Firehouse story
Sista Itations put together this interview for ozreggae.com but it was never published. Ahead of the birthday bash, we reprint it online. No man is an island – thank you to everyone who is part of this… forward!
OzReggae.com: Tell us bit about the early years and how Fire House has evolved.
L-Static: Fire House in the beginning was Marko, L-Static and Nardo.
Nardo: Going back to go forward, Mark was an instigator of the legendary Massive Reggae dances from the mid-80s – a whole next story! – with Prince Andrew and Brent Clough, as well as presenting The Pounding System with Clay Caplice on 2MBS-FM. L-Static had got into reggae through the skinhead / rude boy movement of the late 80s Two Tone British ska revival and published the Feel Like Jumping fanzine. He put on parties called ‘The Hop’ at the Agincourt Hotel from the age of seventeen, playing soul, ska, reggae and Two Tone.
L-Static: When I came back from Jamaica in early 1992, Prince Andrew (later selector for Nasty Tek) brought Mark to my house to buy records I’d brought back from yard. I realised we had similar tastes in all kinds of music and decided to set up a dance at the Agincourt Hotel in 1994. It was called ‘Thousand Tons of Version’ and – although Mark piked on me and never came and played – the music that night represented what I wanted to do reggae-wise.
Nardo: I met Mark when I was working at Central Station Records. At the time I was doing a collective DJ thing called All Funked Up with Trevor Parkee, Andrew ‘The Continental’ and Simon Caldwell. We played jazz music, latin music, house music, soul and funk, disco, hip hop, even some reggae – we had a lot of different interests. It was at a time when a lot of music was being rediscovered and there was a lot of good new music that drew on that. We did many parties over the years, but right from formative days at the Bentley Bar we always kept a weekly thing in a pub as we all liked to drink and listen to music. We had a good manager at the Cricketer’s Arms in 1995-96, the place was always busy, and I asked Mark to come in on a regular basis…
And so “Fire Corner” assembled, a Friday night reggae session in the upstairs room of this corner pub in Surry Hills. Playing records were Mark and L-Static alongside guests like Garnett, Steve, Willo I and Nardo. An indication of the vibe comes from a flyer of that period that warns “this music goes straight to the head of all easy listeners”.
Come the summer of 1997-98 and L.Static was frequenting a vegetarian yum cha spot in Sydney’s Chinatown. It was located in a big, beautiful, wide-open dancehall-type room with wooden floors and large windows looking down onto Hay and Pitt streets. Marko, L-Static and Nardo came together to put on a dance. After negotiations with the owner, Fire House was born and the first outing under the new name (“Fire House in a Far East style”) was on Saturday 21 February 1998.
Nardo: It was a natural progression as a name – it was now too big to be a Corner – but it was never our intention for it to be the name of the crew. It was the name of the party but due to the popularity of it we became Fire House. By the third dance, they were truly rammed sessions with about 400 people on average. There was nowhere to sit, you had to immerse yourself in the music and the dancefloor heaved.
L-Static: That was a huge influence on reggae in Sydney because it made people realise that there was more to reggae than the Bob Marley megamix nights that were on offer around town. The kind of selections we were playing at those nights were pre-Blood and Fire reissues, so no-one knew the music we were playing which was mostly roots-based music from the 70s as well as smatterings of 80s and 90s dancehall.
21 random Bodhi shots
Johnny Clarke – Poor Marcus (and the flip 21 Dub Salute – King Tubby)
Dennis Brown – Tribulation
Vivian Jackson & the Prophets – Judgement On The Land
Sizzla – Go Round Them
Luciano/Capleton – Jah Kingdom
Jackie Edwards – Invasion
Lloyd Parks – Slaving (plus all the other cuts we had in our collective boxes)
Merciless – Mavis
Bounty Killer – Down In The Ghetto
Nitty Gritty – Mek Them Come
Tony Rebel – Sabbath Meditation
Super Cool (Junior Murvin) – Super Love (and the Bongo Herman version)
I Roy – Prime Minister (and the Lloyd Charmers Touching Tall version)
Prince Buster – Burke’s Law
Yami Bolo – Gun Bag
Carl Meeks – Weh Dem Fa
Dave Bailey – Runnings
Cocoa Tea & Buju – Too Young
King Kong – Paro Dem Paro
Anthony Red Rose – Tempo
Anthony Red Rose and King Kong! – Two Big Bull In A One Pen
Junior Delgado – Fort Augustus
L-Static: At the the first dances Mark had linked Ras Curry and he took the mic. Ras Roni was there too, he’d worked previously with Mark at Massive Reggae dances. These guys helped add the extra spice that was needed to secure Fire House as a true reggae sound system that brought entertaining vibes to the people there. Ras Curry was hard to get off the mic sometimes and the peoople loved the vibes that flowed through him throughout the night as well as Ras Roni’s sweet singing accompaniment. To top it off, some dances we were lucky enough to have Sheriff Lindo dubbing out this sound of reggae that was partial to his mix.
