It could be a bitterly cold, grey winter's afternoon on Brixton's Coldharbour Lane, a Sultry Jamaican evening at the Half Way Tree home of Legendary Guitarist Earl "Chinna" Smith, or a humid night out on the Gully Bank in Western Kingston's Waterhouse Garrison community, and you'll still find his stance unbending and his attitude reassuringly uncompromising.
David Scorpion has strong opinions on the state of the music industry and on life in general. "If they won’t invite us in through the front door, we’ll kick down the door, knock the walls down and demolish a city block, musically speaking", he says. "We are fighting spiritual iniquity in high and low places, musically. Right now we are fighting the system the best way we can, trying to educate the people to open their eyes to what’s going on around them." Indeed, Bob Marley sang "The truth is an offence" and this is one musical rebel with a cause, who is not afraid to speak the truth.
This Revolutionary producer like many before him in the Reggae world started out in the Dancehall. He was the owner of the highly rated Scorpion Sound system, based in Brixton, South London. This meant he made regular trips back to Jamaica where in Kingston's Dub Studio's he voiced many of Jamaica's top artists as well as many up and coming talents. Whilst working at Ocho Rios based Kariang Studio he met for the first time visionary Rastafarian singer Doniki.
"I knew the songs the Ras had sung with Steady Ranks for Bobbo (Star Trail) so I got him to come to Grove Studio in Ocho Rios to voice some specials". Scorpion, who was there mixing some songs with Grammy Engineer Barry O’Hare, was immediately impressed by Doniki's talent. Although Scorpion had no plans, at that time to record the singer, the two Rastafarian kindred spirits forged a lasting friendship.
On his ever more frequent trips back to the island, Scorpion became a regular face at Doniki's Waterhouse residence and the two could often be found hanging out at Tuff Gong's Kingston headquarters on Marcus Garvey Drive. These times were not spent idly, in fact it was here that the singer introduced, his soon to be Producer, to many of the musicians who would later become the backbone of the Gully Bank Allstars. "The key was when I met Rolly", referring to Tuff Gong’s chief Engineer Roland Mc Dermott, "he's someone who my spirit took to straight away and I knew he rated the singer too."
So, with Roland on board and the right session musicians in place, Scorpion and Doniki were now ready to begin working together. "Tuff Gong was always where we were going to record," says Scorpion "its live room has a legendary sound and vibe and we knew it's the best place to record a live band in Jamaica." The first session went off without a hitch, recording a song penned by the fledgling Producer. For the Producer and singer it was the start of a journey that eventually led to them having two albums ready for release.
Along the way Scorpion assembled a cohesive team who have helped to create a distinctive sound with high production values. Roland Mc Dermott has been the Recording Engineer throughout, assisted by Gregory Morris, Carlos Allwood, O’Neil Smith and Michael Howell. Shane C Brown has taken care of all the mixing duties, at Shaggy's Big Yard Studio, and this former Tuff Gong Chief Engineer, has been able to add subtle shades of colour to an already rich sonic palette.
The Gully Bank Allstars is now the collective name given to the musicians working with Scorpion. They include some of the heavyweights of the Jamaican music scene including Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, Earl "Chinna" Smith, Robbie Lyn, Wilburn "Squidly" Cole, Chris Meredith, Earl "Bagga" Walker, Lowell "Sly" Dunbar, Uzziah "Sticky" Thompson, "Bongo Herman" Davis, Donald "Danny Bassie" Dennis, Ian "Beezy" Coleman and Dave Madden. Coupling these veterans with the cream of the younger generation of top flight musicians including Phillip "Winta" James, Strickland Stone, Rohan "Makka" Gordon, Deleon "Jubba" White, Denver Smith, Micthum "Khan" Chin, Robert "Dubwise" Brownie and Lamar "Riff Raff" Brown, the Producer has been able to produce two very different albums.
If you listen to the two albums you will hear a consistency between them. Both, for example, feature the amazing Harmonies of Earl Smith Jnr and Maria Smith, two of Jamaica's most highly rated Backing Vocalists. Their father, Wailers Legend, Earl "Chinna" Smith makes his immense presence felt with thoughtful guitar arrangements on both albums. However, these two albums are very different.
The first scheduled for release is a Reggae album called Gully Bank. The title track, Gully Bank, released in July '07 has been receiving heavy rotation on Jamaican radio and the video is playing on all TV stations. It recently spent three weeks at No. 1 on the R E TV video chart. It has been play listed in Echoes magazine's November edition, with Reggae Guru John Masouri writing a glowing review (see Scorpion's Blog). November now sees the Jamaican release for the follow up single Life Of The People, which has also been getting major air play.
Gully Bank is a collection of instant classics, year to year tunes that are penned in such a way they will still be relevant in thirty years time. No gimmicks here then, just songs that will become anthems in many Dancehalls around the globe. The second album is an eclectic mix of songs ranging from classic R'n'B with Gospel flavoured riffs provided by Tuff Gong's Hammond B3 organ, Hip Hop tinged live drum beats with electric guitar chops, to acoustic numbers, all underpinned by thumping Reggae bass lines. Doniki moves seamlessly across the different musical genres and still manages to give the listener songs to challenge their perception of everyday life.
Doniki once again proves he is by far the most underrated singer in Jamaica. This author cannot find a better way to end this biography than to simply quote Elise Kelly who recently quipped on her Irie FM prime time, Easy Skanking Show, "Doniki, what a way ya future look brighteee, yuh haffi start wear sunglasses." Yes Mumma, the future for Gully Bank Musik Ltd and Gully Bank Publishing is indeed bright.
Jah Live!
Check out my Myspace music site to hear tracks off the forth coming Doniki Album Gully Bank. David scorpion@gullybankmusik