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STIX
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Stix Dan = SD Singer and MC Stix Dan was born in England to Jamaican parents but spent much of his childhood going backwards and forwards between the two countries. A very friendly, positive and inspiring man, he recently received an award for his work with the talented young group Opportunity as part of a community project in Manchester. Stix has one album - 'Traveling Man' on his own Balance Vibes label and at the end of 2003 he shared the bill at Manchester's Band On the Wall with Dubdadda, an associate of UB40 / Zion Train. SD: I am Stix Dan, born Samuel Reid, that's right. I'm a young forty-seven. ND: What was the music like when you were growing up? SD: Well, in the Caribbean it was all about Ska, Downbeat, y'know, Studio One, Treasure Isle, Island Records, Bob and all of them. All of those times, I was between being an English descendant, you know, because my parents was coming and going. When I was young I was around what my dad played outside, being in the institution where I was brought up. So it was a little Jim Reeves and Hank Williams and Nat 'King' Cole and all of them. Then when I move over thirteen, I guess, then I interest in Reggae, can see more solidly. ND: And you went to the same school as Israel Vibration? SD: Yes, I contracted polio. We were brought up in the Mona Rehabilitation Centre, which is something established I think by the Queen's sister, Princess Margaret, who passed away, Princess Alice as well. They establish the hostel there adjacent to the Mona Rehabilitation Centre. Most of us who contracted polio got the opportunity to get rehabilitation; we all went to this one particular place in Jamaica. ND: Do you remember Israel Vibration being there? SD: Of course, we all departed when we were man, but we all grow together. We all went to different schools, some was more progressive than others and right up until I left school and went to place like Cobbler Youth Camp because I was not brilliant, I was not an essay man so I had to learn practical skill as it is introduced to you in Jamaica. I went to Cobbler and the first interest I learned was woodwork but I came up a certainty for tailoring. I did that for a while. Wiss Dan from Israel Vibration, a close friend of mine, also learned tailoring but at Chesterfield Centre around the same time, and others members of the group, they was involved in other areas of development of their own. When we all graduated from wherever we came from, we automatically was moving together as member of one organisation, Rastafarian organisation, which was that of the Twelve Tribes Of Israel, of which I have been a part since 1977 as a member but I have been around that from I was very young. Our Rehabilitation Centre was in one of those areas where members of Twelve Tribes stayed for a while, a place called Dread Heights. It was at the front of the rehabilitation centre, and so we were highly engaged with various different personalities from this particular body. ND: Was it hard being a member of the Twelve Tribes in those early days? SD: Not in our particular case. In Jamaica, even before many of us sight the faith of Rastafarianism there was a movement in the Caribbean that caught a lot of us. That was Black Power. That petered out after the United States and others got involved in the Caribbean politics, and the local politicians of the different islands, they more or less tried to break us out of it, but a lot of us grew up on the Koran before we started to tune in 'a chapter a day', 3:12. I wasn't a member of any organisation then, it was just a movement in the air, and we all caught it, but I became more physically engaged in organisation through Rasta. Many of us made many friends from different sect of Rasta but growing up in Kingston, the Twelve Tribes Of Israel were what you'd call the more metropolitan type Rastafarian, who were liberated more, and apparently uptown type, intellectual type - but at the end of the day that was not the true trend of it. The true trend of it was that one among us - in this case the founder of the organisation, that of Brother Carrington, also known as the Prophet Gad. He was one of them that teach, he say, "Read the Bible, one chapter a day, with a clear conscience" and straight away with that clear conscience there is no rights, no made-up following tales but factual knowledge. In so doing now, we became more study-minded people. In that region of where I work was around the University Of The West Indies and quite a few other similar uptown institutions, and they were more calmer environments. From there, members from other countries, many International students would come to the Caribbean, including from the Caribbean islands themselves, and from the States, student exchange. Out of that crop of different mix people and all different walks of life, came a remnant from each that to this day are still members of the Rastafarian movement. Whether they are of Twelve continually or not, many of them still engage in the faith of Rasta and the practise of the living and t'ing, like myself. I refuse to deny the divinity of His Majesty and the things that he has taught us, because we learn that as His Majesty is through the line of King Solomon and the Queen Of Sheba, the line of Jesse to this time, has brought us to remembrance of things. He speak of Christ and He tell us that for His part He grew up with the Bible, and He encourage each man if he would seek the truth for them self to read the Bible, and it would be a rallying point for them life. So under that basis now, a lot of us embrace that to this day. I believe that I as an artist, in a global sense, that whatever I put forth should be of edifying substance, especially basing up off the Christianity of what we are exposed to in the