Na zagrebačkom Wintersplash festivalu, koji se održava ovog vikenda (preciznije 4. i 5. veljače), glavni headliner prvog dana je Rob Smith, poznatiji iz dua Smith & Mighty. Rob Smith će nastupiti na ovogodišnjem Wintersplashu s aktualnim dubstep projektom RSD. Uspjeli smo uloviti orgnizatore za rukav, te priskrbiti koju riječ od bristolske glazbene legende uoči velikog tuluma u Tvornici Jedinstvo!
Reggae.hr: For the beginning I would like to start with your first contact with music. As a kid you didn't play football but played a guitar in a reggae band. What influence did reggae have on you as a musician?
A. Reggae was the reason I became a musician, I needed to emulate that 'dub' sound, particularly that guitar 'skank'
Reggae.hr: You emphasized that reggae is your passion...when did you discover jungle & drum and bass?
A. I remember being with DJ Die at a rave maybe in 1990 and he remarked that some beats were 'flat' beats (house) and some beats were 'jungle' beats (with breaks) by 94, Jungle was huge
Reggae.hr: In the year 1985 you made friends with Ray Mighty and at that time, now worldly recognized, duo Smith & Mighty was established. Can you tell us if you imagined at that time you will participate in moving the boundaries of music?
A. no.. we had quite simple ambitions at that time, we just wanted to press a tune onto vinyl.. That's it. Everything else was a bonus
Reggae.hr: You have produced the first single for Massive Attack 'Any Love' - could you guess then that Massive Attack will evolve into a well recognized brand of Bristol?
A. .. Again no. we didn't realize then that the world outside of Bristol was already beginning to focus on the sounds coming from our city
Reggae.hr: Your own production began early, where did you find motivation for it?
A. Bristol had always had a strong reggae scene but then in the second half of the eighties it was all abut hip hop.. I guess we were trying to hold on to reggae but also involving hip hop beats plus adding other sounds that we liked from our childhoods. It was a kind of selfish reflection of our favourite sounds .
Reggae.hr: The first album of Smith & Mighty was recorded in the year 1991 and it was released in your own label in 1995. What was the problem so the album was stopped for full 4 years?
A. We had a bad marriage with the record label
Reggae.hr: How did you came to be on !K7 label?
A. We were invited by !K7 to make a 'DJ Kicks' album. During that process we became friends with the guys and so signing to them seemed like an obvious move.
Reggae.hr: You are really popular in Asia, specially in Japan. How did that part of the world accept dubstep as a new genre in music?
A. tentatively at first, for me personally I think it helped that my selection involved a lot of familiar reggae sounds
Reggae.hr: How would you compare dubstep with other music genres you participated?
A. the way dubstep evolved was kind of similar to the way Jungle did. Both are/were combinations of many sounds and influences.. Kind of hybrid.
Reggae.hr: Should young DJs, who are new in dubstep, have a background in other genres, to better understand this one?
A. I think its important for each individual to draw upon his or her own influences whatever they may be.
Reggae.hr: You are coming to Zagreb, what can Zagreb public expect from your set?
A. big dub related sounds :)
