On Saturday at 8:00 am, I found myself sitting at a desk with not one, but two coffees to hand. I was about to get on a call with Nick, one of RRR’s olden and golden… in fact Nick was the man behind the Sound System at our very first event at Meraki in 2018. Since then, RRR and OSS have hosted two festival stages together. It seems quite fitting then, that he would be the first to be interviewed for the RRR Spotlight, a space to celebrate the local talent that we have the pleasure of working with.
Nick runs Operation Sound System which has been going since the 90s. One of our founders, Max, dropped Nick a Facebook message asking about doing an event together. “Things were rough and ready back then” Nick laughs, recalling that the venue had just been painted and some the of walls were still wet. “It was still packed-out and a really good night” Nick adds.
Speaking to Nick whilst emerging from 18 months of social isolation, it is clear that he hasn’t let the lockdown cramp his style. Building speakers was something that Nick had done on the big-scale, but not the small. When COVID hit, Nick found himself starting up a hi-fi company, Mycetias.
Matter-of-factly Nick says in one way, he had to do it otherwise he’d be homeless, but also that it’s all still music, that everything is still about music… and so he still loves it. In fact so much so that yesterday he spent 15 hours in the workshop without even realising. Other people are loving it too. Nick’s high-quality, hand-crafted speakers have gone nuts over lockdown, and continuing since. “People just love them and that suits me just fine” laughs Nick.
Although he hasn’t been able to work the Sound System, the brief change in direction didn’t phase Nick. “It sounds really contrived but music has always been a friend. Music from bag-puss used to make me emotional! It’s always been the most prominent thing – no matter the film or whatever, the music is always more. Despite not being able to gig during lockdown, music is still only thing that makes sense to me… especially in the last 2 years.”
Which led me to my first question.
Is it very different working with much smaller scale speakers to the OSS?
It’s quite a similar type of thing. The main thing is how mental the money involved in high-end hi-fi systems is. For example, a 13 amp gold plated fuse for a plug is £50 because some people think that it makes the sound that much better.
But Sound System is a different experience. Music is mixed differently for Sound Systems. You can pay as much as you want, but if a Sound System is built and run right it will almost always beat commercial boxes no matter how expensive they are. It’s just made for a different thing… it’s tuned differently. Sure, Sound Systems might fall down if you play queen, but if it’s playing what it’s supposed to then it will win!
From being in your own bands to setting up events and building your own Sound System, how did that process happen?
Haha, god I really had no master plan! I played in a punk-ska band ‘Funzig’ and we did lots of travelling. But I really, truly LOVED reggae and I couldn’t get away from what I really really felt. So I started playing more reggae with another band called ‘Sasquash’ and it morphed into this dub-band. We used whatever we could use or find, trumpet found in the canal, cable from a skip etc…
Eventually, we got fed up of playing all over the place, asking if a venue had a decent Sound System. Turns out loads of them didn’t, and they weren’t capable of playing reggae so I built some speakers for the band. I started playing my music before and after our set and it kept growing on its own and it became a thing and the sound gradually got bigger. It was nice because of that – it was natural and organic. And then I just thought “I love this and I’m going to go for it”.
In 2007, you rebuilt and upgraded your system. Did you have a ‘ta-da’ moment where you knew you had the sound?
I haven’t changed anything since… so it was pretty great!
Our first system was made out of bits of wood we found. We built out of what we could – MDF… all sorts… With the upgraded system, we set new scoops up against old scoops. The new ones were just something else and totally outplayed the older ones. The new scoops, they are proper old school and really sensitive. And it’s a great balance, a really warm and round sound that just can’t be bought anymore.
We have had one upgrade since 1996, in 2007, and it’s the same bass drivers from 2007. Those old drivers are not available anymore. This might make no sense – some people with more money to spend swap stuff all the time. These people never seem to learn to play what they’ve got. It’s amazing what you can do with not a lot – us guys didn’t have a lot of money… And that is where my system came from, kinda punk ethic.
If you had to describe Sound System culture to a newbie – a dummies guide if you will – what would you say?
