Dry & Heavy: Jammy Session.

Dry & Heavy vs King Jammy: In The Claws Of The Tiger is in stores now.

Japanese dub outfit Dry & Heavy (comprising of some members from Audio Active) have put their old recordings into the hands of dub producer legend King Jammy, sending the tapes over to Jamaica and coming up with a dub monster. Shigemoto B Nanao, the drummer of the outfit, explains why.

How long have Dry and Heavy been around, and why did the band form?

“Dry & Heavy began roughly 10 years ago with friends of the same interest. We all have a great love for reggae and this project first began as a group of people who wanted to imitate the sounds that we loved.”

Is this album a remix album or the original release?

“In The Jaws Of The Tiger is a dub album that was made from selected tracks from our second and third albums (One Punch / Full Contact) that King Jammy mixed for us.”

How did you meet King Jammy?

“Adrian Sherwood is an acquaintance of King Jammy and had introduced us to him.”

What was it like working with him?

“Unfortunately we were not with him in Jamaica when he did the mixes for us. The parts were sent over to him and he worked on them without us. What was fantastic about King Jammy reworking our tracks was that the original vibe we wanted to grasp was from Jamaica, re-created by us Japanese people, then taken to Jamaica, and mixed by an individual with great respect in the reggae scene. We were really able to feel the characteristics in King Jammy mixes that he is known for and am very happy of the results. This for us was very special and it is like a dream come true.”

I see you thank Adrian Sherwood. How is he in person, and how has his music shaped yours?

“We have great respect for Adrian Sherwood. As a person he is an all around nice guy, strong, and is always full of great ideas. His attitude to music and his particular sound has been and still is influential to us.”

Where is the future of dub?

“We feel that there will be a greater crossbreeding of genres where dub will be used and more experimentation in modifying sounds. There is a lot of stuff out there which shows that dub is still alive!”

Are you planning to tour Australia?

“There are no confirmed dates as of now but we would love to come to Australia and play. We really hope that something will turn up so that this will change.”

What would you call your breed of dub?

“Hmmmmmm. Dub that was born in our recording studio with emphasis on the technical skills and properly put into practical use while performing live.”

Who are the major influences on your music?

“This is of course all of the great Jamaican musicians throughout the history of reggae.”

What's the top three albums that you’re listening to at the moment?

“(From Ao -vocalist) There are many albums that we are always listening to and is hard to pick just three but here is what I have found myself putting in the player lately (in no particular order): Audio Active’s new mini album Melt (unreleased), Burning Spear: Spear Burning, Primal Scream: Evil Heat.”

Any final messages for the dub loving public out there?

“Dub is pure experimentation of what lies in the future”