Pama International Interview

I caught up with Sean Flowerdew at one of Pama International’s last five shows and had a chat about the last ten years with Pama International, his label Rockers Revolt and The London Ska festival he will be organising. 

The first of last shows was in Newbury yesterday?

It was a kind of hometown show, I used to go to school there and our singer Finney still lives there. It was very enjoyable, a great venue and good crowd.

How come now after ten years it seemed to be a good time to take a break from Pama International?

I’ve been working solidly for the last ten years, twenty four seven, on Pama International and over the last couple of years we haven’t really done ourselves justice as a live band; we’re a good band but live we haven’t improved as much as our recorded sound or at the same rate. It’s also getting much harder for us, venues and promoters to make the money we each require from live shows as purse strings tighten. Ten years is a long time, I need to sit back and relax for a while.

Are you going to be focusing on your other projects?

Yeah Rockers Revolt will be releasing an album a month in 2011, it seems mad that no one is buying records anymore and we are releasing more than ever, but it’s good as long as we keep realistic about how many we expect to sell it’ll be fine.
I’m also concentrating on writing a lot more and will be doing some bits for the BBC, some writing with Lynval (Goulding) for his solo work and writing with a few of the older Jamaican guys we have previously worked with. So I’m going to be busier than ever.


How hard is it to balance the band and record label, does music end up dominating your life?

Yeah pretty much, Rockers Revolt was set up as a vehicle for Pama so we could cut out the middleman and would only have ourselves to blame if things went wrong. We did an album for Trojan Records and we sold more of them than they did but we have never had a single royalty from them. We have now started to sign more bands to the label so things are starting to look exciting.

Are there new signings for the New Year?

The first release will be by a band called Intensified who are celebrating their twentieth year. They make ska rocksteady and the album will include a documentary of their twenty years. Maroon Town are ska meets hip-hop meets funk meets latin. Lenny the Pama guitarist is in a band called the Sidewalk Doctors, which is a rocksteady thing. Babyhead and Pama International Meets The Mad Profesor (rewired in dub) have just come out making a strong end to this year. It’s been good we’ve got Pama meets Ron Tom on the way and he has just done an album for Roots Manuva, which was Mojo’s seventieth album of the year.

I heard you’re organising a ska Festival next year too?

The London International Ska Festival next Easter is taking up a hideous amount of time at moment. For the four days I’ve booked over a hundred and thirty flights and had to sort ninety visas and work permits for the artists from all over the world. It’s something ska music has needed for a very long time and I’m aiming to put it back on the map.


Do you listen to the newer breed of ska music or do you stick to the more traditional styles?

It’s an incredible music style, the festival aims to show where it came from with the early R and B through to the Jamaican innovators through to ska punk through to the people who are taking the influence on further.

How was being the first band in thirty years to release something on Trojan Records?

It was a real honour to be able to release something on such an iconic label. My only demand in the deal was to be able to use the Trojan logo on the release, that was the only thing I wanted to see. It doesn’t matter what the music sounds like the Trojan logo will encourage people to buy it as the label has such a strong reputation. It also opened some doors in the way of collaborations. It was an honour, but the business side was terrible, as the label has been passed onto different owners they have all inherited an amazing musical legacy but haven’t run the label in a way anyone gets paid. There must be classic records, which have sold thousands of copies, and the artists who recorded them haven’t received their dues.

Are there three records that have changed your life or inspired you?

The Specials – Ghost Town, I remember watching the video on Top of The Pops as a kid and thinking ‘wow, what is that?’ the imagery was so dark and it has such a memorising tune.

I’d have to pick a Madness track because as a kid I was a huge fan and was even in the Madness fan club.

I would have to pick some old soul track it would have to be something by Otis Reading, he was the greatest singer of all time. These Arms Are Mine or Pain In My heart, one of those two, they’re both brilliant.

Who were the last band you went to see?

