Style Scotts militant yet majestic rhythms have graced numerous Reggae classics over the last twenty years, widely acclaimed for his pioneering adventures in dubland with his studio and live project ‘Dub Syndicate’. He has also managed to continue playing touring and recording with the groups Jamaican counterpart The Roots Radics

Free Radical Sounds’ Smart Monkey was warmly welcomed by Style
The following is a transcription from the encounter.

[Style Scott] I had time in the army to go in and out, so in the evenings after duty I would go out on the street and link up with other musicians and they would take me to the studio with them. The first studio that I ever recorded in wasn’t the first one that I was introduced to. Channel one and all those studios were being introduced to me, but the first one that I did my recording in was at Devon road. Which was owned by Pluta Shrevington. I moved on from ‘dere and I get the chance also to do a recording in Studio one, that’s on Brentford road. Where Coxanne had his Studio. It wasn’t with any singers it was just a bunch of guys who put something together and were laying some rhythm tracks , they’d heard me whilst I was in the army . Sometimes I got the chance to go their rehearsal studio and bang around on their drums . They heard that rhythmatic thing in me that’s where I started from. From there on we went on to do recordings with Flabba Holt and those people, they always call me when they have a session. Fish Clark was there but then again they was spotting me, thinkin’ that "dis man gonna be a wicked drummer one day." That’s how I started .really."

[Smart Monkey] What would you know about the track before you went into the studio ?
[Style] Well it’s not a matter of saying that you know the name of the track and all of that before you got in. Most of the time you would go into the studio you were called and you’d go in. In the studio, the only time that you knew what’s happening was when you hear the rhythm section playing or they tell you which one of the Studio One rhythms that we were going to record today. The first one we covered in Pluta Shervingtons, we didn’t know the name or title of that track. We went in, got pay and bam went home. We didn’t even know who went on that track. You’d go into a studio one day with a producer and record some track. Then a couple of weeks down the road you will be hearing Sugar Minnott and some of those artists on top of the rhythm. Most of the Jamaican artists began by covering the studio one Rhythms.

[Smart Monkey] How do you explain the phenomenal amount of music that comes from Jamaica?
[Style] "Well that explains the amount of talent that we have in Jamaica. The country is full of talents and this is how you get to hear some of the talents, through the music. There are other talents there that need to emerge as well. So trying to explain to you the amount, or the phenomena that is coming out. It’s just that the talent are there, you know . Then again there are a lot of problems already, people are feeling different, going through different climaxes in life and things, so people express that through the music. You wouldn’t get to do it politically. But the music is there.

[Smart Monkey] "You were doing lots music in the Jamaican studios. When was the first sort of band that you got together ?
[Style ] In Jamaica? Well The Roots Radics me and Flabba and Bingey Bunny ( Eric Lamont) that was about 77/78. Reggae was very Strong in them times. The vibe was very strong in Jamaica just then.

[Smart Monkey] "When did things start to get serious, Roots Radics wise?"
[Style] Well it was About 1979/1980 my first tour was with Prince Far-I. That was when the music became more serious."

[Smart Monkey] Had Prince Far-I been to the UK before ?
[Style] I think he was here, before that but during that year he chooses me and he was one of the artists who was spotting me. So I got the chance to tour with him as things started getting serious Roots Radics wise. The first Roots Radics tour was when we went to Grenada we weren’t called Roots Radics we were called ‘Roots Rock’ that was set up by a guy called ‘sky-I’ who is now working for Ziggy Marley. It was our first move out of Jamaica as a proper band and then after that we did our second tour with Gregory Isaac’s when we came to London in 1982. I was doing a lot of different recording for a lot of different artists. Eek A Mouse, Sugar Minnott, Johnny Osbourne. A whole lot of those people in that era recorded with Roots Radics. Who were some of the pioneers of their time. We were one of those bands who play a lot.

[Smart-Monkey] What do you think was the reason for the massive amount of interest in reggae in the late 1970’s?
[Style Scott] Well I guess that The Wailers were the first ones who put it over. The Wailers gave it that ‘International’ status and from there on in it start out with people like Jacob Miller, Culture, Burning Spear, The Diamonds and all them people. From then on in, the 70’s it started to get serious. Jamaica had a serious problem, political affairs and all that.

[Smart Monkey] What was happening.?
[Style Scott] Well the politics thing was sort of popular around the unrest in the political arena and problems that people were having, and even when Culture sings this song about "the two sevens clash" and people were looking to see these two sevens and it was like a burning flame in them times together in the music. So the political era helps to trigger off some of those expressions, whatever you call it during this era. There was a lot of things happening in the country...

