Here�s an interview with Dr Dass and Deeder (aka Master D) of Asian Dub Foundation conducted by Wack and Farah after their awesome gig at The Empire Music Hall. Unfortunately, I lost my Dictaphone so it�s just been stuck together from memory and some scribbled notes so it�s not exactly what they said but it�s close enough�
Wack: You�ve got a lot of energy onstage, where does it come from?
Dr Dass : Playing live is a release, we just get a lot of positive feedback from people vibing in the audience and we like to jump and run around on stage. I�ve also had a lot more energy since I stopped smoking. We�re actually used to playing bigger stages where we can run around more.
Wack : Could you tell us a bit about how ADF started off.
Dr Dass : We came out of a community musical workshop and we still run music workshops for young Asians.
Wack : How does playing in Belfast compare to playing at Birmingham?
Dr Dass : It�s sort of the same mix of people, there�s nowhere that we really play to a predominately Asian audience but there�s always Asians there.
Farah : How did you feel about Talvin Singh winning the Mercury Music Prize?
Dr Dass : I thought it was great and was important. It�s a very positive sign that both us and Cornershop were nominated and reached the top three shortlist in �98 and I was very pleased for Black Star Liner and Talvin this year, but not if it means ghettoizing Asian music into this notion of the Asian Underground. Anything connected with Asia from Cornershop to Apache Indian gets lumped in with that, but Talvin is the only one who could really be considered underground and I don�t like the fact that any band which happens to have an Asian member gets labeled like this. Another thing that annoys me is these bands who talk about Ghandi and play sitars � that doesn�t make you Asian. (Could he be talking about the dreaded Kula Shaker?)
Farah : Can mixed race people or bands fit into this �scene�?
Dr Dass : Of course! How do you know we�re not mixed race? Pandit G�s mum is from Tipperary.
Wack : Do you hate flag waving Britpop bands?
Dr Dass : Britpop is for white people! The thing about Britpop is that when we made our second album �Rafi�, Britpop was all the rage and we couldn�t even get it released in Britain but they don�t have any Britpopisms in France, they�re really into Hip-Hop over there. So it came out in France and did really well so because of that it got released over here and so we decided to call it �Rafi�s Revenge�.
Wack : What was it like touring America with The Beastie Boys?
Deeder : It was great. I was a little worried that we might need to make some adjustments but their audience is open minded and conscious of different forms of music so we got a good response.
Farah : Speaking of Hip-Hop, do you like Public Enemy?
Dr Dass : Yeah I love Public Enemy, for a while they weren�t producing good stuff but they�re right back on form with �There�s a poison goin� on.�
Wack (to Deeder) : Are you related to Chuck D and Mike D?
Master D : Maybe I am�
Farah : What about more modern hip-hop?
Dr Dass : It�s disintegrating, it�s become so commercial.
Farah : You mean like the Puff Daddy phenomenon?
Dr Dass : Well, Puff Daddy is relatively harmless compared with gangsta rappers going on about guns and drugs all the time. It�s important for groups with a following to encourage change and positive behaviour.
Wack : What about Eminem?
Deeder : I dunno, I haven�t heard his album, I�ve only seen his videos but he seems okay. At least he�s honest, he�s not pretending to be black.
Wack : Do you get compared to Rage Against The Machine a lot?
Dr Dass : That�s lazy journalism, we don�t sound like them at all, they don�t play drum and bass for example. Why can�t you make commentary on music for who people are? (Because I�m an idiot?) Actually, Rage Against The Machine are okay, at least they put their money where their mouth is, they give a lot of money to charities.
Deeder : Zach de la Rocha wanted to come backstage at one of our gigs once but our security didn�t have a clue who he was and wouldn�t let him. They thought he was just some scruffy guy with dreadlocks. (Well he is!)
Dr Dass : I�m sick of being compared to other bands who happen to write political lyrics, I was especially pissed off when the NME called us the �Asian Clash� last year. They aren�t prepared to accept �Asian� bands as being talented and original in their own right.
Wack : Your music is quite different from the image of dub as quiet laid back music, could you explain?
Dr Dass (is quite pissed off at the current line of questioning): Fuck that dub stereotype! The dub mentality is a set of principles, our sound involves experimenting in real time and messing with technology to create something new.
Wack : Oh! What sort of sounds influence this experimentation then?
Dr Dass : Well, Dub obviously - Lee Perry/Onu Sound System, Qauwali � Nusrat Faleh Ali Khan, Reggae, Bad Brains, we ripped an entire section of one of our songs off The Bad Brains, (second big-up for The Bad Brains this issue!), P-Funk, Old School Jungle, Fela Kuti, Public Enemy, The Sex Pistols, Pil with Jah Wobble, original Fun-da-mental, Zebda from France and Audioactive from Japan.
Farah : What do you think of Outcast records? (London based indie label dedicated to releasing records by Asian artists, deals mainly with house music I believe)
Dr Dass : They�re great but personally I wish they�d do some harder sounding stuff.
Farah : How is ADF helping to dispel these stereotypes about Asians being passive?
Dr Dass : We�re having an impact just by going out and gigging in front of different audiences. Why? How is it for Asians living in Northern Ireland?
Farah : Things are in a fairly bad way at the moment, about 20 years behind England in terms of progress in racial equality.
Dr Dass : That�s terrible, you should do something about it�
Wack : Actually , we�re both going to be doctors, do you think that�s a cop out?
Dr Dass : Wow! You�re going to be REAL doctors! Of course it�s not a cop out but I do think you should form a band�
Farah : But we can�t play any instruments...
Dr Dass : That doesn�t matter!
He might just be on to something�
(From Oct 1999)
They are now: most recently provided a live soundtrack for the French movie "La Haine" and hopefully coming with a new album soon.