Dreadzone: 'tents were flying up in the air'

Greg Roberts talks to VF's John Bownas

Virtual Festivals: What was the plan when Dreadzone started up 16 years ago?
Greg Roberts: “There wasn’t really too much of a plan. I’d just come out of Big Audio Dynamite, and a few of us, me and Leo Wiliams, were in a band called Screaming Target with Don Letts. But that didn’t go anywhere, so we just stripped everything back to the rhythm and built some tracks with a few samples, some dub basslines and cinematic soundscape stuff. Tim Brand and me seemed to work well on this as a duo, then Alan McGee ended up hearing the demo in a limo on the way to a Primal Scream gig over in Japan, and he just went ‘oh – I’ll sign them!’ So we ended up with the first album on Creation. And it was all, I suppose, influenced by the whole free festival scene that was going on at the time - The Orb, Spiral Tribe and that kind of thing. So that was our foundation, but every album after that has seen us change.

“We’ve added new sounds and new vocalists, and of course then we signed to a major with Virgin and went into Top of the Pops territory. And then we hit on ‘Little Britain’, which resonated with a lot of people on a wider level, but obviously our range went a lot wider than that song, and hopefully a lot of people get that.”

VF: With so much going on in a lot of the songs do you start with an idea in your head for what each one will sound like or do they grow more organically?
GR: “I guess it is more of an organic thing. The latest album for instance has been an attempt to capture the live vibe more and we’ve got some new band members to work with and they’ve been coming back with guitar and bass parts. And we’ve may have honed our songwriting a bit more too. We’re maybe a bit more serious now about what we want to say and how we are going to say it and that’s maybe been the biggest challenge, just getting into the songwriting. But in the old days it would often just start from hearing a sample – maybe a string part from a classical piece or some odd little piece that would kick you off and give you the impetus to build stuff around it.

“I’m not a classically trained keyboard player or anything, so having that sample to get you going really helps – even if it’s just a ropy skank from some old reggae tune. That whole thing really opens up the world to anyone with a talent for putting things together. I mean, I started out as the drummer with Big Audio Dynamite and then Mick Jones got me this drum machine and said ‘see what you can do with that.’ So I started programming beats and quickly realised I could link that with a sequencer and a sampler and before I knew it I was mixing and arranging my own music – and that’s when I started out to try and realise my own vision of how things should sound. So it’s not bad that a simple drummer has managed to hang on this long and get a band together a big body of music and we’re still out there rocking the crowds – and hopefully selling a few records – or downloads of course these days.”

VF: You’ve always had a huge success live – do you think there is a split between bands who focus on the live circuit and those who concentrate on selling records?
GR: “Not so much that, but I think what has changed for us is that we used to make songs and then go out to play live to promote them, but now the songs we write have to fit with the live show, and that is really important because the live scene is so important. So with the new album we’ve tried to capture the whole thing live before putting it through the whole modern studio experience. It’s all about fat beats, heavy bass, electro riffs, rock and roll guitar and rap vocals with our idiosyncratic Dreadzone style!”

VF: Have you gone back with the lyrics on the new song to the same themes that ran through Little Britain – especially now that we’re getting back to a similar place that the country was back then?
GR: “It’s funny actually – because when we put that album together Virgin said to us that we needed some lyrics for the single to get it on the radio, so that’s what we did and although I reckon we wrote some really good words that captured what we were thinking at the time, once it got onto the radio everyone ended up playing the original instrumental version more. But over the last few years a lot has happened for me. My brother who was also my guitarist died a couple of years ago and my father passed away soon after, and with a bit of a tempestuous relationship at the same time and with changes in the band and a hell of a lot of other personal stuff going on that has all channelled into the songwriting this time. It’s been a real eye-opener about how all that has been able to come through emotionally in the songs. It’s hard to describe, but we have been inspired by really tragic events. I don’t know if inspired is the right word, but that is what it feels like. You have to go to the dark side to be able to really express yourself I think. To be honest I could die happy knowing that we’ve managed to do this set of songs that testify how we feel about things.”

VF: With a lot of shows coming up, both festivals and your own headline tour, how much do you vary your sets these days?
GR: “We’ve certainly been dropping new stuff into the show for a while now – especially over the last year while we have been testing out songs for the new album. I think to give people value we have to keep trying new things – either with brand new tunes or rediscovering older more obscure stuff. So we’ve got a lot of things we can do with the live set – as long as everyone can remember what they have to do that is! And yes, we do vary what we play a bit between the summer festivals and the shows, but I reckon we’ll be looking at doing at least 50% new stuff in all the shows this year – although we’ll probably hold back our killer new tune until the Autumn. Obviously we can’t do many shows without including Little Britain, but we reckon we’ve got a sack-load of good get-up-and-dance festival tunes that will get the crowds going.”

VF: On the festival front, after all these years do you still try to enjoy being there as much as playing them?
GR: “Absolutely – you try to keep it together as much as you can until you’ve played the show, but we try to allow as much time as possible to get out there and enjoy it – although it depends on the festival a bit. It’s a shame this year that with Glastonbury we are playing the Friday but we’ve another show in Belgium the next day so we can’t stay around for too long. Last year we were able to stay all weekend though…although I can’t pretend I’m a week-long Glastonbury type like some people! We try to o a few DJ sets when we can and basically just get involved. Unless it can’t be helped we hate just crashing in and straight out – there’s a magic at festivals through the gathering of people when the sun’s out, the music’s playing, you’ve had a couple of spliffs and you’ve got a drink in your hand. That’s what it’s about. It’s why we do what we do.”

VF: Any best and worst festival moments that stand out?
GR: “Everyone still talks about Glade festival a couple of years ago. It was almost washed out, but it carried on, and I had to drive this Mercedes van up a flooded road. You can still see it on YouTube, and it just looks like we are driving up a river. It really could have been a disaster, but we made it through sheer willpower and a bit of clutch control – it could have been the worst moment, but we eventually got to the gates and it was just ‘yes!’ And that was before we even got in. That said, although we managed to get home, the hire company told us that the engine was basically fucked, so we had to help pay for a new one! It probably didn’t help that I never took it out of first gear. Another near-miss was Bearded Theory this year – we played a DJ set on Friday and the next thing I saw on the BBC the next day was the organiser being interviewed about tents flying up in the air and the main stage getting cut in half by a tornado. I think if we’d been there when that happened it could have counted as a worst moment! I’m hoping to play at a fundraiser that they are doing for the people who lost quite a bit of money on that event.”

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