Ghetto Vibes International
20th November 2008 @ 12:00pm
New Zealand has another addition to the growing sound-system scene with Ghetto Vibes International. NiceUp talks to crew founder, DJ Maniac, about his musical beginnings in Zimbabwe, how he built his own sound-system and the music his crew are spreading around Auckland city.
1. Can you give us a bit of history about yourself and your crew? How did you form and how/when did you get your system?
Zimbabwe is one of the countries where reggae music is just as
big as it is in Jamaica! My interest in the music started way back . I
remember the days when I used to record from the radio reggae music
onto an audio cassette and play it at the back of our house having
what we used to call backyard bashments. I built a small sound-system
in 1985 and I called it 'Bronx International'. Like everything else, I
started small and I was taken for granted by the well-established reggae selectors e.g. 'Stereo One', 'Silverstone', 'Star Time', 'Roughneck'
etc. My sound grew big as time passed .
When I came to this country in
2004, I was impressed by the reggae band Katchafire. I suddenly got
back to the mood of the Reggae ting! Somethings never change. I decided
yet again to build a sound-system and I decided to call it 'Ghetto Vibes'. I
thought the name has some substance in this part of the world. I didn't bring anything with me from my previous system - I left everything with my old
crew back in Zimbabwe. I started to buy most of the tunes I used to play
back home and word went out and I caught up with Shingi, selector
Jigga-boo. I select under the name of DJ Maniac and we now run Ghetto Vibes together.
2. What kind of styles do you play/show-case?
We play mostly conscious reggae although the massive here are
more oriented to the dancehall part of it. Usually a Sound is considered
big by how much conscious music is plays. The relics contain positive
messages concerning ways of life and all. What we are doing now is to
flow with the current while at the same time introducing the conscious
riddims. I play 95% of my music on vinyl - I'm used to them and I do not intend to change. It feels so
good holding the vinyl in your hands, placing it on the turntable and
playing it .Nothing beats that in any dancehall!
3. Moving onto the system - what are the technical specifications?
The sound-system is custom built. I am a tradesman by profession
and I love making things. I built six bass-bins, two of which are 'W'
bins and four are folded horns. Each bass-bin has an 18" 1000 watts RMS speaker. I also made four mid-range speaker boxes with two 12"
speakers in each box. The sound is massive! I also have two Technics
turntables, a four-way mixer, two CD-players, three power amps and a good
crossover. And we have 'Vitual DJ'.
4. You've been playing some gigs in Auckland recently...what plans have you got coming up?
We have done a few shows .Our first show was in Auckland city
at Coherent Bar. Those who came to check us out for the first time
weere surprised by what they heard. Like I said before, we have come far. We
know what we are doing when we do our ting! All in all we have done
about seven shows.
We do have a lot of problems in advertising these
gigs. Back home we used to get posters done, it was our duty to
place them where ever we thought was appropriate. Here you let some
company do it for you and most of the time they do not place them on
time and they do not cover all the good areas. Sometimes you don't even
know if they have put up the number of posters you have payed for. I do
not know how best we can go about advertising our shows. This is a big huddle.
We are having a gig at
the Rising Sun on the 29th of November, 9pm till late . Hope to see you there!
5. How do you think the NZ scene is progressing?
The progress is going to be slow. Not a lot of people seem to
be in this line of business. If we can manage to get the word out there
I think the future will be promising. I believe 'easy come easy go' so the
harder it is, the more we are going to have a secure and solid base.
6. Any other words for the NZ massive?
To all massive out there, Ghetto Vibes is here to stay and we
promise you reggae Music is going to be very, very big in this country - support us and we guarantee you only the best in reggae and dancehall!
Selector Maniac, Ghetto Vibes International.
« back to the news
Comments
Hear Ghetto Vibez play this Sat 22nd Nov at Rising Sun (373 Krd) alongside Grafta & FJ (from Jugglin Show on Base FM) and Hot Gal!!! Gwan be mad, promise dat!!
Wicked / / /
I checked out on Ghetto Vibes last Saturday ,two thumbs up! can'nt wait for next show .
Dat was just 1/2 of the crew tho, dis saturday shud be pure badness!!!
Add a comment