West, and with the help of His Majesty. Those who are historians find things like the Kebra Negast and essentially we learn of the lineage of the kings of the earth, through King Solomonic dynasty, the King Solomonic line and his three sons and the establishment of the monarchies of the world, irrespective of pigmentation. We get to learn a lot of things that is really real. It is just a matter of politics get involved with all of this - why can't we just 'One Love', y'know? And that love is universal. ND: Your songs are all very positive - where do you get your inspiration? SD: Well, it is one inspiration in many cases come from life experiences, for starters, and from proving things for yourself, and obviously having mentors before you. I guess I have mentioned a few - some is musically and some of them is prophetically as in the code of the organisation of the Twelve Tribes of Israel, as in man like Bob Marley, as man my mates I grew up with like Israel Vibration, and others before us, like Burning Spear, Bobby Melody and Brigadier Jerry, it's that whole mix! ND: And U-Roy? SD: Of course! He is a teacher of the deejay business. U-Roy, Big Youth. So much of them. Even right now today, you have Capleton, you have Anthony B, you have Buju Banton, you have a lot of them. Some of them we never hear of but they are the inspirers of greater artists. So we have many inspirations. But first and foremost, when I read the Bible for myself, as a member of the Twelve Tribes of Israel I read my Bible a chapter a day, I get a lot of … my main strength come from studying and making oneself approved, and I know that if I mention Christ, is not a Roman thing or a Presbyterian thing or a Baptist. It's a thing for everyone who fully understand that there is a supreme being and that He created and send down His begotten son and He is an example to mankind. He did manifest Himself and give wisdom. ND: 'Travelling Man' - was that your first recording? SD: No. In the early seventies in Jamaica I did two recordings. One of them was off a rhythm that was done by - oh, I forget his name now, it was so long ago, but this rhythm was (sings) "Walking by the river, not far away", and I made something called 'Remington', which is talking about guns. It was something like, "Remember this a Remington, carried in the hands of an insane man. It was made by the hand of a scientist man, distributed by the merchant man, brought to the land by the politician, ready to kill another innocent one. Remember this a Remington". That was not the first one, the second one. The first one I did, I did at Firehouse, with (Crazy) Mad Professor and Tubbys. I never really stay around to know what happened to that song, but I heard it was released. But I never heard it. The only recording I had of it, when I come to England I was crazy enough to give it a friend of a friend to listen to it and I never got the opportunity to get it back. It was all about equality and why should one try to criticise another one in more or less the same situation, so they try and meet along the way. That was the first two recordings I've ever did. And when I was in Jamaica I was involved with one particular group. We rehearse about three years, but we never really went anywhere to perform. We only realised how good we was when we actually dismantled. Then everybody started, "Why didn't you…?", yet when we was together we hardly notice anybody commenting. At the Centre there was a group of other disabled people including one or two of Israel Vibration who was in a band they call them the Hotlickers, they sing this thing, (sings) "Call my name, doo doo wah wah", and the other song they sang, (sings) "Penny for your song". That was originally made by another group in Jamaica and they come out and when they changed it from penny to cents, they sang, "One cent for your song, girl". But that wasn't a song that was released, it was just one of the materials from the Hotlickers Band. Yeah, they had part in the Jamaican Broadcasting t'ing by Rex Nettleford. So I was around music back then. Hotlickers Band, and that was when we were all at the Rehabilitation Centre. I was more or less a supporter than an actual participant, but I was in the middle and they were all my close compadres. So I can give testimony to that environment of music. ND: How did 'Travelling Man' come about then? SD: Well, it's my label and it's my design, everything. Only thing I had started was I was locally attempting to get amongst my organisation. Someone visited us from France and heard this tape and said, "Who is that?", and then I walk in through the doors. They said, "It's him". Then I was invited to France, "Come on, a holiday, and come and take in the show that we do". I went with them and they said, "OK, you can do three songs on the stage". I went up there with the live band, first time. The band was playing like I'm listening to a sound system and there was thousands of people in front of me. It was unbelievable. When I did my first three songs there was an uproar! When they went to take me off the stage, the crowd rushed, they didn't want me to leave, so I was on there for about forty-five minutes! From there on this promoter from France - he's really not a big promoter, he's more a promoter coming from a ghetto environment, where there are more cheap functions by a government sponsor, cultural music, and artists who are willing to support it. So they love the cultural concert through France and in the ghetto and t'ing. I got caught in that environment for about five years, just going and coming. They have Reggae some days and I would fly over and come back. It keep like that until I met a musician from Human Spirit Band, who was then playing with Prince Far I band, Mike from Scotland. He's interested in intricate sounds. When he first met me, he liked my dee-jaying, remind him of Prince Far I, you