Alpheus
Alpheus (Born Neil Martin, London, England) recorded his first album under the watchful eye of Coxsone Dodd. Since then he has recorded with Bim and Bost for French Label Special Delivery and Spanish producer Roberto Sanchez for A-Lone. Angus Taylor talks to him in London about fate, Studio 1, and the hotspots for reggae in the world.
Alpheus was a Greek river god. Was this the inspiration behind your name?
My name comes from my father Alpheus was his name. And when I decided I was going to be a singer I decided I have to give him nuff love and respect, and so my artist name was his name because we had such a great relationship – he was my best friend. He was a big inspiration for everyday life in general.
Tell us a bit more about your background.
I was born and bred in London England. My parents were from Jamaica – my Dad from Portland and my Mum from Manchester, and my Dad came over here in 1945 decided to stay and made us – I have a few brothers and sisters. And that’s really the foundation of me right there.
You first came to attention when you worked at Studio 1 for a while – what was that like?
Could you imagine!!! I left England in 1992 to pursue some new roads, try and see what was out there for me in life. And I just stumbled across this new path, this musical journey, you know? I was fortunate enough to meet Mr (Clement “Coxsone”) Dodd through Tony Brevett of the Melodians, and it was just like working with my Dad really, I’d just lost my Dad, and this was one hell of a substitute! It was great, because I had no intension of being a singer at all, and there I was in this… university.
A university of reggae?
Yeah man. That’s exactly what it is. You go there every day, they show you how to structure your songs, to harmonise, find your best range, talk you through your writing. Working with him was so cool.
And what were you planning to be before you became a singer?
I was a home design specialist, installing carpets and making sure things all looked nice. When went over to the US and met Mr Dodd I was originally over there for home furnishing business. But I was so glad that music came into my life, because basically by that time I’d had enough of that!
That ties in nicely to my next question. Your album’s called Everything For A Reason. Do you believe in fate?
Yes. I really do. I'll tell you something as you get older and more mature and you experience things you see some things happen and you think why? Why is it like this?” And good makes bad and bad makes good you know what I mean? And I’ve seen and experienced enough to definitely believe in fate. I believe if you walk out the door in five minutes time that will determine if you live an extra day, who you marry and so on.
So it’s best to stay in then?
(LAUGHS) Yeah man. Stay indoors! But yeah I’m a fate guy, I definitely believe in that. Things make things happen.
You’re a “proper” reggae singer in the mold of classic studio 1 – no frills, no gimmicks – who influenced you as a singer?
Thanks man. At the beginning it was Sam Cooke. He’s a singer’s singer. I had a friend who used to always play Sam Cooke in his van, and I used to watch Sam Cooke on the TV and that was a major influence. Then you had Don Carlos, Dennis Brown, and Michael Gordon who was an excellent Lovers Rock singer – a really compilation of talent that made me the complete package. Lots of other influences but too many to mention.
You’ve just come back from Portugal. How was that?
Yeah I was just over there doing a bit of promotion, making some links with reggaeportugal.com. It’s a really nice place, and, reggaewise, it just seems to be starting to range up, a lot of things are happening right now.
Where are you based these days?
Hmmm that's a good question! I’m not sure myself. I came back to Europe about four or five years ago, met up with my label Special Delivery, Pierre and JP, excellent guys, and because they’re based in France I found my self spending 80% of my time there. And in between spending time in London, Spain, because reggae is a great force right now in Europe I feel I’m in the right spot. But to be honest I couldn’t tell you where is home – I’m not really settled yet.
Which do you prefer – UK France Spain or US?
Tough one. For cost of living the continent is best, certainly not London. I find Spain to be really good – I’m recording in the North of Spain a lot for a label called A Lone who specialize in a lot of good rocksteady, roots and culture.
What did you think of Max Romeo's recent statement that France is now the centre of reggae in the world?
I didn’t hear that, but I can understand where Max is coming from. As a traveling artist I find Europe is really coming along with reggae because the younger Europeans are really getting into it – the majority of the crowds are under 22. That shows how much it’s growing and how it’s it gonna continue to grow. You see a lot of that in France, but you see a lot of that in many countries. I couldn’t target one but I can see why Max feels that way. France is a good place for reggae.
Is that because in countries with more of a history of reggae, people think about reggae as what their parents listen to, whereas in these countries it’s all for the young to discover?
