Sandman // Blank Mind Q&A

Blank Mind is a brand new label out of London which is set to release its first double A side on October 24th. The two tracks come from Grenadian artists Sandman with ‘No prisoners’: a minimal, menacing bass-laden track, and Adrian Lenz’ ‘Cover Me‘ brings the soca vibes to the record, the bpm is about the only thing really reminding us these are carnival tunes. The two tracks are straight out of the Jab Jab tradition (to be explained by Sandman below) and have videos as dark as the music:

I spoke to Sandman from Aquarion Studios in Grenada about his track, ‘No Prisoners’, and label boss, Sam Purcell, about the release and his plans for Blank Mind (to be in part 2 tomorrow).

Shimmy Shimmy: For those of us who don’t know, could you tell us about ‘Jab Jab’ and Grenadian carnival?

Sandman: Jab Jab is an integral part of the festive portrayal of folklore unique to Grenadian heritage. On Jouvert morning, usually the first Monday of August, a band of individuals masquerade the streets, often scantily clad, drenched in old machine oil, wielding lengths of chain, jaw bone axes and wearing that signature horned ‘posie’ or hard hat representing devils horns. In their mouths, they pour red food coloring giving the effect of blood. Quite often they clasp a piece of raw salted meat (usually a pigs tail or salted codfish) between their teeth, giving it an even more grotesque effect. Sometimes they even have live snakes.

They parade the streets together between the hours of 2 and 10am playing self-made percussion instruments not limited to sticks, buckets, cowbells etc… Jab Jab also use melodic chants which would contain broken french ‘patois’, some of the meanings of which remain unknown.

The tradition was founded in the late 1800s, the term “Jab” is a derivative of “Diab’” short for diablo, i.e. devil in Spanish. Much like the Halloween festivity celebrated worldwide, where individuals portray ghosts, vampires and so on, the culture is based solely on festive representation and should not be associated with satanism or evil… its just for FUN! It’s truly something to witness yourself…

Do new Jab Jab tunes come out every year?

Yes, the number of songs based on jab jab or containing the subject rapidly increased since the explosion of Tallpree’s “Wicked Jab” in 2009.

Why is ‘No Prisoners’ tune so minimal and downtempo when the majority of Jouvert/carnival tunes are 160bpm/soca…were you deliberately doing something different?

Different always stands out. 2009 being my debut year as a producer, and a soca music enthusiast on the whole, I knew I wanted something sounding different, but had no clue as to exactly what i wanted. It was a bit tough and frustrating at times; both trying to learn audio production and getting into the swing of soca music within such a little space of time. ‘No Prisoners’ started off as a rap song initially, which is the reason for its 115 bpm tempo; however, a few minutes into building the instrumental i ruled out the possibility of it being a rap song. I didn’t know what i had on my hands until i witnessed the reaction of several people I played the demo for…people really liked it. Sadly it was too late to release the song at that time, as the carnival season was over for that year; so it was released in 2010, and, to my surprise, results were favorable. It got called “the groovy Jab tune”.

You’ve been producing for other artists too like Romain Virgo and Mr Killa – who else have you been working with? Who are the exciting Grenadian artists to watch out for that you like to work with?

I’ve worked with several artists: Lavaman, Sugar Jay, Nnika Francis, General PP, Miss Fluffy Nekiah, Shortpree, Small Pin, Tracey, Renee, Pupa Leendi, Juice, Log On, Maireo Castle. I’d like to work with as many artists as i can, as long as everyone is happy at the end of the day. The Grenadian artist i look forward to working with are Talpree, Terror Kid and Boyzie. Tallpree is a favorite worldwide… he’s the Jab pioneer, so it would be an honor. I saw mass potential in Terror Kid last year, and behold, he’s now the soca monarch king. Look out for Boyzie…trust me. I have sights on international soca artists as well. And tracks for Machel Montano, Benjai, Skinny Fabulous, Peter Ram, Patrice Roberts, Bunji Garlin would be utter blessings.

Was being signed to this new UK label, Blank Mind, a surprise to you?

I still don’t believe it…!

What other upcoming projects have you got?

All my upcoming projects are mainly soca. I’m basically working on my connections, refining my production skills and trying to upgrade my home studio, but you can expect collaborations with Trinidadian artists for Trinidad carnival 2012 on the Tweeter and Island Riddims. I also have an upcoming project with Dylan From P. Diddy’s ‘Making tha band’ soon. So look out for that as well.

Watch out for the second part of the interview coming tomorrow…

[Thanks to Steve Shaw of FACT magazine for the tip-off]