understand. He say, "Oh, come and do a few little things with us". I said, "All right, I'll go along", and I went along and I met this musician that they employed who used to work with Human Spirit. He is a bass man who's co-producer with me, his name is Thierry, T. Negro. I work with him and we talk. He liked my vibes and then we did a couple of shows together, but they then formed a band of their own called Faya Dub. They decided to make that band an instrumental band, not even no vocalists, but Jerome the promoter convinced them - he persuaded them to let me have a go in their company. The first was perfect because I'm the kind of person that like to have it off the cuff - and if it works, it works! So that's what really happened. As I keep visiting them, I would stay by Thierry's house and he would play me tracks. It was actually in his house that I sat down and sang the first song on the 'Travelling Man' album, which is 'Lonely Woman'. Then from there it just went off. So they help me to produce this album, Faya, T. Negro and his friends contributing. I am now in a very privileged position. I went to France. I proposed a Rasta seminar and it was kept in a university campus ground just outside Paris. I was supposed to do the show with Michael Prophet. He performed but I never, because when it was over I was still talking - all the way through! I'll be releasing some tracks that is semi-acoustic and some that is made acoustically by some other professionals. I just overdub it. There's a lot of things out there to come out for me - three albums possibly. I did a song that I use to open any shows, a song called 'Evil Penetration', and the work that we did with Jono who used to work with Nucleus and who still does from time to time - Dubdadda, otherwise - and we've been building this track and we have just concluded it. It is just in the process of being edited. It's very good and I'm very pleased. In this case it is only fair that both of us make up the original. His track inspired me and I cover the lyrics. He adjusted something, I adjusted something, and it was just like that. Where Nucleus is concerned, I got the opportunity, just like Faya Dub. Originally it was through Jono, and through Jono I met Paul (P.Lush). He introduced me to Nucleus and officially I have performed with them, but I have only partially did a recording with Paul. I did pause on it because he had other things and I had other things to do. I decided to finish up what I am doing with Jono and then when I reach a certain stage I would finish what I have done with Paul, because at the end of the day, Paul is a fan of mine. He is one of the only musicians I've worked with and I've got nothing with, as someone who is producing at his own studio, and he's waving a flag for me, you know. So sometimes, when people are left to the last, it need not necessarily be because of any disrespect, but as you grow you learn in wisdom that the best way to make things work and there's no conflict, is to finish what you start. Then is like a step and you move up and don't have to worry about looking back. So that's my journey at the moment. I'm a late starter in life. I'm a very late starter in life because of my affliction, and my psyche has taken a beating in my younger days because I'm not someone that grew in a family. I grew in an institution where I didn't hear of my family. I was big before I had a close rapport with my parents, but I have glimpses of my life with them. My mother, Mrs Viola Reid, is my biggest fan! SD: I would like to say that I assist with Orthodox Music, which is a Twelve Tribes Of Israel label. Within my organisation I play an active role within the music. ND: Do you have any memories of Bob Marley? SD: Where the Rehabilitation Centre is, it's uptown, and the University of the West Indies' football (soccer) field was at the bottom of the Rehabilitation Centre, so they used to go down there with the House Of Dread and train and play matches and things like that. That's my first encounter with Bob, and I remember he had this silver bug - that's a Volkswagen - and one evening he decide to drop us back because he always see us, we were standing on the sticks. We just love watching him play football. He'd turn up with every dread and man like Chicken Mason, and various others, Skill Cole - one of his names. A lot of them call him Skill Cole, The Maestro. Plus, as a member of the organisation he perform for us as well. I've seen him occasionally and right up to when he pass away. He establish Tuff Gong which is on the opposite side, a few blocks down the road from where Headquarters is on Hope Road, Twelve Tribe Of Israel headquarters. So yes. He wasn't somebody I would go in his house and discuss anything with him or down by the riverside or anything like that but in terms of where sport is concerned or the music fraternity of the organisation, or venues and meetings, you pass him, you nod, he nod back, that kind of thing. ND: Thank you Stix. Anything else you want to say? SD: I just would like to greet the audience who may be interested in knowing what Stix Dan is all about and read up there about the Twelve Tribes Of Israel, and read about the work of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who has revealed himself in the personality of His Imperial Majesty Emperor Haile Selassie, and also grew up through the Orthodox Faith, not writs nor rights but a function of the heart, yet through mystical incorporation of the heart born again. Further we mention the Royal House of David, and send a special greeting to his royal highness, the grandson of His Imperial Majesty, Zere Yacob Asfa Wossen Selassie. ND: Respect to you, Stix SD: And the same to you. Repatriation is a must! To order a copy of the Stix Dan CD, phone 00 44 7 90 98 48 245 (international) - Norman
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