Heavyweight Champion: Dub And Kisses.

Heavyweight Champion play Mind Malfunction at the Zoo on Thursday.

Local Dub Outfit Heavyweight Champion make a rare appearance this Thursday night at Mind Malfunction, over two venues at the Zoo and Secummb Space. I had a quick chat with the contenders to see how the training is going for this Thursday nights title fight.

What is the Heavyweight Champion sound?

“Heavyweight sound is grounded firmly in the dub and roots tradition. However, the recent emergence of digi dub and its various offshoots is reflected somewhat in our music. Sometimes these two approaches are mutually exclusive and other times they are fused, depending on personnel.”

How many members are there in the band, and what do they play?

“Currently there are 10 members of the Heavyweight family, in recent months we have grown from a core of three members, Poppa Lord I, A-Rythmic and myself, to include a four-person horn section and our Nordic toaster, Swede Tooth. We have very recently also recruited another two members, including a drummer, so this frees us up to concentrate more on the mixing side of things, which of course is at the core of dub.”

What do you think about the state of dub and roots in Brisbane? 

“It's funny, but if you had have asked me that question a couple of months ago, I would have had a completely different answer. But now due to the success of Dub Day Afternoon, and the interest generated as a result of it, (thanx largely to the guys from the Rythym Collision Sound System) the dub scene in Brisbane looks good. Dub is a genre that many have yet to discover.”

Can you listen to dub without ganja?

“I suppose its possible...”

What is Jah?

“It is quite irrelevant to us. We understand that the dub and reggae tradition includes the Rasta philosophy, and we respect that. But that really has nothing to do with us. We don't share the same historical and cultural tradition so we believe it would be absurd, and disrespectful, to pretend to apply ourselves to any of the Rastafarian philosophical dilemmas.”

What's the stupidest thing anyone has ever said to you at a gig?

“I don't know about at a gig, but these questions...”