Brother Culture interviewed by Jakob Levi on the 26:th November 2005, Uppsala, Sweden.

Brother Culture is one of the few original UK deejays from the eighties still around rocking the mic with his mixture of easy singing and fast chatting. His skills and talent on the mic has brought him to many parts of the world where he's left his mark on either recordings or in the memories of people who he's entertained while passing through.

Guidelight Movement: Alright. Greetings Brother Culture. Could you introduce yourself for those who don't know you and your music ?

Brother Culture: Yeah, greetings. This is Brother Culture. One of the original MC's from in the eighties out of Brixton. I started chatting on Jah Revelation Sound, a Twelve Tribe sound, twenty three years ago and Im still doing it now. So greetings Sweden.

GLM: Do you mean you're still with Jah Revelation Sound ?

BC: No no no. I stopped deejaying on Jah Revelation from 1992. Currently I work with Trojan Sound System, Manasseh, Adrian Sherwood, Dreadzone and a number of others. Meditative Sounds and sounds in Germany, Italy, France. All over really.

GLM: How did it develop from deejaying on Jah Revelation in Brixton to meeting up with other people and...

BC: Well, the only differences is that in those days I was allied to a organization as such. It was a rasta organization called Twelve Tribes of Israel and Jah Revelation was the official sound of Twelve Tribes of Israel, in Brixton London. Really, you know, there's extension. People move on and I moved on but I still MC because I've been MC:ing since I was sixteen.

GLM: I heard you worked with a Jamaican sound called Black Star.

BC: Yeah, I worked with Black Star in 1985. I went to Jamaica as part of some representatives of Twelve Tribes of Israel for a dance called "The Khaki Dance" which was kept at the Twelve Tribe HQ in Hope Road in Jamaica. Those deejaying was myself, Brigadier (Jerry) and deejays from all over the world representing their respective country in Twelve Tribe. So from America, the Caribbean and Europe. Not Sweden at that point but there were some brethren and sistren in Sweden in the early days. Howard Gad and a few brethren and sistren, I remember, came out here as kind of pioneers in the early eighties and stuff. Probably some of them are still around. Hopefully I'll see some of them tonight.

GLM: You also went over to the U.S and worked with African Love sound system.

BC: Yeah, I lived in America for a few years. I MC:d with my friend Shinehead on African Love.

GLM: About what time was this ?

BC: That was about 1986-87. I recorded an album there with a guy called Bullwackie, Wackies Studio. Self produced album. Never released though but it might come out shortly when I get some other stuff out.

GLM: After your time in the U.S you went back to England again...

BC: Yeah, I reached back to England in 1992 and started deejaying at Dubclub in Tufnell Park with Nicky Culture who's Jah Shaka's manager. And found a new audience for the kind of MC:ing that I do. It just kind of progressed from there really. For the last five years I've been working with (Nick) Manasseh. We've been travelling all over the world.

GLM: Have you been recording anything with him as well ?

BC: Yeah, I got a new album coming out. It should come out on a French label called Hammarbass. A Paris based dub label. It's gonna be called "Manasseh meets Brother Culture" and it will be coming out in the spring. It will be a few singles released as well, on the Roots Garden label. I've been recording recently with Twilight Circus. I've been doing lots of tunes with Ryan Moore, with me, Michael Rose and Ranking Joe. I had some releases in Austria this year as well with the Vienna Dub Club crew. I'm just recording everywhere I go really. It's the best way to leave a legacy.

GLM: True. You linked up with Adrian Sherwood and On U Sound earlier on as well...

BC: The first professional record I ever made was in 1996 and it was on On U Sound, Adrian Sherwood studio, with a Jamaican artist called Little Roy on a tune called "Frankenstein". So my association with Adrian comes back from there and then I met up with him a few years ago when we were both appearing at a place called Plastic People in London. They were having like a dub month promotion. And I've been working this year on his live sets with him. I been to Italy four times. I was in Italy last saturday with On U Sound and Zion Train. I've been recording tracks for his new album plus I've been recording tracks for a Japanese group called Audio Active, that Adrian deals with. You know, to get some exposure in Japan.

