Horace Andy at home on Bond Street

Song for Dudus on upcoming album

Mel Cooke, Gleaner Writer

Before The Sunday Gleaner follows Horace Andy, the singer who hit huge with Skylarking in the early 1970s, to the roof of the premises at the corner of Bond and Charles Street, he gives a warning.

"Dem stairs ya steep," Andy said, his 61-year-old legs showing no signs of balking at the challenge. Steep is an understatement, but if such be the ascent to hallowed ground then it must be taken. And this is a musical shrine, for the downtown Kingston building was once home to Treasure Isle producer Arthur 'Duke' Reid's studio.

Stars on the sidewalk with the names of popular Jamaican artistes - including Andy's - are testament to those days. But a painting of Andy on a shutter makes it clear that he has a large presence, Pop Corn Label written across the image. It is a bold statement about a strong west Kingston personality and Andy's studio - on the ground floor of the premises - is definitely in West Kingston territory. Member of Parliament Desmond McKenzie's constituency office is on the street across from the entrance and, from the roof, the landmark famed Tivoli Gardens high-rise buildings seem very close.

But it is the buildings nearer that concern Andy as, with a sweep of an arm, he emphasises how pressing a need housing development is.

On this Sunday afternoon, though, the streets are lively and a few youngsters fly kites from concrete rooftops like the one where Andy, a bunch of youngsters nearby who are happy in his aura of success, settles in for a rare interview.

striking fact

Andy is a Studio One alumnus, See a Man's Face and Mr Bassie among the early singles for Clement Dodd, so his being on Treasure Isle territory is striking.

It came more by accident than design. "Is mi bredren downstairs. Him stop mi one day, mi a ride pas' pon mi bike, an him seh si a place ya, yu can put a studio in deh."

That was five years ago, when Andy's Craig Town studio set-up had been wilting under fear because of violence. Now, he said, the Higher Grades studio "is a studio for myself and all the youths in all the communities, not just west Kingston. Youths come from everywhere - Jones Town, Seaview, Papine, Southside, Portmore". Andy seems to have a strong bond with much younger and less-accomplished entertainers, naming Righteous, Tiger Worries, Current, Fire Torch, MB Prefer and Vocal among those who have congregated at Higher Grades.

He has also recorded 25 tracks for an upcoming album ("we a make tune, make tune, make tune"), intending to have 30 to choose from when a distribution comes through - which Andy hopes will be for not only himself but the entire outfit.

Andy plays all the instruments on the songs as well, crediting his Studio One training for the ability.

Andy does not shy away from the West Kingston connection, even in the name of his label, Pop Corn.

"As a young man growing up, you go through stages. I wanted to be like Pop Corn and so on, but I wasn't made to be like that. But we used to idolise them. Famous man, famous name," he said.

It does not hurt that since the studio has been set up, Pop Corn "come around and give me a vibe and listen to what we make. Him love the studio, help promote it too. Is a vibes man". And Andy imitates Pop Corn saying "Sleepy, wheh mi CD deh?", Sleepy being Andy's consistent nickname because of his heavy-lidded gaze.

Christopher 'Dudus' Coke and his brother 'Live Up' also welcomed the studio, Andy said. The former, Andy said, "say him glad to see someone like me come here and put in a studio for the youths. I had his support, him and his brother".

continuous support

That was, of course, before the Tivoli incursion of May 2010, but although they are not in west Kingston now - one awaiting sentencing in the United States and the other at Horizon Remand Centre - Andy has continued to show his support to Dudus through his recent album.

He sings, "Dudus we know a you rule/Presi yeah/Presi we miss you/Things no calm since you gone/The people them nah live right/Every day them a fuss an' fight ..."

However, he insists "the song is just a song about the man. Is no political thing". And the statements he makes about the community in Dudus' absence, Andy said, are simply a matter of "I write the truth, what I see".

Among the other tracks on the album are One Order (about Rastafari, not to be confused with the Spanish Town-based gang), Wicked People, Hear Say, Safe From Harm and Rain Rain.

A section of one wall in the Higher Grades Studio is host to a few of the commemorative discs that Andy has got from his work with Bristol, England, trip-hop band Massive Attack, starting with their debut album Blue Lines.

The two-decade and counting relationship (Andy is slated to record with the band later this month) started with a chance meeting in England, Andy recording a track entitled One Love which the band loved and invited him to Bristol from London to record.

Horace Andy laughs as he said that working with Massive Attack has shown him a different side of the music business, starting from his first-class train travel to meet them. "Meeting Massive Attack my whole music life change," he said. "Even when they send for me to come to the studio is always Jaguar, Benz, man in suit opening door for me, saying 'good day sir'."

He notes that he did seven heavy years of touring with Massive Attack, their most recent large date being the Glastonbury Festival in 2011.

With the trip-hop band collaboration and definite dancehall tinge to much of the material from the upcoming album, Andy is firm in his commitment to Rastafari, referring to his spirituality several times.

"Anywhere I go in the world is Jah carry me through," he told The Sunday Gleaner.