I think that’s exactly it, but there’s this other thing – the sound system. The sound is the one of the cores of reggae as we know from the days of Duke Reid and Dodd having those nice clashes at Horaces Hall. This is instilled in reggae and makes it an interactive music. You don’t have to just buy reggae and enjoy it at home, you can be a dj, you can have your internet radio, you can have your sound and play out. And that’s why it’s so stimulating for people who want to be more involved than just sitting and listening, and that’s why it’s growing so well in Europe.
How did the album come about?
I came to France a few years ago and met JP at Special Delivery who was just starting out. The first riddim was Clean Vibes, then it was Storm Alarm, I was doing songs all the time, and we were helping each other to learn and grow. So finally we said “ok we’ve done enough now – lets do an album” and got really serious about it the last few years, compile some riddims and used excellent musicians like Bim and Bost.
What are Bim & Bost like to work with?
Very MUSIC! Like they don’t know anything else. You could ask them what happened on TV last night and they’d have no idea! All they know is we were in the studio, we’ve got this for you to listen to and so on. I stay in their house a lot and when you wake there’s a guitar on the floor in front of you – it’s all music. They’re very academic so you can explain something to them and they’ll know the exact note you’re going to sing. When you work in a team for a certain amount of time you start to understand eachother. You know how to lick a riddim, where to put a riff, when he’s going to want to do this. You start to become a family and understand each others feelings.
Can you play any instruments?
Noooo! I've been dreading that question! (LAUGHS). I've got to go and learn how to play something – my friend the singer Lukie D told me when he learned to play the guitar it helped him become an even better singer. It helps with chords, harmonies, where to go and so on.
When I heard you singing that song Sad Face, with the solo piano, I thought that was you playing!
(LAUGHS) Like Barry Manilow??? I guess that must come across to people! I wish it was, man, I wish it was.
The song Sad Face starts with a very personal dedication. Was it inspired by real events?
Yes it was. When I was at school I knew this girl Nicola. I really believed this was my ultimate girl. She was in a relationship with a guy who was physically abusive and she would never leave him. One time I saw her she looked like she’d gone five rounds with Tyson and I said “you’ve GOT TO LEAVE HIM” but she wouldn’t. Every time I saw her she had a sad face. She ended up staying with him, had a family, eventually she ran away. I just couldn’t understand it, but that was her song. (PAUSES) Nicola...
Are a lot of your songs inspired by true events?
All of them. Either they're based on my experiences or things that happened to someone close to me. I can’t sing things that are empty – just made up. That’s one of the things I learned at Studio 1, Mr Dodd could tell when you just wrote a song for the sake of it to go on the riddim, that wasn’t good enough. He used to call them plastic tunes. Since then I always take songs from true events and true feelings.
This is a major misconception about reggae isn’t it? That there are “reality” songs and “love “ songs? They’re ALL reality songs right?
It’s all reality music. And even people who know a lot about reggae have this misconception – that reggae is just about Truths and Rights. Yes it is but there are lots of genres, and even from the days of rocksteady you had lots of love tunes from people like Stranger Cole, on reggae, and Larry Marshall. It’s not just about how sad you can be, how poor you are, and if you are rasta or not.
There’s a bit of everything on Everything For A Reason, some sound clash, some political and cultural songs - but mostly love songs. Is that your specialist area?
Yes! It really is. I like to write those songs for the reasons I’ve just given but also because I like to speak for us guys. Like on the first track You’re Not, it’s about a lovely woman who I love going out with but I say “DAMN! You’re hard work!” And she says “no I’m not” and I say “yes you are – you think you’re easy to love but you’re not!” So I like to speak for us, and it’s not just about saying how sweet you are and nice you look, it’s about the everyday realities of relationships.
It helps if there’s some sweet music under the message to make the medicine go down though?
True. If you can cause a bit of controversy over some nice music then you’re there!
What’s next for Alpheus?
I’m going to continue with Special Delivery – that’s not gonna change – but also on this Spanish label A Lone. I’m working with a great producer Roberto sanchez – we just released some great singles with Glenroy Washington on the Family and Dirty Dozen riddims and we’re planning to do an album down the line. And of course, some good music from those great Jamaican producers – that’s always on the cards!
Interview by Angus Taylor
