Prof's recipe: dice, slice and mix

By Mike Houlahan

Neil Fraser, the Mad Professor, is hard at work in his laboratory.

As the call connects to his South London recording studio, a massive blast of raga-muffin reggae booms down the line. He winds the volume down and explains he is working on an album which demonstrates reggae is now an international language.

"I'm producing the new album by a Marseilles group, the Massilla Sound System," he explains. "They're wild raga-muffin DJs. There are all types of French reggae bands. We've known these guys for many years. They're a very good group."'

Guyana-born Fraser started experimenting with electronics early on, making his first radio at the age of 8.

He then discovered dub reggae - stripped back, rhythmic and mostly instrumental mixes of songs - and knew that was what he wanted to do.

In 1979 Fraser started building his own studio, making his own mixing console, sound board and effects gear such as phasers, echo and reverb units.

"I had to make them: I couldn't afford to buy them. But it meant I knew exactly what they were capable of, and could make them do the things I wanted them to do."

Once he had made the machines, he started to make the music. Dub Me Crazy, his first release, was hailed as a classic, and gave birth to a 12-album series of Dub Me Crazy records - just a few of the more than 20 albums Fraser has released as Mad Professor.

Before he knew it he was also operating his own record label, which he called Ariwa - a corruption of an African word meaning sound and noise. Artists such as Pato Banton, Macka B and Lee Scratch Perry have recorded for Ariwa, which is one of only two studio-owning reggae labels to survive for any length of time in Britain: it is also believed to be the biggest black-owned studio in England.

It's also slightly grander these days, with all the modern equipment Fraser could wish for to further his sonic exploration. That said, in many ways he still prefers the old methods.

"We've just got a whole heap of new computer gear here at the studio, but we've still got the analog room.

"`The album I'm working on now is all analog, and all the drums and bass are live. But we can do either. A lot of my remixes now I use the computer or sequencer, but myself I like to use the old equipment."

However, it's remix work that has brought the Mad Professor to the notice of music fans beyond the reggae world. Most notably he took the acclaimed Massive Attack album Protection and diced, sliced and mashed it into an album of Mad Professor mixes titled No Protection.

The remix version even outsold Protection in some places. It also led to much more remix work, including reworkings of artists as diverse as the Orb, Sade, Jane's Addiction, Depeche Mode and the Beastie Boys.

"My approach to remixing depends on what ideas they have, and what ideas I get from hearing their music," Fraser says.

"Sometimes people come in with a set idea of what they want it to sound like, and you have to try and make sure their idea and your idea don't clash. You have to try and make a marriage of your ideas about music and find a middle ground.

Massive Attack, some things they had quite definite ideas about, but some tracks they left completely up to me."

It is as a live performer that Fraser returns to New Zealand for his third tour here. As he isn't a musician, that might seem strange.

Essentially, Fraser sets up a small version of Ariwa studios on stage. The bass and the rhythms are all laid down and ready to go, and as they pump out their irresistible beat, Fraser goes to work, mixing them with all manner of mind-bending musical effects.

For this tour he has brought along two Ariwa label sidekicks, MC Nolan Irie and singer Earl "16" Daley, who is probably best known as the vocalist on Leftfield's dance-floor hit Release the Pressure.

"I've done one album with him [Earl 16] on Ariwa, and worked with him on various projects for other labels.

"We did a version of Holding Back the Years, the Simply Red song, back in 1985, so it has been a long association. We'll do some songs together, and he'll be doing a set of his own material." - NZPA

Who: The Mad Professor

Where: Dance Tent (Sweetwaters) and Powerstation

When: Saturday at 8 pm (Sweetwaters) and Saturday, January 30 (Powerstation)

Pictured: Neil Fraser aka the Mad Professor.