For pleasure I saw the Skatalites, I hoped it would be great but it wasn’t as good as I’d hoped. There were only two of the original band left, the drummer Lloyd Knibbs and the Sax player Leicester Sterling. They were nowhere near as good as when I last saw them back in the nineties. For me, because I love them so much it was disappointing, I usually try and manufacture bills to get support bands on I like as that’s the only chance I get to see people play.


Who would you recommend checking out? 

Not too sure on new acts, obviously everything on Rockers Revolt, we are going to put out something by Dave Wakely from the Beat. his first ever solo single is great and I’m playing a lot of that, I’m also playing some keys on a few tracks on the next King Blues album so I’m listening to them and they’re sounding amazing.

The Breadchasers - Time to stop (Offcut Records)

This debut album from Nottingham based The Breadchasers is only the second to be released on Offcut records which is owned and run by Jimmy The Squirrel front-man and artist in his own right Liam O’Kane. As you would expect from hearing JTS or Liam’s work the record has a strong reggae and ska influences.

From the off it’s apparent that this record is going to be good, the intro has a laid back tropical feel to it and moves into the first full track seamlessly. Vocally it’s always nice to hear a local accent coming through rather than a singer trying to sound like they’re from somewhere else. The vocals are multi layered and at times the passion comes through in a rough sound which would be at home on any punk record. 

As the album progresses the style is consistent without becoming boring, there is a definite combination of old and new styles of ska music. Vocally there is a vintage edge to the style which bears comparison with Terry Hall, Squeeze or Suggs without sounding like an imitation. Musically there is an incredible mixture of first, second and third wave ska with a very British feel mixed together with the obvious reggae elements. There are definitely small influences form the skacore of the early noughties with Capdown and Shooting Goon as obvious examples these are combined with a stylish mix of Skatalites and Slackers. The main comparison I personally found immediately on listening to the album was with many of the acts on Asian Man Records in the USA.

There are definite elements of Let’s Go Bowling, The Chinkees and Skanking Pickle in amongst the vast influences on the Breadchasers’ strylee. For me the three above bands are responsible for taking ska into another level where it wasn’t all about brass lines and upstroke and it’s nice to hear this come through in music with brass and upstroke to continue the progression.

There is a lot of depth to the record and it is musically incredibly complex, the brass-lines help to back up the points made both musically and vocally. At times the brass is used to create further rhythms allowing the musical depth to really shine through. At times the combination of brass, deep bass and organs create a tropical dub feel to tracks which adds balance to the whole album.

This is a record, which will be sure to warm your bones on cold winter nights. Considering it’s the first record from The Bread Chasers it’s pretty obvious there will be big things to come from this band in the not so distant future. 

Liam O'Kane - Voice Of The Equal

This is an EP I have been looking forward to getting hold of as Liam O’Kane’s debut album ‘Happy Days Sad Songs’ was one of my favorite records of last year. This EP is the first release on Off Cut Records which is a label founded by Liam earlier this year.

After the forst listen of the EP the first thing I noticed was this EP was a progression on from the first record which although fantastic crept closer to a full band sound this EP is unmistakably a solo recording. The sound Liam has is original and refreshing the acoustic ska/ reggae he plays takes influence from artists such as Babar Luck, Vic Ruggiero and Chris Murray in small parts.

Lyrically the record tackles life, love and politics in a mature clever fashion, with every word being backed up by Liam’s incredible vocal style and unquestionable passion. The powerful vocals add real emphasis to title track ‘Voice Of The Equal’ with a more tender side exposed on ‘In Music Lost’, which tells the stories of musical inspiration throughout Liam’s life.

The mature sound present in both the music and vocals creates an EP that flows nicely between tracks and my only complaint is that it’s only 5 tracks long. If the development continues between this recording and the next at the same level it has previously the next recording from Liam O’Kane will be phenomenal as I would place this EP and the debut album on a must have list.

Over all this record is a mature piece of work from a young artist who deserves to be successful from his solo work as he is one of the most exciting acts around. This EP is perfect for summer and will bring a hint of sunshine even to a rainy day, more importantly you should support the DIY scene in this country and in particular independent record labels such as Off Cut Records.

