Heaven or Las Vegas - Pama International

Pama International are the new kids on the block in the reggae world. Except how new are they? For one Lynval Golding front's them, and he was in the Specials! Fresh from a truly groovy Edinburgh show, Heaven Or Las Vegas caught up with Lynval to chew the fat and see what the future holds for his band.

HOLV: First off, how’s things?

Lynval Golding: Things are wonderful. The band has never been sounding better.

HOLV: How’s the tour been going? You played up in Edinburgh very recently, how was that?

LG: The dates have been fantastic. A lot of new faces coming along.
Things are really building for us now. This has been a short run for us (just 7 dates) but they've all been a huge success. Edinburgh was superb. Lovely intimate venue the GRV. Lovely vibes down there. We're back in Edinburgh in June, this time at The Liquid Rooms.

HOLV: Your latest album, Love Filled Dub Band, has been out nearly a month now, has it been received well?

LG: We're very proud of it. It's the best work I've done. Up there with The Specials. Seriously! The radio play has been amazing. It's come out on our own Rockers Revolt label, so no big marketing budget and we've still got 53 (and counting) stations and DJs playing it! The press has been great as well. MOJO just gave it 4 out of 5.
Lots of fantastic coverage. We recently recorded a live session at Abbey Rd (The Beatles studio). The Craig Charles Funk & Soul show on BBC6 just broadcast 3 tracks from there on their show. So it's all very good. Being a small indie label though it's a struggle to
compete and get your message out there, but I think we've got something in the new album that people would love to hear, so we're working hard to spread the good word. Someone described the album as a "brand new classic". That's very cool.

HOLV: You’ve been described as like a “lost gem of 70s reggae.” Do you feel that’s fair, do you think you’ve pushed the sound in new directions?

LG: That's great! With this album we're trying to mix 60s soul, 70s reggae and dub and make them relevant today with a 21st century commentary. I think we've succeeded because the majority of the reviews have picked up on that mix. The 60s and 70s were far more creative periods in music for me. Sure every generation has it's suspect moments in music, but those two decades were the most experimental by a long way. We're certainly trying to push in new directions. We use classic sounds because they're timeless. We're certainly not a revivalist or retro band. Our eyes are most firmly fixed on the world we live in today. There's a lot of bad things happening. We're living in very
testing times. We're trying to alleviate some of the bad through the music and message.

HOLV: There seems to be a reggae revival at the moment. What do you think has caused this?

LG: Things go in cycles. Reggae is definitely more popular then it's been in years. When I say reggae i don't mean the modern dancehall music. I don't really deal with that. Soul Jazz Records has done a great job re-issuing Studio One stuff. Nice packaging. Made the whole thing hip again. There's hundreds of DJs/clubs/sound systems
pumping out the sounds. The internet as well has helped massively. Kids have got access to any music they care to look for. That's a wonderful and healthy thing. The ultimate music library at their finger tips. The result is kids have a much broader taste in music
then they used to. They're not just reliant on what the majors pump out to the radios. Reggae has benefited from that. There's no one reason for reggae being popular again.

HOLV: On this album there are some notable collaborations, Rico Rodriguez in particular. Is there anyone you’d really like to collaborate with?

LG: Yeah, we had Rico and of course Horace (also from The Specials) and the whole thing was coproduced by John Collins (Who did Ghost Town). A lot of old Specials connections there.Hmm...loads, Curtis Mayfield, Mavis Staples, Aretha Franklin on the
soul side. Hortense Ellis, more with Michie One (she did a fantastic job on the Highrise single off the album), U Roy....loads. Billy Bragg

HOLV: How do you feel about bands like Fat Freddy’s Drop, and musical movements like Dub-step?

LG: I don't know much about them! Are they good? I like the idea of Dub- step. Progression in music is a healthy thing. Got to keep moving forward. Draw from the classics, but make it relevant today.

HOLV: What does the future hold for Pama International?

LG: We're out on tour again in June/July continuing to promote the new record. That's a big package with more bands and a sound system we've signed to our label....The Slackers (from NYC), The Pietasters (from Washington DC...they backed James Brown!) and Mungos Hi Fi (from Glasgow). We're putting out their three albums just before the
tour kicks off. All sounds wicked! We're trying to build the whole scene. In the same spirit as 2 Tone. We've been asked to co-host a big stage at Glastonbury one night.
So, we're just working the new album throughout the year...writing the next one as we go. We're working with WrongTom (from Hard Fi) on an album versiob. He's fantastic. Very talented. That'll be out at the end of the year.

HOLV: Thanks for your time.

LG: You are very welcome. Thank you for doing the interview. Please could you mention that the new album is available now....

HOLV: You just have. Thanks

Interviewed by Parsons.

June 2008
27th Shrewsbury Buttermarket
28th Sheffield Coperation
29th Aberdeen Cafe Drummonds
30th Edinburgh Liquid Rooms

July 2008
1st Glasgow Garage
2nd Wolverhampton Robin 2
3rd Bristol Bierkeller
4th London ULU
5th Cambridge Junction