Coronation Street

It seems that you can’t move these days without hearing plaudits for the Irish music scene, of how it’s encouraging new talent and how it has become easier than ever for bands to break through and be heard.

It’s a fair point and one given credence by events such as the recent Hard Working Class Heroes festival. Yet, while the world is willing to welcome band after band playing indie guitar music, what if you want to cast your net further afield? Talking to Derek Clabby of King Sativa – for six years now the country’s leading exponents of reggae – sadly does not fill you with too much confidence.
“We’re in a hard place,” he admits. “There’s no real chance of a commercial crossover, even though there could be. It’s a tough road we’ve chosen and it’s been difficult. We’ve been turned down by Witnness because they told us it was just a rock festival, which I thought was a bit hard. Reggae and ska is festival music.”
Despite the trials and tribulations however, King Sativa have continued to forge onwards and upwards – a trajectory culminating in their excellent, self-titled second album. With its pulsating rhythms and overriding energy, it’s a record that expands the band’s remit to take in Caribbean music as well as funk, ska and dance. Yet it also narrows their outlook too, focusing on matters at home as much as elsewhere. For Derek, this is just the natural order of things.
“Even though we’ve always been seen as a reggae band we’ve constantly written about other things. We’re not Rastafarians so there’s no point writing about Jah. It’s the only way we could have done it. Personally, I love Jamaican music, ska and reggae, but you don’t have to be black to make that music.”
I mention that, to me at any rate, it seems strange that the Irish music scene still seems to offer no reflection of the growing cultural diversity in the country.
“Without a doubt. I think it will happen that the culture will adapt as more people come into Dublin and come into Ireland. There’s one reggae band already that have a Nigerian singer, so that should be interesting. It’s like what happened in Coventry when the black and white community got together, which was unheard of in the ’70s.”
He also finds it strange that reggae has never really taken hold in this country, especially given that there is a shared history of music as a means to rebellion.
“I’ve always thought of reggae as Jamaican folk music. The Irish, with the Wolfetones and The Dubliners, have always had that tradition. It goes right up to Damien Dempsey; I can see a lot of reggae in his music. It’s surprising that there aren’t more Irish reggae bands, as the Irish people are great complainers in their songs. It would be great to get an Irish point of view across.”
Of course, the tenor of the views put across by certain reggae and dancehall artists is being hotly debated at present, with controversy raging over homophobic lyrics by the likes of Beenie Man and Elephant Man. Derek for one sees the answer as a simple one.
“Jamaican music has always been influenced by American music,” he says. “It started with the blues and in the ’70s it was funk. It’s only natural that they’re going to be influenced now by rap. From a music that came from peace and love, there’s a lot of hate and racism now. Bob Marley would be turning in his grave. I’d say it will come full circle. It’s already there with the likes of Luciano. He’s sticking to his guns.”
In the meantime, bands like King Sativa will continue to stick to their guns and work away largely untroubled by the attention of the mainstream. Although he obviously finds it frustrating, Derek thinks that’s just the way it is.
“It’s always been an underground music and it’s comfortable with that. It’s never had a massive following and a lot of people I think are happy to keep it that way. When bands do cross over they tend to lose their fan base. I saw Aswad a few years back and it was just desperate to see a band who used to be so good. There have been some good reggae ambassadors worldwide but as Papa Pilgrim said, you’ll never get rich playing reggae. You can make a living but it’s a hard music to get across.”

King Sativa is out now.