[Smart-Monkey] What about you meeting up with the people from ‘On U Sound’ ?
[Style Scott] Well the first tour that I did was in 1980 with Prince Far I and I met Adrian Sherwood ( On U Sound ), through Prince Far I during that year. what really happened was that we had to put a band together and we called it creation rebel. During that year it was going really well. Although I wasn’t living here I was staying here for about 6 months.

[Smart Monkey] So what was Adrian’s role in all of this ? [Style] Adrian was acting as management for Prince Far I, so he would call me for tours and that. He’d set-up everything rent vans, get the equipment. Adrian loved them things as well and we would go across Holland and all of that business. So we started this Creation Rebel thing and then I left. The last tour I did was with Prince Far I, Creation Rebel , The Slits and Don Cherry. Unfortunately at that time I got sick and had my appendices out in Scotland, but we did a tour build up Creation Rebel and it was still going on after I left.

[Smart Monkey] Who took your place in creation rebel?
[Style Scott] Tony, yeah all those guys were like reggae enthusiasts, like Style Scott enthusiasts. they were listening to Roots Radics and the way we play and all of that

[Smart Monkey] Where does the name Style Scott come from?"
[Style Scott] Well it’s just another nickname which was given by musicians in the studio, based on how I play when I crash my cymbal, I lift my hands high. Normally Jammo would have set up his kit like that. The name style comes about like that. Then again you had ‘Sly’ ( Dunbar ) so people would compare the two people together. Thats how the name came by. so we started out with Prince Far-I and The Arabs. and the Creation Rebel thing was going on. Then I went back to Jamaica. From then on in I normally come back up with rhythms. I’d make rhythms in Jamaica. Then come up here and try to sell those them to whoever wanted some rhythms. Adrian would hustle around and sell some of these rhythms until we get serious.

[Smart Monkey] Flabba was living in Jamaica as well?
[Style Scott] Well flabba had never come on the Prince Far- I tours. It was just me and Prince Far I because of the budget and all of that. Touring is very expensive so you try to carry less musicians. So we’d hustle around these rhythms. To see if we could sell them, to get some dosh, to go back to Jamaica. Then we got serious and Adrian got more musically talented.

[Smart Monkey] How were those early days were they quite raw ? You were a skilled musician, what was Adrian’s status as an engineer?
[Style Scott] Well Adrian he was just a lover of music you know totally. In those times we didn’t even have a budget to employ an engineer on that Prince Far- I tour , so Adrian he just fiddled around and twist knobs until he just got used to these knobs ’ere, you know . It frightens me as well because I never usually see Adrian as an engineer either. He usually sells records and ‘ting you know, an’ all of a sudden the man started to twist knobs and as year goes by he just get better and better. I guess that ‘e learnt through reggae a lot.

[Smart Monkey]Tell me about the establishment of the "Dub Syndicate?"
[Style Scott] You know that after Creation Rebel got broken up, as year goes by. I was still coming back up with rhythms and these were much stronger than the ones I was coming up with in the past. So we just decide that "boy we had better start do something you know, do some funny mix and put it out ourselves. Dubs and funny noises that’s how it went you know, really and truly. I guess that Adrian can give you a clearer view of the whole thing. Some of those years I would be just bringing up those rhythms, but other times I would stay maybe a month or two and then go back to Jamaica while I leave him here with these rhythms working on them and doing whatever he wanted to do with them. Then I would be getting a call in Jamaica going "Scotty-boy we’ve done an album irie, irie.."

[Smart Monkey] Were you using digital or analogue in those days?
[Style Scott] Analogue and things worked nice. Adrian is a man who likes the acoustic sound. Myself love the acoustic more as well so it started there. As things started to get much stronger we decided to name the thing ‘Dub Syndicate’

[Smart-Monkey] What was the first thing you released as Dub Syndicate ?
[Style Scott] ‘Pounding System’ I think that was recorded at berry street. Mind you Adrian has put out so many things. He’s like that when he sees something, he will just press it up and put it out. So if you ask him possibly there is a record that he put out before ‘Pounding System’ possibly a 12 inch or something. But the one that I can think of seriously is ‘Pounding System’.

[Smart-Monkey] I read from some sleeve notes that you were often using dead time in the studio.?
[Style] Yes well what you see at the end of the day was what happened. When I was doing the recording at Berry street or Southern or wherever. When I am in town, when Style Scott is in town you could get any Bass player or Keyboard player and put them among style Scott and things would be right.

[Smart-Monkey] Style Scott thank you very much.
[Style] Irie

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