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Caroline
"RHYTHM QUEEN" Williams |
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Caroline Williams
= CW ND: Caroline, what is the background to the ‘Elementary’ set? CW: Emm… it’s a long time ago (laughs). We - Horace and I - we first did a single, which was ‘Elementary’ and the other side was called ‘Primary’, which was an instrumental version, and from that we did an album with Rough Trade. Recording, we had Aswad drum and bass, they came in and did that and I did the keyboards and stuff because Horace couldn’t handle that. ND: It’s got that very early digital sound… CW: Yeah, it’s supposed to be one of the very first digital things. It was new to me as well. We did ‘Elementary’ with a guy called Ray Cheddie who was at Wackies at the time, but actually Rough Trade picked it up and put it out. ND: You also worked on the ‘Horace Andy Sings Bob Marley’ album, didn’t you? CW: Yes. We did that in America. We recorded it with Wackies, Bullwackies, yeah. We did it in his studio. ND: How did you get started in music? CW: In music? I started playing the piano, you know. In school, I was always stabbing away at the piano and it was classical piano, which I wasn’t really interested in but the training was really good. It was excellent training. From there I decided to write my own stuff and then I started off with a band called ‘Night Doctor’. It was a mixed band, we did covers, ska, big horn section and everything, and it was really good. From there I went on to Matumbi and that’s where I met Horace. I’ve been lucky really; everything has just sort of fallen into place as I’ve been going along. ND: I believe you worked with Bob Andy too - can you tell me about that? CW: Yeah. I got a call for a session and I went in and put some keyboards down on a track - Janis (Punford), she rang me and we got involved in a video as well for that track, and my little one as well. So yeah, that was good actually, I put that on my CV. ND: How did you get involved with Sista? CW: Through working with Akabu. Nicky got the project together, did the co-ordination. It’s something that I think we had all thought about, but it took someone to come in and say, “Come on, let’s get this together”, and everybody met up and it just came together. ND: You also worked with Mystic Red Corporation - who are they? CW: Mystic Red? That’s Ray Cheddie, he done that. He’s a good friend. Ray helped us to do the ‘Elementary’ single, we worked with him on that. I’ve done some recording with him and he’s a good friend. ND: You have been involved in quite a lot of different areas of music, haven’t you? CW: Yes. I’ve got a studio, the Basement; I’ve got a label, The Spiral Path that I put out some stuff on, my own stuff - so far. I’m hoping to produce other singers, other artists. I basically just started it through getting the studio together in my house, I got a desk and then I got all the bits together. I started making music and then I decided to put some stuff out myself, so I recorded. ND: Why Spiral Path? CW: Well, just thinking of names, and as you go on, all these words come along, and then we are all on a sort of spiral path going up and going down and round and stuff. It just seemed to be the right name for it. ND: What’s happening with Sista at the moment (2004)? CW: Sista - at the moment we’re recording. We’re doing an album. We’re finishing off recording and we’ve got a night coming up with David Rodigan in London, Sista and Friends. That’s going to be quite exciting. Yeah, we’re still together. We’re still there. ND: Would you say it is more difficult for a woman in the Reggae business? CW: It can be. Singers, they have their own path, but as an instrumentalist, especially as a group - speaking of working with Akabu in the beginning as an all female group, I’d say we weren’t looked-down upon but we had to go out and prove ourselves. Many times we felt there was an attitude before we went out on stage and it would be different after we’d done our thing. There’d be a bit more respect there but you do have to prove yourself. ND: What are your future plans? CW: Future plans? To keep playing. I’m still teaching. I’ve just got a teaching qualification and I’m also studying, doing a degree in Education. I took a Sista video to school and played it, and they were mesmerised, as they would be at that age So, yeah, I plan to carry on playing, to carry on teaching, to carry on studying. ND: OK. That’s great. Thank you CW: Thank you. - Norman Darwen |
