Roots Archives Forum

Alright everyone,

My first post here, so I'll get the introductions out of the way first. I'm part of the Black Neon Films crew and I'm just scoping out some opinions from reggae fans on our forthcoming documentary, 'Pages of Life'.

Its a reggae doc with a bit of a difference. Rather than do down the well trodden path of the history of the music from its early days in R n B, ska and Rocksteady through to Bob, we're taking a fresh perspective by looking at reggae's future.

Now I'm willing to admit that I've downloaded tracks without paying for them and most of my mates have as well, through torrents and limewire and all the rest but having been involved in making this documentary I haven't, and that's what our film is all about. How is illegal downloading effecting reggae and those who actually make the music, the artists, the producers and the sound systems?

We've got some big interviews and opinions from the likes of King Jammy, Chris Goldfinger and Lloydie Coxsone (and some big tunes to go with them) as they talk about the state of reggae today and whether the internet has been a good thing for the music by bringing through new talent and spreading the message worldwide.

There's a short teaser up on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdM4MBTs ... re=related, so please take a look and let me know what you think and whether you'd be interested in watching a documentary like this.

If you'd like to get a bit more info I'm more than happy to talk in more detail about what you can expect to see from us.

Look forward to hearing from you all.

(Our other video is worth checking out too, a special by Chukki Starr for Black Neon Films http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wvbOnqN ... re=related

Im always willing to watch a Reggae documentary and this one sounds interesting. My main interest is in the "golden era" roots and dub of the 70-80s, but i have found that the vast majority of current artists (at least those i have found online) are making the heavily electronic steppers style almost house music type thing. Will your documentary be looking at how reggae has developed in this way or shed light on current artists who do the old-style sound?

Im interested in the file sharing debate, as most of the classic artists were ripped off in the first place and get very little proportion or even no royalties, so illegal sharing is only losing money for the big record bosses. Also id eb interested to know if roots/spiritual artists think about filesharing in general, because i might assume that they are making the music to spread the message rather than to get rich, though of course they should be paid for what they have created, i wouldnt imagine (though i could be completely wrong) that rasta artists wish to get super rich.

best of luck to you, always nice to see reggae relatted footage

but if you want to focus on the future, then you should talk to other people than respected elders like Lloyd Coxsone , Jammys etc.

better you focus on the youth them: Genius, Russian, Daseca, Alliance, Portmore Empire etc.

and yes, these people all live in Jamaica, because in the UK the nowadys youths seem to like Grime, Dubstep etc more than reggae

The 70's and early 80's were 'pure' reggae. Nowadays a lot of music is reggae influenced, a lot of it is bloody good stuff. Check out bands like the Dub Pistols, they are carrying the reggae vibe forward with a modern interpretation.
Would also recommend spending a weekend at the Shambala festival at the end of August, no big names but a magical vibe encompassing a lot of genres. I am a 50 year old 'golden age' reggae freak and there were so many bands to see that I never even made it to the dedicated reggae tent.
Music isn't what a few big names say it is (Simon Cowell example) it is what's happening around

Thanks for checking out the video guys. Been well busy trying to get the film finished but its coming along quite nice now.

We're hoping that if the documentary is successful then we'll do a follow up and go to Jamaica, as like you say Jumbo its the home of reggae.

Thanks for the recommendation Toucan, will check them out.

Klaus 5, not to give too much away, but you're right to think that the debate on file sharing amongst artists isn't as cut and dried as you might think.

As you can probably tell from the promo the film has been made by fans of reggae for fans of reggae and we're looking to get more people involved in the doc by sending in their own reggae footage and photos of their reggae experiences. If you've got anything that you might think would fit in our documentary (videos or photos), providing their yours and you own them let me know and we might be able to use some of them in our documentary and if we did then obviously you'd get a credit for working on the film. In particular we're looking for:

80 Dances,
The Crypt in Brixton (now called Mass)
Viking Soundsytem
Jamacia - everyday life, Dances, Soundsystems etc
Young Lloydie Coxsone
Reggae culture in London in the 70s

but if you've got anything you think might be relevant and you want to get involved then please get in touch with me. Would be great to hear from people.

Reggae culture in London in the 70s