Our crowd was one of the best mixes of people I’ve ever seen, they were truly there for the music. Hippies, cyber kids, trance kids, alternatives, goths, b-boys, hip hop kids, trendy models, inner city kids, Africans and last but not least hardcore music and reggae lovers! Celebrity and musical types like the Beastie Boys passed through and were surprised to see such a heavy session in progress.
from top: Ras Curry, Mat Ottignon, L.Static, Ras Ronnie, Ras Curry & Sheriff Lindo on Firehouse sound
Nardo: The last dance at Bodhi in late ‘99 was unforgettable for everyone that was there. 500-plus people, packed tight, you had to hold your space! The door staff couldn’t let more people in from early and some took to scaling the awning, negotiating the live tram cabling to enter through the windows.
About the same time we supported Burning Spear and Earl 16, and L-Static and Joe 90 – he was the promoter of Vibes On A Summer Day – did the first Lee Perry tour together. Fire House also played at other musical festivals like Vibes and Big Day Out and Static even flew around the country as support tour DJ for Rancid.
L-Static: After Bodhi, we found it hard to secure another venue that was anywhere near what Bodhi was. Bodhi was how I imagined – in this country – a dance should look. I knew we couldn’t have it outside like in Jamaica. Pubs weren’t cool and you can’t bring in a sound system. Nightclubs weren’t cool because they had too much vanity – brass and mirrors, etc.
Fire House moved on to the Bondi Pavilion.
L-Static: They were good dances but the only downside was having to close at 2am. Some of them were BYO which ended up quite messy, literally. We flew Mighty Asterix over for one there. He’s a 12 Tribes Rastaman with great mic skills from New Zealand and a well humble lion.
Adrian – the rhythm maestro – also joined Fire House at this time. Adrian had worked for Greensleeves in the UK, gone to dances and bought a lot of records.
About a year later we secured the top floor of the Spanish Club as a viable venue for Fire House and boom, we were back in business again. The dances there were great. We’d started to find our feet again and we kept dances at the Spanish Club til the trendy inner-city electro-clash kids cottoned on to the venue and put on a regular Saturday night that put us out of the mix.
Shortly thereafter the Spanish Club was raided for not having correct licensing for functions and another venue was shut down.
Our next outlet was the Hopetoun Hotel in Surry Hills. Big up Sir Robbo and Frigid for that! We had many good Sunday evenings there with the place packed with dancers. We also did one-off Saturday nights at The Basement, Candy’s Apartment and Suzie Q’s, and ran the back room at Kavi-R’s O-ii-shi hip hop parties.
Nardo: We then found a new home at The Marquee in 2005 where we hosted dances with Sheriff Lindo, Jah Trinity, Ranking Yoni, Jafa Mafia, Rastafari Rhythms, Sabotage, Basslines, Wire MC and Chu Chu, and had Australia’s first international sound clash with Jafa Mafia from New Zealand. Again the venue closed down through landlord pressure. It had a great sound system and was in the inner west, a little bit out of where we were playing before.
L-Static: In 2007 when Luciano came out we had an impromptu sound clash with his DJ, Ricky ‘Serial Killa’ Trooper, which was a good way for Firehouse to cut its teeth in the international clash arena with such a stalwart in the business.
We’d also moved to our current venue Hermanns, a reggae friendly venue where Nasty Tek had previously had a residency. Several dances have run there including a show with Jah Mason and link ups with out of Sydney sounds like Earth Link, Art Official from Wellington and Everliving Spirit from Switzerland. The OZ-NZ connection has been strong in this time too.
It should also be said that OzReggae.com has been a massive success with linking reggae people across this country.
In 2004, Marko stepped away from active duty with the crew but remains sometime guide and agrovator. Currently Fire House selectors are Adrian, L-Static and Nardo.
