Neville Staple - There is a need to get these genres of music out to the mainstream again by Revista The 13th

The13th AÑO: 3

NÚMERO 35

UNA R E VISTA IMA GINARIA

[ Interview With Neville Staple by Diego Centurión ]

THERE IS A NEED TO GET THESE GENRES OF MUSIC OUT TO THE MAINSTREAM AGAIN To speak of Neville Staple is to go back in time and jump to the present, since Neville was a fundamental link of that band venerated by many, call The Specials, but being a restless musician realized many works under different names. His present marks us that he has returned with a new album "Return of Judge Roughneck". Before starting, I want to thank you for this time you’ve given us so that we can ask about your new album and career.

few gems from my past. It also includes a bonus dub album. I always had fun performing as Judge Roughneck back in the early days, with the song ‘Stupid Marriage’, so it made sense to bring him back too in the lead song, which is also my personal tribute to Prince Buster, even before he sadly passed away. I wanted to pay homage to his music and influence too, so I adapted a version of ‘Alcapone’. There is also some 2Tone vibes throughout many songs.

Considering your solo career, we can say that your first album or mini album was "Skanktastic" in 1998, an album of cover versions. Why haven’t you recorded more albums as a soloist? I have recorded and re-recorded various other solo and joint projects over the years, but those albums were named as The Specials, because I had 3-4 of the original members of the band with me on the albums. These albums included: The Best of The Specials & Fun Boy Three, Skinhead Girl, Ghost Town Live, Conquering Ruler, King of King (with Desmond Dekker). Then other soundtrack songs for movies, adverts, Vans Clothing and with various US artists, as myself. Finally, I did The Rude Boy Returns, Ska Crazy and now Return of Judge Roughneck albums as just Neville Staple.

You've had guest musicians on this album, including your wife. Can you tell us something about all of them? My wife, Christine Sugary Staple, performs with me and also manages me and my band. We do a lot of work in the studio together including on this album. She is the most original rude girl I know. We will follow up this album with a joint album of us both performing alongside guests like Roddy Radiation (ex-The Specials). Jesse Green features on Return of Judge Roughneck with her amazing strings. She has played with bands such as the Jayhawks and the Foofighters. Ed Rome is a studio master and I have worked with him many times before.

Fast forward to 2017. You’ve just released your new album "Return of Judge Roughneck". Can you tell us about this? The new album has new re-workings of classic Jamaican cuts, some brand new material and a

A few years ago you released a new album via Cleopatra Records and now this one. How do you feel about being signed to that label? Cleopatra are great guys and I have known them from the mid 1990’s when I lived out in the US and was touring up and down the country, whilst living in Long Beach. So, I guess for me it was about stic-

king with who you know and trust, as I have been stung a lot over the years. My wife helped with everything from getting the right photos done by one of the brilliant original 2Tone photographers, John Coles, to getting a video into production, helping create the iconic record sleeve, looking at registrations and lots more stuff. These guys are great for letting you have some freedom to create the ideas with them. Not all labels are so inclusive. They also appreciate that we may know what our fans want in lots of different ways. The record market has opened up thanks to the Internet and new platforms. How are you adapting to the new technologies? For a while I thought new technology such as the internet was pretty much killing the business side of things for artists to be honest. It’s so much harder now to earn a living from real music unless you are part of a huge industry; and even harder to get signed. Everyone knows easy ways to download music for free or stream music for very cheap subscriptions. When people get music via downloads or streaming, most of the already small fee they pay goes to the streaming company and the big business bosses, with very little going to the actual artists. Being out on the road doing live stuff is still the best way to sell your music and talent, unless you have already made your name. I am grateful that I made my name long before all the new systems came out. For new bands, they will need to have a big online presence. On the positive side, there are more opportunities now to do things independently directly to your fans, without the need to rely on labels. So having a good online presence on social media, on YouTube with good videos and with lots of touring, is a must today.

How do you see ska and reggae these days? There has been a lot of changes within each decade and depending on the country you’re in. There’s been what I call the speed-ska, which was very prominent in the US during my 8 years of living and touring there in the mid 1990’s, then the Euro-ska used to have a very pop feel to it. Over in the Far East parts of the World we used to have to play it

live in a very 2Tone way. Nowadays its all about the 2Tone Ska plus the authentic sounding traditional Jamaican ska and reggae. These are more embraced now in the UK, just like in the late 60’s and early 70’s. I do feel that there is a need to get these genres of music out to the mainstream again, as there is no really big International recognition to this most iconic of music.

Argentina is a country that has many reggae bands. Do you know of any? Yes. My wife watches videos of Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and I have received videos and messages from Garufas and others. It’s great to see the Argentinians keeping ska and reggae alive and kicking. You'll be touring around the UK over these next few months. What plans do you have after that tour? I recently toured Australia and I tour the UK and Europe regularly, so will do more of that this year, plus in May 2017 I will be in the US touring, then later in August, I will do some shows in Hong Kong. Latin America is usually very receptive to reggae and dub – have you thought about visiting us this year? I would love to come and do some shows over there. My wife loves Latin America culture. We have a lot of Argentina ska fans who communicate with us and keep asking us when we will come over, so if any good promoters would like to get in touch, they can link up with me via www.originalrudeboy.co.uk Your birthday is approaching, and a gift is always expected. What gift are you still waiting for but never received to date? A trip to Argentina!! Hehe! Thank you for the time you’ve spent with us.

The13th U NA R EVISTA IMA GINA RIA