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Earned his now familiar moniker when he helped shape the computerized phase of Jamaican music at Jammy's headquarter. He rose to the position of Jammy's chief engineer and right-hand man, and it was at the St. Lucia Road studio that he formed relationships that were to be important to his later career. First with Steely & Clevie, who were building the ground-breaking riddims at that time, and then with a relatively unknown deejay called Shabba Ranks and the more established singer Cocoa Tea. In 1988 Bobby Digital launched his own record label "Digital B". His first releases included Cocoa Tea's "Lonesome Side" and Shabba Ranks' even more popular cut "Peanie Peanie". Bobby Digital is probably best known for his talent for spotting a past riddim that has not been versioned to death, and then giving it a fresh interpretation. Source: DVD Gentleman & Far East Band
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How did you end up in the music field?
When I was growing up first I was like a repair technician who does like fix radios, components and TVs.
Where did you learn those skills?
By an overseas course, correspondence course, so I have the technical skills and knowing about components, and knowing about the whole technician aspect of it.
Were you working in a shop?
My brother has a shop at home and I would get involved in repairs and such like from that, so it was like from then, I was like a technical guy.
Eventually you end up working at Jammy’s.
Eventually I was introduced to Jammys by a friend, because then we were doing our own little sound system here, and a good friend of mine introduced me to Jammys and I was…before that, I used to follow my friend to the Channel One studio to do some pre-production, he usually try to voice some artists, so I was fascinated by how it was done.
Who was that, your friend that brought you to Channel?
Michael Jemison. He usually produce like, we were grown up in Olympic Gardens area, where we got quite a few artists that was not that popular. We was trying to do something for guys around us who say that they could do something, singing, so he took them to the studio, like a group by the name of Black Crucial in them times, and even Half Pint. I think he done one of the first recordings with Half Pint.
You were in with him, learning little bits at the time?
I grasp all that little knowledge that I get from then, and seeing how [engineer] Soljie operates, then he now introduced me to Jammys and from then I basically have the idea, but not really having the experience.
How old were you then?
Around 19.
You were involved in a neighborhood sound system already?
The same friend of mine, his brother and other friends usually have the sound system by the name of Heatwave, but when they gave it up because of working conditions, so they younger folks like myself, a friend of mine by the name of Spragga Roots and Norman Allen…so we say we’re going to get this thing going, and then I took it over, and from then it was like, yeah, it’s a popular sound system.
Your friend introduced you to Jammy’s, then did Jammy take you on?
I started to go down by Jammy’s before he even had his studio, because he usually be working out of Channel One studio to make the riddims at Channel One and then go back to St Lucia Road, and then we have a four track machine, so it was from then.
Did he have an engineer at that time?
He was just doing it on his own. And he always going away abroad and leave, and someone would come and try to do some work and no one would be there, and I was around, since he set up the dub machine equipments, I got fascinated and I just started doing the work, and eventually he said "You, you’re the one who’s going to be in charge of doing these things," and that was really encouraging.
What was the first thing you worked on at Jammy’s?
I can’t remember, it’s not the first time I recorded something, I recorded something for Bunny Lee, doing some background vocals on a song which I think it was Al Campbell and Pat Kelly do some background for a song for Bunny Lee. I can’t recall the exact title of it. That was the first I pushed a button and say "Yes, I’m going to do this."
What about doing the whole works?
Eventually, from the time you sit around and you have the basic ideas of engineering and the technical part of it, then, you know, day by day you experiment and see what do you get just by experimenting, then things should just grow from there from strength to strength, then over the years, you experience what you experience, how you do your stuff.
Soljie was someone you observed at Channel One, and then you were there working with Jammy. How would you say your style of mixing is different from Soljie’s and Jammy’s?
I wouldn’t say it’s different, it’s just like what you learn and observe from the two people who you were amongst at that time, at that tender age, then you try to picture in yourself enhancing, making things sound even a little better than how they would really do it, try to do it your way. So it’s like improving on what they started. It was like that.
What year did you start to work at Jammy’s?
About ’84….Until ’89.
What are some of the things you worked on there that you’re most proud of?
Everything. I worked on all, or most of the hits at King Jammy’s, you can name them, from the "Sleng Teng" era come right up. From that very time until…you can name them, the Nitty Gritty, the Half Pint, the Wayne Smith, Trevor Sparks, Frankie Paul, you just name them and I was there.
"Sleng Teng" is seen as the watershed marking the change from live musicians to computer riddims in Jamaica. What do you remember about that session? How did it come about? How was the riddim created?
It was by a good friend of Jammy’s and ours who grew up in the same community, he and Wayne Smith was like buddies. They have the Casio player that they really do their little rehearsal on, it was like they struck on that beat in the Casio, and it was such a fast beat, so it was all toned down and slowed down, then we tried to put music to it before even going into the studio, so it was history in the making. That was it.
