DJ COLLAGE INTERVIEW

Ben Recently conducted an interview with Dancehall artist DJ Collage. Along with his own solo work, he recently completed an album with Meat Beat Manifesto entitled "In Dub", which will be reviewed on this site shortly.                                   
Ben: Who were your biggest musical influences?                                                                                                                                          
DJ Collage: I've had several influences but I think the biggest are the UK
soundsystem- Soul II Soul and JA djs- Super Cat, Nicodemus & Yellowman.

Ben: What kind of music did you listen to when you were growing up?
DJ Collage: I was exposed to a pretty wide variety of music from an early age. I
grew up listening to British Rock, Soul/R&B and Calypso.
Ben: At which point did you get involved with reggae?
DJ Collage: From a listening point, I listened to reggae since the late
eighties. I didn't start chatting lyrics until 1991.

Ben: When did you get into Dub?
DJ Collage: I actually got into Dub heavy in about 94' in San Francisco. I had started to perform with a dub soundsystem called Stellar Trax. I was also involved with another soundsystem (PSM) and the veteran DJ Nicodemus was also involved. I got into listening to some of his music from the seventies which was all pretty much dub riddims he would chat over. It led to me listening to other artists from that period and I loved the way these guys would toast over the slow, bass-heavy dub riddims.     

Ben: What is the most memorable show you have ever done? Any funny stories?   
DJ Collage: I think one the most memorable shows I've done was in Zurich a couple years ago. I was on tour with the Austrian dub/break beat crew- The Sofa Surfers and when we came off stage for the encore, about a dozen swiss kids rushed up to me with really excited looks on their faces shouting "Big Up!, Big Up!". I couldn't contain myself, so I began shouting it too. Pretty soon the whole club was shouting it! There were about 600 people in there. It was pretty crazy

Ben: Who are some of your favorite current artists, and classic aritsts?
DJ Collage: Some of my favorite artists are: Sean Paul, Elephant Man, Super Cat, Nicodemus, Meat Beat Manifesto & Stereotyp

Ben: How did you get involved with Stand Out Selector and PSM recordings?
DJ Collage: I got involved with SOS & PSM in the early 90's in San Francisco. There was a lot of stuff happening at that time. We met at Miss Pearl's Jam House (forgot what it's called now) and we vibed and
started working almost immediately. We record the 7" single "Unity" which also had the vocalists Wookie J (a member of PSM from the start) and Raskidus. It turned out to be the only song we recorded together. But hopefully some future works will manifest.

Ben: Anything else you would like to add?
DJ Collage: Just wanna say big up the the Bay area reggae posse, Corbert & Club Dread posse, PSM & Selector Bamboo. And hold tite for the new DJ Collage collaborations with Meat Beat Manifesto, 60 Channels & DJ/Rupture....

Ben Turconi