The Slackers

The Slackers stopped at Bristol’s Thekla during their recent European tour and I was fortunate enough to interview Jay from the band and watch them play. Please check out the previous post for the video interview with Jay, I’ll keep you posted on when this has been written up and is ready for our first issue.

Support on the UK leg of the tour was from The Skints, who put a modern twist on the ska genre, taking aspects that make UK Ska and Skacore. The live sound offered by The Skints is tight and their performance was full of energy. I would recommend seeing them live if the opportunity arises and expect big things from them in the next few years as they are slowly catching some media attention.

There was a huge amount of anticipation for The Slackers and they did not disappoint. The band describe their brand of music as Caribbean Rock ‘n’ Roll which perfectly describes the genre twisting style they play. Their sound perfectly fit the description from the deep bass, great brass, bouncy guitars and organ, and the contrasting vocals from Vic and Glen.. They played the perfect mix between tracks from old records, the current album ‘Self Medication’ and even threw a Lulu cover in for good measure.

The performance whipped the crowd into a frenzy which was perfectly finished off with the final song of the set, where they got the entire crowd to kneel as they slowed the mood right down before speeding up for the finale. As you will see from the video below the live performance was a fine example of a band enjoying themselves on stage, making it impossible for the audience not to enjoy the night.

The Specials

I was one of lucky few people who got to enjoy the specials playing live on their reunion tour. It was amazing to see so many people united to see such an important band. Although there were worries at the back of mind that the band would not live up to my expectations.

Seeing such an inspirational band live after many of the audience had waited longer than my lifetime to see them was an honour. The music and political themes although written 30 years ago are still relevant, I know as a country we have come a long way but racism is still an issue for many people. Especially in the current political climate the anti- racist message was at its most inspiring when the entire audience were singing the chorus of ‘It doesn’t make it alright’ to hear thousands of people united in expressing racism is the ‘Worst excuse in the world’ was something I will never forget.

The night was by no means focused on politics and seriousness; the band were having a great time onstage and seemed to be honoured to have the opportunity to play in front of such a big audience again. There is nothing more enjoyable than watching a band who you love enjoying themselves on stage. Although the band are all 30 years older than when they were releasing music they played with more passion and energy than I have seen from many bands half their age play with.

The only aspect of the night which was not perfect was the choice of support act although the Dub Pistols were reasonably good I would have liked to see the Specials give a younger band the opportunity and exposure.

All in all the Specials were fantastic to watch and it was a true honour to whiteness such an important event.

A1 Reccords

A quick note to recommend that you get yourself over to the A1 records website and check out the great records now available to download. I would personally recommend the Gregory Kraj albums and EP’s (there’s loads of them) and the Spades however everything I have downloaded is great.

Those of you who have some money and are feeling generous should also donate to keep the label running. I have a feeling we will be expecting great things from A1 in the future especially with the existing music they are realising.

You can check them out here

A Beginers Guide To Ska

I personally think Ska is one of the most important of all music genres (partially because I love it). As a genre it is completely multi-cultural and responsible for a change in mindsets within music. Ska has developed over the past 30 years moving from the slow reggae style of the Skatalites and other Jamaican Ska bands, to the Specials, Bad Manners and Madness who were at the fore front of the UK scene in the 70’s and 80’s, to The Mighty Mighty Bosstones developed the Skacore/Ska Punk sound paving the way for the next generation of Less Than Jake, Rancid and Mad Caddies in the USA and Capdown, Adequate 7, Howards Alias in the UK.

As far as looking into Ska with an eleven year old girl in mind there are 2 bands that were essential in my love of Ska Less Than Jake and The Specials. Both are fantastic bands and offer very different styles but will ultimately inspire the listener.

To accompany this playlist I’m also going to make a copy Ska Is Dead from Household Name Records which is a sampler that covers all the bases. Unfortunately some tracks will have to be substituted as I do not want to face the wrath of my Mum when she hears bad language coming out of my sisters room (or mouth).

