Daddy Teacha

WHO IS DADDY TEACHA An interview by Fat Pigeon (www.fatpigeon.org.uk). *Daddy Teacha* has been a massive contributor to the UK Reggae scene for many years. Over this time he has had releases with Alpha & Omega, OSS Records and Germany's premier Irie Hi-Fi imprint. Aside from his obvious vocal talents, Daddy Teacha is also beginning to draw more and more attention in the production arena, especially with regards to his recent production 'Rally Round' released on OSS records which has been mashing up dances countrywide for the last few months. He has achieved all of this whilst still performing live with tours to Mexico and Poland (A&O) and In support of artists such as Abyssinians, Mad Professor and Sly & Robbie with Cornwall's Toxic Sound System. Teacha also hosts the Reggae Show on Glastonbury Festival's Radio Avalon. *FP:* What inspired you to begin making music? *Teacha:* My father, he was a sax player and I used to sit down with him on Sundays while he practiced. I used to sing him the songs of the day, like, even though I don?t like to admit it, Obla Dee Obla Da. None of the band he was in could read music so I sang the song to my Father, He would learn it the go and teach the rest of the band. *FP:* Who are your biggest influences? *Teacha:* Well if it comes to vocals I have been inspired by a varied group of artists and for varying reasons such as lyrical content, vocal quality, delivery & stage presence. artists are as diverse as Elvis, Ella Fitzgerald, Bob Marley, Nat King Cole, Dennis Brown, Cocoa Tea, Luciano, Dean Martin and vocalists of that stature. For my own content I would have to say Life, Reality and Jah Rastafari *FP:* If you could work with anybody you wanted to, who would you work with? *Teacha:* I would love to work with any professional artist that is willing to work with me. *FP:*Where did you get the name Daddy Teacha? *Teacha:* It was at a time when I first started performing, I had already begun to use the name Daddy Teacha but was usure wether or not to continue using it or to use the name Stoutman, A name I was being called in Jamaica. Anyway, on one of my many returns to Jamaica, after the death of my Grandmother. I was talking to some older people and they told me that my Grandmothers nickname was Teacher because that?s what she apparently used to do. I was also sought out a lot at the time for advice, I used to help teach music technology and was a music industry consultant for New Deal for musicians. I decided to keep the name but kinda reggaefy it by omitting the "er" and replacing it with an "A" - "Teacha". *FP:* A lot of your tracks, "Rise Again" for example are deeply political. If you had the power to change things for the better what do you think you would change? *Teacha:* That's a huge question. I'm a realist. I understand that no matter what happened I alone could never have the power. The power for the kind of changes that need to take place would take a global effort. The majority of changes I would employ would also be employed by the majority of the world's population. One problem as we know it is that the world is run by the minority. Another problem is that for society to run effectively we can never be equal, if we were there would be no lower level, no workers. For instance, they talk about equality in education, but if we were all equal, we would all be self employed or all managers etc, but who would do the manual work? Life dictates that the majority of us have to be kept down. There are many things I would like to change but, I also realize that my time, your time and everyone else's time on earth is for the gathering of knowledge, enhancing our spiritual ad-vancement. Even from suffering we learn. Learning is knowledge. I just weep to see how much some of my brethren and sistren have to suffer to achieve that enlightenment or advance-ment. Remember life is a test. "Many shall be called but few shall be chosen". *FP:*You produce your own rhythms out of your studio (schoolyard) what equipment do you use to create your sound? *Teacha:* Well its only recently that I have been able to acquire any decent amount of equip-ment, and that is mostly utilizing computer technology. I'm using sequencers at the moment. A Behringer Midi Mixer, SM38 mic, and various plugins. *FP:* You recently went out to Jamaica; can you tell us what that was about? *Teacha:* My Brothers and I never grew up together. My eldest brother is also a musician and Reggae producer; he has a studio in Old Harbour Bay, Jamaica. As the two of us never really got to develop a relationship there were difficulties in understanding each other. I needed to go to Jamaica to see if there was a possibility of us working together. Compromise was the or-der of the day and everything went sweetly. We have now firmly established a working rela-tionship, resulting in my recording my first two tracks for his studio. One has just been re-leased in Jamaica (my first yardy release) its on his "Miss Cassy" riddim, which in LP format will also include tracks from Mikey General, Doctor Kabul Bird and Fire Edgerton and others. *FP:* Where can the people reading this get hold of your releases? *Teacha:* If they contact me through my website at www.teacha.