara 19.5.) i Puli (Fort Punta Christo 20.5.) popričala sam s Neil Perchom, idejnim vođom Zion Traina i Universal Egg labela.

Reggae hr: Zion Train as an „institution“ exists more than 25 years. Can you briefly tell us about your vision of the global reggae scene for 25 years?
Neil: The global scene has grown and developed an enormous amount over the years that I have been active. There is a combination of amazing original music, inspired by the sound of Jamaica and developed by interesting creative people of all backgrounds from all over the world – thats great!! In parallel there has also been an explosion of young, rich people from all over the world growing dreadlocks and pretending to be Bob Marley – that is embarassing and sad. Reggae, like so much other rebel music is an inspiration and a call to action and I welcome that always but people need to remain aware the reggae scene should be about ego destruction not ego creation...
HR: Zion Train kao institucija postoji već više od 25 godina. Možeš li nam ukratko tvoje viđenje kretanja globalne reggae scene unazad 25 godina?
Neil: Globalna scena je narasla i razvila se te postala ogromna tijekom godina otkako sam aktivan. Imamo kombinaciju nevjerovatne orginalne glazbe inspirirane zvukom Jamajke koja je razvijena od strane zanimljivih, kreativnih ljudi iz cijelog svijeta- to je sjajno! U paraleli također imamo eksploziju mladih i bogatih s dreadlocksima koji se pretvaraju da su Bob Marley, to je neugodno i tužno. Reggae, poput druge pobunjeničke glazbe, je inspiracija i poziv na djelovanje te pozdravljam to, ali ljudi moraju biti svjesni da reggae scena treba biti o destrukciji ega, a ne o njegovom stvaranju. 

Reggae hr: You traveled the whole world presenting Zion Train's hybrid reggae. I'm interested in knowing how many people are aware of the effects of reggae music on other genres of music in general.
Neil: Not so many people know in fact. Most people who hear reggae see sun drenched beaches and chilled out Jamaicans smoking. They do not perceive of the depth of influence the sound has on many many other music. Music is however a matrix, it is arrogant and foolish to imagine that reggae has any greater influence than other music.There are many roads to the river. 
HR: Proputovao si cijeli svijet predstavljajući svoj hibrid reggaea . Zanima me imaš li saznanja koliko su ljudi svjesni utjecaja reggae glazbe na druge glazbene žanrove općenito?
Neil: Činjenično, ljudi nisu baš upoznati. Mnogi ljudi kada čuju reggae „vide“ sunce, plaže i skulirane Jamajkance kako puše. Ne percipiraju dubinu utjecaja na zvuk mnoge druge glazbe. No, glazba je matrix, arogantno je i budalasto umišljati si kako reggae ima veći utjecaj od druge glazbe. Mnogo je cesata do rijeke...

Reggae hr: In which form today we can see Zion Train live?
Neil: Our full live line up still consists of myself, brass section and singers/MCs. Often as in May 2017 in Croatia I travel alone with an MC. On this occassion the MC is the fantastic Dub Dadda.
HR: U kojoj formaciji danas najčešće možemo vidjeti Zion Train uživo?
Neil: Naš puni koncept uživo sastoji se od mene, brass sekcije te pjevača i mc-a. Često, kao što će to biti slučaj u svibnju 2017. da putujem sam s mc-om. U ovoj prilici taj mc je fantastični Dub Dadda.

Reggae hr: At the "Fire" EP we could hear the cooperation with the young hopes from Jamaica (Micah Shemiah, Jah9, Addis Pablo ...). Are there any advantages or disadvantages in co-operation with musicians from the land of reggae music?
Neil: There are of course both advantages and disadvantages dealing with musicians from Jamaica. On one level it is a great pleasure to work with ANY talented musicians from ANYWHERE and upcoming young musicians offer new energies and perspectives. Jamaica does however suffer from a culture of arrogance and a sense of entitlement inside the reggae business so that can be a challenge.
HR: Na „Fire“ EP-u Zion Traina mogli smo čuti suradnje s mladim jamajačkim nadama (Micah Shemiah, Jah9, Addis Pablo...). Postoje li prednosti i mane u suradnjama s glazbenicima iz domovine reggae glazbe?
Neil: Naravno, suradnje s glazbenicima s Jamajke imaju svoje prednosti i mane. Na jednom nivou je iznimno zadovoljstvo raditi s BILO KOJIM talentiranim glazbenikom od BILO KUDA, pogotovo s nadolazećim mladim glazbenicima koji imaju novu energiju i perspektivu. Jamajka s druge strane pati od kulture arogancije unutar poslovanja pa to može biti izazov.