As mentioned the play list will start at the beginning and work from there although not everything will be in chronological order as each track should move onto the next nicely. The Playlist will include all of the following:

Skatalites
The Toasters
Madness
The Specials
The Clash
Mighty Mighty Bostones
Less Than Jake
Mad Caddies
Voodoo Glow Skulls
Streetlight Manifesto
Rancid
NOFX
Chris Murray
Howards Alias
Capdown
Adequate 7
Dead 60’s
Buck O Nine
Sublime
Sonic Boom Six
Shootin’ Goon
Farse
The Pie Tasters

If you want to suggest tracks or artists that should be included please give me a shout.

A Beginners Guide to ….

These next few posts follow on from last week where I mentioned educating my little sister in good music. I am hoping to nurture her into listening to a varied diet of music with as many genres as possible. As an education each genre will start from the beginning and will pretty much become a musical history lesson. If you think I have missed any artists give me a shout and I will get them on the list.

The only thing to remember is my sister is an eleven year old girl so I need to find tracks that are free of swearing and risqué themes. It is safe to say there will be no beginners guide to gansta rap and I’m not sure she is ready for New York hardcore (or any hardcore for that matter) just yet either.

Keep your eyes peeled for the play lists in the next few days.

Help Save The Youth Of Today From Exploding

Please excuse the Less Than Jake misquote in the title, I took the title for this post from the Album one of the most influential records I owned as a teen. I bought the double pack which included ‘Hello Rockview’ and ‘Loosing Streak’ in one box, after recent rediscovery I still can’t decide which is my favourite as they are both fantastic albums.

The shuffle feature on iTunes has a habit of reminding me of great albums I have not heard for a long time, I recently rediscovered ‘Milo Goes To College’ by the Descendents which is one of the best punk albums ever made. However the record is not the best value for money considering all 15 tracks are over within 23 minutes with only 3 tracks over 2 minutes on the whole album. I also recently rediscovered my two favourite punk albums of the 90’s (‘Underground Network’ by Anti-Flag and Rancid’s ‘…And Out Come The Wolves’) looking back on albums I loved as a teen made me wonder if taste in music is nature or nurture.

As a kid I listened to the music my Dad played me, luckily this was pretty good mostly the Clash, Jam and Stranglers all of which I still listen to now. My Uncle also had a huge influence with Lou Reed, The Specials, Velvet Underground and Ramones. As I grew up popularity influenced my music tastes, as most peoples Dad’s were older than mine Dad music was known to be shit so I didn’t want to disagree. When I was about 12 I went through a stage of listening to gansta rap mainly because my older cousin from USA was into it and I wanted to be ‘cool’ like him. After that my friends at the time who were all NME/Melody Maker readers had an influence on me and lead me to Indie, Steve Lamaaq and John Peel. Through this I discovered the Ska and Punk scene that was developing mainly through going to local gigs.

At this time I saw some of the best gigs I have ever seen with line ups I still dream about, my personal favourite was an all dayer featuring Captain Everything, Adequate Seven, Howards Alias and Kenisia. This gig blew me away so I pledged allegiance to Household Name Records and got myself to a barber for a Mohawk. As I grew older and wiser I realised that music was so broad it was crazy to stick to one genre and developed into the well rounded music snob I am now.

I often feel my music taste is superior and try to nurture people into listening to my favourite bands to mould them into better people. This musical arrogance tends to surface after a few pints but the thoughts are constantly at the back of my mind. I am lucky enough to have a sister who is 11 and as with my youth I want to be a positives influence on her musical choices. So when she realises that Dad music which she currently listens to is un-cool with her friends she can look to the ‘cool’ older brother for an escape from terrible pop music.

With this in mind to save her from the chart dance or any other rubbish I want to introduce her to the music I love genre by genre. I believe with any kind of music you have to start from the beginning or at least include the influential old stuff. For example what would a ska compilation be without the specials or punk without the Clash.