ONE OF THE GREATEST AND MOST WELL-KNOWN DUB PRODUCERS, MAD PROFESSOR (KNOWN IN NORMAL LIFE AS NEIL FRASER), TALKS ABOUT THE 40TH ANNIVERSARY OF HIS LABEL ARIWA SOUNDS AND PLANS FOR CELEBRATING IT, HIS LOVE FOR AFRICA AND THE ANNUAL FESTIVAL THAT HE HOSTS IN GAMBIA, HIS FAVORITE PLACES TO PERFORM, AS WELL AS MUCH MORE
Mad Professor is known as one of the key figures in the second generation of dub musicians. His label Ariwa Sounds is a true and established trademark in the dub and reggae world. This year, Ariwa Sounds is celebrating its 40 year anniversary which is quite an age for an independent record label. The label’s catalogue consists of around 350 releases with many big and cult names in the dub and reggae world like Lee Scratch Perry, Sly and Robbie, Pato Banton, Jah Shaka, Horace Andy, as well as much more.
A lot of big-name artists from other musical genres like Grace Jones, Massive Attack, ORB, Perry Farrell asked Mad Professor for remixes in order to get his specific and unforgettable dub touch on their music.
Mad Professor was kind enough to talk with All Andorra about his latest releases, his music festival “Back to Africa” that he hosts annually in Gambia, his current semi-retired and easy lifestyle and other interesting stuff.
Interview: Dmitry Tolkunov
Hello Neil! It would be interesting to know what you have been up to recently – are there some interesting releases on Ariwa Sounds, maybe some collaborations that have to be noticed, or plans to go on tour?
Ariwa Sounds has already been going for 40 years and we are celebrating the anniversary this year. Due to the anniversary, I’m mostly busy now with reviewing the label’s catalogue – we have around 350 releases, which is quite a lot for an independent label. It is good to go back and to refresh our memories about the great music that was out on Ariwa Sounds. I am now preparing a lot of re-issues of the old releases in their original sound and we are also going to publish some old music that was recorded in Ariwa’s studio but was never released before.
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