Dub ya

>> Mad Professor schools fools on the mysteries of dub

by CHRIS YURKIW

Mirror: So tell me about this show you're doing with your old friend Macka B. Is it a sound system kind of thing?

Mad Professor: Nnnnno. Sound system plays records. We don't play records. We don't play records. We don't play records...

M: Do you do that kind of show sometimes?

MP: Records? Nah. Never. I wouldn't know which end to start playing a record. Never played a record before in my life--other than to listen.

M: So your shows?

MP: What we do, we buil' the studio, okay, we rebuil' the studio on the stage. Yeah. Whatever you've got in the studio, we do it on the stage. Yeah. (laughs)

M: So you've got 24 tracks you're messin' with live?

MP: Yuh huh. Yep yep yep yep. It's a live dub show. Whatever you get is live.

M: One of the things I like about dub is how mysterious it seems. I mean, often I have no idea what's going on in a recording, who's remixing what with whom. Like your album Mazaruni!: The Jungle Dub Experience...

MP: (laughs)

M: What's happening on that album? Who or what is Mazaruni? Are you remixing Mazaruni's music? You're doing dub mixes and other folks are doing jungle mixes, but you're also all playing instruments...

MP: Well, that album is a concept. The name of the project is Mazaruni. That's it! (laughs) What it is... yeah, I mean, basically, the project is called Mazaruni, for whatever reasons.

M: So you recorded some music that you played, and then you remixed it?

MP: Uh, yeah. Yeah yeah yeah yeah. Yeah, and the whole name of the project is Mazaruni. You know, just like you have the Beatles--they start a group and they called it the Beatles. You know, similar, we start a project and we call it Mazaruni. I mean, we could have called it...

M: Macaroni!

MP: Yeah! We could have called it Macaroni. We called it Mazaruni. That's it.

M: You were obviously trying to make some connections there between dub and jungle, or drum & bass.

MP: Right, well, there is a connection. There is a connection between dub and drum & bass. Dub is like the forefront, because dub was like the first electronic music, and drum & bass is like one of the electronic music of the '90s. So, basically, yeah, I mean, there's a connection, you know?

M: Sure! Like, if you see LTJ Bukem with MC Conrad chatting overtop, the link to dub and reggae is very clear.

MP: Right right right right. Yeah, it's absolutely... it's... it's very clear. Dub music really came from that electronic base wherein the engineer was playing with devices and, you know, the engineer starred! Basically, people like King Tubby actually started the show, and the whole thing picked up immensely.

M: Why do you think there's been more interest in dub these past years?

MP: Younger people began tunin' in--much, much younger people. Largely due to the strong birth in electronic music that there is around, you know? Lots of electronic music around. People just listen to it. People like it! So, dub just becomin' more and more interestin' to the general public. :

With Macka B and the New Deal at Sona on Saturday, April 29, $25