That changed the whole way music was made in Jamaica.
You can say that, that brought a new era of the music, a new digital age where people sort of shift from the live recording, more going to computer, and then when that took place, we have Steelie and Cleavie coming in and linking up, and from then it was like magic.
Why do you think that happened that way at that time? Why did that sound have such an appeal?
I think moving from one generation to the next generation, you find that people are looking out for something new, something different. So at the time, the generation then grab on something new. It’s like that was the beginning of the computer age introducing, so people go for it, and then it was a big change.
In ’89 you break with Jammy’s and go on your own. Why?
Yeah, ’88, ’89. It’s not like "why," it become like I figure that if I can do this work here, I must can do this on my own, because anything I am doing, I am going to do with the best of my ability. I think that there was a time then that family get involved, you got to provide, and you think you can do better by doing your thing and providing, so I think it wasn’t a bad choice, I did what I did and I thank God today.
You didn’t have this studio here then?
No, not really. Before I did that, I actually acquired bits and pieces already, and while I made the move now, then I started off in my bedroom, around there, this same building but in my bedroom.
How many tracks did you have in there?
16 tracks, because I set them up on a little table, try to get something going, because you got to start somewhere. The first time inside there I did quite a few stuff, because I did Shabba Ranks stuff inside there, voice a few. I did all Singing Melody’s stuff, quite a few stuff.
What was the tune that burst for you as an independent producer?
In them time? "Wicked In Bed" and "In Jamaica There’s a Party, Peenie Peenie Pon You", and then "Lonesome Side" by Cocoa Tea, same beat.
You drew something out of Shabba Ranks. What can you tell me about the connection?
Then, it was a magic and the two of us usually collaborate and have the vibe amongst each other. When the two of us really get together in the studio we just know that something big is going to happen. It was just a magic.
What did you like about his style?
His style’s unique, was different from the other guys. How he put his lyrics together, his deliverance, a commanding fellow so, this is someone who’s going to get that respect from the public.
Which musicians were you using mostly then, Steelie and Cleavie?
Steelie and Cleavie, Firehouse Crew, Mafia and Fluxy too, but mainly in them time it’s Steelie and Cleavie and Firehouse Crew.
What characterises Steelie and Cleavie’s sound versus Firehouse Crew, and what appeals to you about both?
In that time, Steelie and Cleavie were more advanced musicians than the upcoming Firehouse Crew, being the younger set of musicians they did not have that experience, so Steelie and Cleavie had experience along the way, coming up, before they went off into their own thing, so they had already grasped certain style and techniques, you know the whole groove of the music, and then the younger set don’t have that experience, so it take a while for other people to really accept them as competent people, but I’ve been using them from day one until this day. They’re well advanced now.
When did you switch from 16 to 24 tracks?
Inna them Bounty Hunter times, that’s around 11 years ago, 12 years ago.
Then you must have had hits quickly.
Hits upon hits. You can say when you make a studio and you’re trying to suit everyone, you need to have equipment that is compatible to other people, ‘cause you need to get the work to do and the people who like to come to your place, you’ve got to put the opportunities in to attract some people.
You’ve got a lot of wood in this studio. Even the mixing board is wood. It reminds me what people said about the old Treasure Isle studio, that the wood gave the sound a lot of warmth.
I really choose the wood because I knew when you have a wood interior, you hardly find sound ringing or any reflection of sound, the sound is more dead, more flat sound. So what you hear is what you get on the tape.
When you were at Jammys and then getting established on your own, the predominate sound in Jamaica was purely digitial, but then a bit later, the music you began to create used a digital base but with live instruments and different things happening in it.
Because you are trying to flavor what you are doing, trying not to give the people one sound. Each thing you do, you try to make it one step ahead of time, so everything don’t sound like the same thing, so you try to introduce a little more live music, feed into the computer drumming. You try to play a live guitar, you try to play a live bass on it, to really give it a warm, make it sound more real, that although it is in the digital age, but you really try to keep that authenticness about the thing.
What are some of the first you did like that?
’96, we try to recreate that, bring that original flavor back in the biz. And we found that a lot of roots music, what the general public abroad really want and accept as the real roots, like Burning Spear, Bob Marley, Culture—they want music that when the people come to perform and do their shows, they really get what they hear on the music. You have some people do something on some music, and when you go on the stage it’s a complete different thing. That is not what you want from that, so we try to do that so we can revive that cultural aspect and that authenticness about the reggae. Dancehall is different from reggae, understand?
Who did you use as live musicians then, and who are you using now?
Now, I use a variety. I use Firehouse Crew, I use Benji Myers, I use all different musicians: Danny Browne, Dalton Browne, it’s just a mixture. That way whenever you do your stuff, people can have a mixture, because each individual have something different with him.
Source: David Katz//www.murderdog.com
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