Soulmaker salute

On Saturday 2 May, foundation Australian sound Soulmaker will keep a 35 year celebration dance in St Peters with JJ Roberts and the whole crew. Come salute the pioneer!

In anticipation, here is an interview by Sir Robbo from a fanzine we published in the 90s called Head Shots.

Soulmaker are Sydney’s longest running sound system. Founded and operated by J.J. Roberts and fronted by the lyrical talent of Jonno and the highly respected M.C. Danny Ranking (both are J.J.‘s sons by the way), Soulmaker is a family affair that’s been providing Sydney with heavyweight reggae sounds since 1972. I caught up with J.J. as he was busy preparing for Soulmaker’s summer project ‘Cultural Yard’ and asked him a few questions.

S.R.: Tell us a bit about your background, J.J.

J.J: Well,I was born and raised in Jamaica, a place called St. Catherines. I moved to England in 1960 and came to Australia in 1972. I was always into music, during my youth the stuff we heard was mainly merengue and calypso, then ska and bluebeat, I used to follow people like Derrick Morgan, Owen Gray, they were the people you’d go and check on a Saturday night, from there I really started to follow sound systems.

S.R.: Who was your favourite sound?

J.J: Sir Coxsone was the sound of my time, but I’ve seen some of the greats.

S.R.: How did you get Soulmaker together?

J.J: I arrived here in ’72, I brought a lot of records with me but at first I didn’t have anything to play them on, eventually I managed to get some turntables, a microphone and some speaker boxes together, I got someone to build a valve amp for me, he thought I was a mad man for wanting 300 watts!

From there I started to get a few bookings, but that image of somebody playing records on two turntables as entertainment hadn’t been seen here at that time, it was a strange act! To convince, say, a publican that people would want to listen to someone playing records was very hard plus the music, reggae, people didn’t understand what they were singing about, this was another hard thing.

While J.J continued to push reggae throughout the 70’s, he also began to fuse other styles into the Soulmaker mix, a tradition that continues today with their incorporation of hip hop and r’n‘b influences.

J.J: I’d play soul, funk, pop, rock, disco, punk, Greek music, whatever would get the people dancing, no one else was playing reggae at the time as far as I know, there was no interest in it, after a few years some bands started up – Un Tabu, King Cobra, Dread. The music started to grow here after a while, a few sound systems, some DJs, people began to take an interest in the music, but there’s always been these (cultural) barriers that have stopped good things from flowing. But I think reggae should have a good future here, barriers are breaking down, more people are coming through pushing it, I really believe that what we need is more togetherness from the people playing the music. I believe in the power of reggae music, I’ve seen people with no hope in life given the hope to live. I mean I’ve done shows where I’ve seen a paraplegic jump up out of his wheelchair and dance to Soulmaker, my eyes behold those things, it gives me joy!

S.R.: What are your feelings on drum’n‘bass?

J.J: I’ve seen a lot of pirating happen in the music, even the spiritual side of things, the part that’s dangerous is that it can be changed and put into another category, sounding like one thing but meaning something else, that is dangerous. But of course it can be positive, the drum and bass are the foundation of reggae, I see it as an extension, as growth, it can bring people’s interest to the roots of the thing.

S.R.: What’s the future hold for Soulmaker?

J.J: Well right now Jonno is trying hard to create something original, he’s got a talent y’know, Danny’s got a few things together, hopefully in a few months we’ll be able to put a CD or a tape together, just to let people hear us, that’s what Soulmaker is about, to create and do something with the music.

Even if we reach the stage where I haven’t the strength to carry a speaker box I know there will be someone there to do it. This is no fad, it’s reality.

I might not be here in 50 years but I guarantee that Soulmaker will be.

5 Crucial Soulmaker Selections

Babylon – Admiral Tibet (Record Factory)
Don’t Kill – Uton Green (Stone Love Music)
Rudeboys – Lukie D (Volcano)
Buffalo Soldier Talk – Bitter Roots (Pyramid International)
I’ll Be Ready – Yogie (Fi Wi Music)

interview by Sir Robbo, 1996