Reggae hr: Album "Land Of The Blind" 2015. came out on exactly the spring equinox. Is there any specific reason for this?
Neil: We are animals, we live on a planet that exists in a symbiotic relationship with other planets – the Sun being the most important of those planets for our existence here on Earth. Since ancient times (well before these was reggae music, Rasta etc) people has respected and honoured solar events such as the equinox and solstice dates – this release date is our honouring of this ancient magic.
HR: Album "Land Of The Blind" 2015. izašao je na točno na proljetni ekvinocij. Postoji li neki konkretan razlog tome?
Neil: Mi smo životinje, živimo na planeti koja postoji u simboličnom odnosu s drugim planetama. Sunce je najvažnije za naše postojanje na Zemlji. Od davnina (prije reggae glazbe, raste itd.) ljudi su poštivali solarna događanja kao što su ekvinocij i solsticij- zato je datum izlaska albuma odavanje časti drevnoj magiji.

Reggae hr: What is the difference between the Abassi All Stars and Zion Train projects?
Neil: Zion Train is a musically open project inspired by reggae and dub with no rules and specific political objectives. Abassi All Stars is a collective of musicians making reggae music for soundsystems...
HR: Koja je razlika između projekata Abassi All Stars i Zion Train?
Neil: Zion Train je glazbeno otvoreni projekt inspiriran reggaeom i dubom bez pravila i specifičnih političkih ciljeva. Abassi All Stars je kolektiv glazbenika koji rade reggae glazbu za soundsysteme.

Reggae hr: I saw your remix on a new Krak In Dub's EP. Have you ever had a chance to work with Federico or is this your first attempt?
Neil: KID has remixed Zion Train before now and his records are now being released on my Universal Egg label. We have played several shows together also.
HR: Vidim da je izašao tvoj remiks na novom EP-u Krak In Duba. Jesi li prije imao prilike raditi s Federicom ili je ovo vaš prvi pokušaj?
Neil: Krak In Dub je ranije remiksirao Zion Train i njegove ploče su izlazile za moj Universal Egg label, a također smo i nastupali nekoliko puta zajedno.

Reggae hr: There is a mutual chemistry between the Croatian audience and Zion Train. What do you expect from a Croatian audience in a recent visit?
Neil: I see the Croatian audience as intelligent and responding to musical originality and genuine behaviour – I hope Zion Train represents these things and so the natural affinity arises – it is a great privilege (still) for ZT to be welcomed in Croatia and I hope we will be returning for many years to come...
HR: Postoji obostrana kemija između hrvatske publike i Zion Traina. Što očekuješ od hrvatske publike u skorašnjem posjetu?
Neil: Vidim hrvatsku publiku kao inteligentnu koja reagira na glazbenu orginalnost. Nadam se da Zion Train to predstavlja pa stoga postoji prirodni afinitet, to je sjajna privilegija (još uvijek) za Zion Train što je dobrodošao u Hrvatskoj i nadam se da ćemo se vraćati i u budućnosti.

Reggae hr: And little cliches: plans for the future?
Neil: I am building my new studio right now and autumn 2018 our 30 years tour starts. New music is always in preparation...
HR: Malo da ubacimo klišeja: planovi za budućnost?
Neil: Gradim novi studio, a u jesen 2018. počinje naša turneja kojom ćemo obilježiti 30 godina rada, a nova glazba je uvijek u pripremi...