OzReggae.com: Who has been Firehouse’s biggest influence – if any?
L-Static: Personally for me, from where I stay in Kingston, a huge influence was the local sound system La Benz that Buju Banton frequented and Spragga Benz came through. Also Killamanjaro. And David Rodigan. And the collectors revival scene.
OzReggae.com: I believe L-Static was the first ever Australian sound rep to voice an artist in yard back in the 90’s. Who did he record and what happened with the project?
L-Static: Willo and I were on our first visit to Jamaica in late ’91 and were staying at Bunny Lee’s house for the next 8 weeks. Over that period we formed a friendship with ‘Striker’. We spent most nights ploughing through mastertapes til sun up. We were very young – 18 and 19 – and drank lots of beer and smoked ganja all night, so we had stamina. Of course this was in Striker’s studio in Kgn. 20, and of course there were lots of artists passing through. Like Nardo Ranks, Buju, Glen Ricks, Banana Man, Burt Lancaster, Derrick Irie, Roland Burrell, Lady Mackerel, Queen Paula, Winston Wright, Max Romeo, Hortense Ellis and upon my request Jackie Bernard of The Kingstonians who was one of my favourite singers at the time!
Striker suggested we make some tunes for fun and he’d give us the riddims. After a few deliberations we decided to make four songs with Max Romeo, Hortense Ellis and an old school d.j. So we checked King Stitt, he went in a way that Striker didn’t check for. U-Roy and I-Roy weren’t on the island. So after a while we decided to totally flip it and use our pal Burt Lancaster and a small time d.j.to add the vibes.
So, we knew we wanted to redo Wet Dream, do a female version of Slim Smith’s Everybody Needs Love and get Maxie to do something on Dave Barker’s Shocks Of Mighty riddim. Well after chatting with Maxie and Hortense we had three songs, but needed another! So I asked Hortense to make a song up for an obscure cut of the Shocks Of Mighty riddim. She came up with the old ska ditty by The Movers to add to The Thing by former J.B.C. announcer Jeff Barnes.
It didn’t cost much at the time. Striker treated us like youth holding vibes! He suggested that we write The Wailers as the musicians because Familyman and Carly Barrett had played the riddims! He wanted us to sell off those tunes! We printed up 500 of each title at Dynamic. Well, they never all made it here! We already had 3000+ 7” oldies to carry back which was our priority. I went back to Jamaica sometime in ’93, Striker wasn’t on the island and I couldn’t locate the tunes we made. I found out later that Maxie took them for himself, which I can’t blame him for as we left them for over a year. When I see him next I’ll get him to do some specials to make that up! Anyway check them out! That postal address on the label is mine and still works!
J&L Carib Incognito
A – Everybody Needs Love – Hortense Ellis
AA – Decon Wife – Max Romeo & The Boss Kids
A – A Wet Scene – Max Romeo, Burt Lancaster
AA – Helena – Hortense Ellis, Max Romeo And The Thing
By the way, we were not the first Australians to make a reggae record in Jamaica with Jamaican artists! General Justice is the first to my knowledge.
And Hortense Ellis, may she rest in peace, she treated us like her own pickney.
OzReggae.com: Firehouse is reputed to have one of Australia’s deepest dub box. Can you tell us a bit about who you have worked with/voiced. Any standouts?
L-Static: Fire House since 2001 up until now and tomorrow has cut dubs with all kinds of artists and will continue to do so. Come check a Fire House dance to hear what kind of specials are in our box. All kinds! From rocksteady to now – no styles can get away.
OzReggae.com: What about Fire On The Wire? How long has it been running? Who runs it? Is there a particular style you stick on on air?
Nardo: Fire On The Wire is a radio show that plays primarily music from Jamaica. It started out in 1996 on Radio East Sydney then moved to our current station 2SER in 2005. We play more new music now but the program has always touched on every era and style.
OzReggae.com: What plans for the future?
Nardo: We’re ready to celebrate 10 years with a birthday bash on April 19 and people can look forward to more musical murder when Firehouse clash Rebel Bass on June 14. We’re currently doing a residency in so-far uncharted waters in Blacktown at the Central Hotel on Sundays from 4pm til late!
L-Static: We look forward to playing all over Australia and all over the world in all capacities – whether it’s clashing, niceing up a dance, juggling, etc!
Because we’re filled with vibes and ambition, the sky is the limit.