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk .. or direct email at teacha@blueyonder.co.uk *FP:* What messages do you like to put across in your music? *Teacha:* Reality, honesty, emotion and whatever powers Jah Rastafari courses through this humble medium. *FP:* Can we expect to hear you voicing any more Alpha & Omega tracks in the future? *Teacha:* Undoubtedly. In fact I?m off to Mexico City For a gig with them on the 17th of March 2006. The tour which is an Alpha & Omega plus guests gig will include: Christine (Alpha & Omega), Russ D (Disciples) and Jonah Dan. *FP: *Are there anymore Daddy Teacha releases in the pipeline? *Teacha: *Two releases are about to hit the street. They will be released by Operation Sound Systems label (OSS) and are entitled "War & Crime" and "Times Are Getting Harder". They are currently holding a poll on their website to ask which should be released first. Their website is: www.operationsoundsystem.co.uk .. FP:* You have been voicing on Toxic Sound System for a number of years now. Do you think that with the current events which both Toxic and yourself have been involved in i.e. Abyssin-ians, Mad Professor, Sly and Robbie etc you are generating more of an interest in Reggae & Dub within Cornwall; if so what effect do you think this might have? *Teacha:* From the first time I traveled to Cornwall I knew that Reggae Had a following down there. Attendances at Toxic Promotions have endorsed that. People who are only recently in-troduced to Reggae & Dub in Cornwall have had an excellent introduction to the loving, con-scious vibes that generate at these gigs. Cornwall is fortunate in having someone promote the music down there, and to have top artists visit the area and perform. The Reggae/Dub scene in Falmouth in particular is the strongest South-West of Bristol and can only gain momentum and new admirers/fans and interest. *FP:* You recently played in Mexico with Alpha & Omega what?s the dub/reggae scene like out there? *Teacha:* I was surprised at how strong it is. In fact I was surprised to find out that its is strong throughout the South Americas, but then it would surprise many people to know where Reggae music is being followed and produced around the world, and the quality. Each contry has its own style which is even more interesting. We had a packed house of over a thousand. They are very professional promoters and give the highest raspek. *FP:* What's the one tune you wish you'd written? *Teacha:* Covet not thy neighbors. I admire many tunes form many artists but have never wished I'd write them written them. Hopefully my own tunes will stand up in their own rights. In the minds of the Reggae fans out there. *FP:* Are you playing live this year, if so where can people go and see you? *Teacha:* Updates to gigs will be posted on my site as and when they are arranged. The prob-lem is that I often get called away to do gigs a foreign, so my diary is very fluid. *FP: *Obviously you've been working on Radio Avalon for 11 years now how did you get the job. *Teacha:* I had worked/helped set up an RSL in Plymouth. One of the co-producers of the pro-ject had worked for Avalon for a year and he introduced me the next. They gave me one show, liked what they heard and made me a regular feature. Its been a privilege and a wonderful ex-perience. *FP:* Listening to live web-stream of Radio Avalon at last years Glastonbury it wasn't hard to notice that your play list is seriously heavyweight. What are the things you listen for when se-lecting a play list for the show? *Teacha:* Vibes, plain and simple. I know what I like to promote to listeners in style and con-tent. *FP:* What?s the future for Daddy Teacha? The answer to that is in the hands of Jah Rastafari and I will go wherever Jah Guides InI. *FP: *Anything you'd like to add? *Teacha: *Apart from the info on my website, It would be nice to let people know that I also do a sepa-rate commercial Dancehall and Lovers Show and that even though I cant read or write music or play an instrument, that I create, engineer and produce all my own tracks. And for the world to deal with peace and love.........PLEASE. *RASPEK*