It’s just an experience, a feeling… it’s hard to describe. Our tag is” Who feels it knows it” 😉
We travel the UK with a huge speaker stack, we play our music for the people. You can try to explain it, but it’s impossible to comprehend unless you’re there…. the people, the music, the Sound System, the dark room…. Churches, community houses, warehouses… the VIBE!
It’s also great because it’s not massively commercial – even reggae not many people know. Sure, they know the commercial side of it but the Sound System side of reggae music is pretty different to that.
When it’s real Sound System dance then it’s just really hard to explain. It’s quite often an epiphany moment. One of our crew ‘ Droid’ went to his first Sound System event which was in Birmingham when Operation Sound met, godfather sounds Quaker City and also King Earthquake. He’d never been to a Sound System meet 3 sounds all strut up together… and that was it for him. Same with Jonny, it’s changed his entire life and now he’s building his own Sound System. It just knocked him dead… it’s not just going out on weekends, his whole lifestyle was totally changed. Lifestyle, people, everything!
Sorry, it’s just so hard to put it in a few words. I always say, you’ve just got to feel it and experience it and understand it.
How has running OSS changed/not changed your listening habits?
It hasn’t, no not really. At home, I don’t sit and listen to Sound System music. Like I said, it’s a different thing. At home I listen to all sorts, lots of rock steady and reggae that doesn’t hit as hard as sound system stuff. It’s not pounding or madly heavy. Obviously in so many ways it has educated me because I now know loads of music I didn’t know. I love finding new music reggae or not.
Along the same lines, you also run your own record label. How has that been? Has that changed the way you listen/think about/play music at all?
It has the potential to but I try to keep it simple.
The second release I did, I had issues because in the early-on reggae business it’s just “let’s do this”. Then you find yourself with a record with no paperwork… which can lead to issues. So now I never contact artists out of the blue. It is always people that I know. More and more so, I work with friends. I only record with them.
Otherwise, the least fun but most rewarding part is production. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a massive studio or equipment… but I do still find mixing and mastering and producing on the computer amazing. It can be proper hard work and sometimes boring to be honest but the results can be amazing, but I’m not a fan of just being at the desk like that. I always have some kind of live element in it for a bit of fun. You have to keep it fresh otherwise it gets stale. A lot of producers work alone in their isolation!
It’s not common these days for a group of musicians to get together and jam anymore, but they need to because without being together, there’s not as much melody… or ideas. It’s just more difficult on your own. However, nowadays, it can work internationally. A record can be done in a couple of days, working with people across the world. For example, I’ve worked with people who have sent vocals over from Jamaica, riddim track recorded in Belgium and files smiled to me in UK to mix and master. Imagine that in the 70s! The results are great and you can’t knock it. I just think we should remember how invaluable the togetherness in music-making is as well.
A classic question, but a staple in the music interview world. You’re stuck on a desert island and have three records with you. What would they be and why?
Honest to god, I don’t know. It almost changes weekly! I have always, always, always loved Bob Marley. When I was growing up, there was not much reggae around growing up in Blackburn, but Bob Marley was on radio etc. I also loved Madness, Specials anything reggae or ska I heard I loved… but anything at all remotely reggae is my answer. When Musical Youth came “Pass the Duchie” 7” was released, I remember running into town and buying it, I was 11 and still have it, Sorry, I’m going on here… Reggae or ska… any variation. That’s what I do. I just play music. Desert island would be a nightmare.
Do you have anything exciting coming up that you would like to share?
Things aren’t very clear-cut at the minute. Things are only just opening up again after lockdown… We were booked to do a festival and it got cancelled until 2022. It’s not as simple these days, many venues have gone. Saying that, we just finished a run of things in Salford. It was the middle of nowhere, and we thought we’d be on our own but loads of people came and it was all bit emotional, quite unexpected totally amazing! It’s still a bit of a waiting game. We aren’t as busy as we were 2 years ago, and lots of venues haven’t reopened, and I think lots of people have had to find other things to do. There’s streaming… but the more people streaming means the less normal live events there are. I don’t want to assist that. I want to get back to gigging and sharing music with people. You know… “hear this!!” and putting the needle on a record!!! That sharing of music and meeting people.
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