Page 20 - Zone Magazine Issue 013

Greetings once again Zone Mag family. Another year done. Crazy how fast time is flying. Make the most of it. I tried to make the most of this last Ragga-Stack for the year 2016. An interview with a Manchester based Reggae/ Dancehall artist from outta Jamaica. Peppery has been on my radar for years after releasing massive tunes on NICE UP and also collaborated with me on our last album ''Special Request'' on the tune ''One By One.'' I'd like to wish everyone a verty happy Xmas and Newyear. I'll be back in 2017 with more Ragga-Stacked goodies, new solo projects and more Podcasts/ Speaking of which. Please don't hesitate to give my new Facebook page a like and also you can check in with the first six episodes of the ''Dirty Dubcast'' here:
https://itunes.apple.com/au/podcast/dirty-dubcast/id1148972908 / https://soundcloud.com/dirtydubsters/sets/podcasts
bazza's ragga stack
Vibes on toppa Vibes
" I usually get riddims sent to me from producers all
around the world. The album was born out of a bit of self- assessment. "
You had a brand new album out just in time for Xmas. What can we expect from the collection that you have titled ''Battlefield'' and how long has it taken to complete this project.
Persons can pre-order the album now on iTunes: http://ambiel.uk/ PepperyBattlefieldAlbum but the release date is actually on the 20th of January, 2017. It’s a reggae based album with a bit of fusion. Various subjects are being discussed including world affairs and of course romance, what is music without love? I work closely with BabyBoom, a producer / artist from London, UK. The plan was to do a solo album with him in 2015. We ended releasing a 6-track EP in July, 2015 and then recorded a few more songs, 2 of which ended up on Battlefield.
Record label: Ambiel are due to release. Has this been a positive help in getting the 10 tracks, mastering, marketing and PR ect. I know an album can be a massive undertaking. Can we expect to hear any collaborations on this one?
The communication is great with Ambiel Music and yes they’ve been very helpful indeed, the album was mastered by Ambiel’s own studio engineer Nat Clarkson. However, I’m not depending solely on the label for marketing and promotion. I’m also pushing it through my own network, calling on my connection of people who I have worked with over the years. There are no collaborations on the album, it’s all about Peppery on this one. It’s a 10-track album so people can basically grade me on a scale of 1 to 10. Bring it on lol.
Do you have a single producer for a project like this or do you get sent riddims from all over? Explain the process of putting the tunes together.
I usually get riddims sent to me from producers all around the world. The album was born out of a bit of self-assessment to be honest. I basically checked what songs I had recorded that were just waiting to be mixed then checked what riddims I had that could fit with the project. At the end of that assessment, I only needed to write 1 track from scratch and re-recorded another. All that was left for me to do was to coordinate and compile the project.
You are a Jamaican living in Manchester. How did you end up moving to the wettest city in the UK? Manchester has a thriving bass music and dance music scene in general but, maybe not necessarily known too much for reggae / dancehall. Are there a lot of gigs/dances/ promoters/producers and vocalists from your scene up there?
I originally lived in Nottingham when I migrated to the UK but I wanted a change after a while. I had a friend who was living in Manchester so I decided to try it out. Apart from the rain, it’s actually a cool place to live with a vibrant music scene and plenty to see. There is a good reggae / dancehall scene here with somewhere to hear this genre every weekend. Manchester is actually a hotspot for when artists from Jamaica are touring the UK.
Any tours / gigs coming up to promote the album that we should know about?
We are taking a step by step approach with the project, people are already enquiring about the album on CDs and vinyl’s but we are at phase 1 at the moment, which is the digital release. A promotional tour is indeed in the making
but it’s early still early. People can keep up to date by following me on Instagram @pepperymusic.
Are there any producers or vocalists or just artists in general that you would love to work with?
There are quite a few producers that I would love to work with. In the dancehall arena, I would love work with Chimney Records, Don Carleon, Seanizzle, Troyton and Christopher Birch. I hear great reggae beats from around the world. I’m in no way belittling any established producers when I say I think it’s more about the effort that goes into marketing & promotion and less about the name of the producer. I think there are a lot of relatively unknown producers out there with great productions. Artists that I would like to collaborate with include: Luciano, Jah Cure, Alaine, Aisha Davis, Charly Black I-Octane, Bugle and Tarrus Riley.
Finally, any shoutouts or anything you want to say to the Zone Magazine readers?
Big up all the Zone Mag readers, rest assured there’s no profanity at all on my new album Battlefield or in any of my songs for that matter. Clean lyrics to the world! I would like to take this opportunity also to big up my comrades Nat Clarkson aka NJC , Gordon Mulrain (Innerheart Band), Cutlavis, Jon Sheppard (Nice Up! Records) Kush Arora, BabyBoom, Kennedy Mensah aka Mr. Prezedent, Karamanti, Pharfar, Damalistik, Major P, Robin (Friendly Fire Band), Fyah Lissi, Earthman, Ganzi, (Classique Sound), Doctor C and Pauline Bygrave. Big shoutout to Bazza Ranks as well, nuff rispek star.
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