CONE UP
DROP IN
DUB OUT
I-Ganic Sound System holds the longest
running weekly in Western Massachusetts.
Every Wednesday for over five years,
the Pioneer Valley has enjoyed the good
reggae music, the high-grade UK and Jamaican
roots and culture, dub and dancehall,
in Northampton, MA
Wednesdays at the Elevens
Thursdays at Bishop's Lounge
"I started messin' around with DJ-ing when I was 13, 14. My influence at the time was hip hop--that's what got me involved. But what I was most interested in was the manipulation of the sound, scratching, and tweakin' the knobs. . .
"A couple of years later, I started listening to reggae and people like Bob Marley , Peter Tosh , Burning Spear , Augustus Pablo. Of course, I discovered Dub: King Tubby, Scientist, later the Mad Professor . My reggae collection continued to grow and I wondered how I could make it interesting and DJ out. That's when I decided to start putting together the effects I'd heard. Y'know, how can I make that sound? That's how the sound system came about. It's really all about the equipment.
"At this point I was starting to hear a lot of the new U.K. dub stuff, like Alpha & Omega , Zion Train , The Disciple, Iration Steppas ... I called my first system "The Dub Connection," with my first gig being like half an hour or something with records skipping and crappy equipment, but it was fun. That was back in '94. A short time later I got to see the Mad Professor live. That experience gave me a lot of ideas about what I could do. I decided I needed to bring the Dub Style to the turntables. That's the beginning of I-Ganic Sound System .
"Since then, I've played in a lot of cool spots, got to throw a Mad Professor concert, had The Disciple come to my weekly and throw down a killer set... Matisyahu came by and took the mic--blew us away. I've opened up for Luciano , Mikey General, the Mad Professor , Acoustic Ijahman Levi and Anthony B... I played a few seven-hour sets in the chill-out rooms of three New York City psychedelic trance parties and a bunch of house parties.
"The weekly ran for nearly three and a half years at the Harp, in North Amherst, Massachusetts. When it was time to push on, I moved the night to the Elevens , a bigger nightclub in downtown Northampton, MA. In the early part of the night, I usually play older stuff, like from the earlier years. I do a couple of styles: roots, dancehall, and dub. I think my favorite to spin would be dancehall, the conscious style, some people call it cultural roots, and heavy dub. By the end of the night, I try to get into current dub usually from the UK."
Hear and download a live set, view more pics, check out past events and more equipment @ www.iganicsoundsystem.com