GLM: So your first release was "Frankenstein"...

BC: On On U Sound, with Little Roy and Brother Culture.

GLM: And after that ?

BC: After that...I can't really remember but most noteble after that was the stuff I started doing with Mungo's HIFI which was about four years ago. A tune called "Wickedness" and a tune called "Ing" and an album called "Mungo's HIFI meets Brother Culture" which sort of got me going on the European circuit. It's quite popular in Europe. Released by Dubhead.

GLM: How did those works come about ?

BC: I went to Scotland with Manasseh and we played in Glasgow and Edinbra. And the guys in Mungo's HIFI introduced themselfs to me after the dance and said they liked to do some stuff with me. So I went up and spent a few days in Scotland and voiced the album for them.

GLM: In a few days ?

BC: Well, two days actually. I was much younger then, you know. I licked them out quicker. Ha ha.

GLM: You mentioned works with Twillight Circus Dub Sound System as well ?

BC: I'm currently working with Twilight Circus, with Ryan Moore. I started working with him about a year and a half ago and I've done an album called "Foundation Rockers" which is me, Big Youth, Luciano, Michael Rose, Ranking Joe and some other artists like Vin Gordon. And off of that album we had some Manasseh remixes of the Michael Rose track "No Burial" which is myself and Michael Rose doing the vocals. The "Foundation Rockers" track also came out as a Disciples remix on 10:inch which is quite popular and he had a couple of other releases with me and Michael Rose. And like I just said I''ve just finished recording a couple of tracks last week for a new project that he's working on. He's a great guy. He's a fantastic guy.

GLM: Your vocal delivery is quite old school comparing to the newer talents. So how do you feel about representing the old school dancehall vibe in this days ?

BC: I don't know really, because I wouldn't really describe my style as old school as such. You know what I mean. I'm a eighties London MC. I'm sort of one of the last examples of one actually because there aren't many of us left. It's me, Tippa Irie and a few. But I wouldn't say I'm old school because I write lyrics all the time and I always come with fresh material. Brother Culture never repeats himself too much. Sometimes I do the old lyrics but recently I've only been doing lyrics that was written in the past three to four years to be honest. And some of my styles are, I'd say, futuristic other than old school. Because I don't really like looking back. I like looking forward.

GLM: Ok. I reckon you're a Rasta, so at what part of your life did you adopt to the Rasta philosophy ?

BC: Well, I joined Twelve Tribes when I was sixteen.

GLM: When was this ?

BC: In 1982 I joined Twelve Tribes and I followed the teachings and lifestyle of a Twelve Tribe member up till about 1992. Then after coming back from America I saw things in a different way and moved on from that. I actually wouldn't really describe myself as anything nowadays. Because I get as much peace and pleasure out of studying Krishna philosophy as I do with Buddhism. I see Rastafari as another path of enlightment. One of many. But I don't following any exclusive. I look for the inner light. I'm not really into the God following and the God worshiping. I look for more the inner light and what I can see as the truth. I might not know everything. No one is perfect. You know what I mean? That's more important to me than preaching Rastafari to anyone.

GLM: What about future works and future plans ?

BC: Well, as long as I'm here, I'm forty now. Forty years old. So my life is basically fixed. So I pretty much know I'll still be MC:ing when I'm sixty. So I'm just doing like most artists I'm searching all the while for that hit tune or that hit hook or something, you know, that can give a little more money so we can be a bit more free. So we can develop on some more independent projects. Because at the moment I always work with other people but I got some aspirations to do my own stuff. Exclusively. And that takes money so you have to sort of look for a hit in the meantime. How sort of calculus it sounds that's the truth of the matter. Ha ha.

GLM: Alright. Good luck then in finding that hit tune and thank you very much for your time.

BC: Give thanks.

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