Dubmatix

"Canadian producer, Dubmatix, creates some of the freshest reggae around. What's so fabulous about the outing by Dubmatix out of Canada is he's taken dub & reggae and pushed the envelope in a creavtive sense and taken it to another level...it's like a brand new break through"
Dermot Hussey XM Radio "The Joint" - XM Radio USA

Toronto's Dubmatix do it right on Renegade Rocker, a full-throttle set of upbeat, positive reggae with tight riddims, inspired dub effects, sweet horns and guests galore. Ranking Joe (with two excellent contributions, "Tornado" and "Give Thanks and Praises"), Linval Thompson ("Peace and Love"), Michael Rose ("Easy Down"), Pinchers ("Rock And A Hard Place"), Alton Ellis (on the superb "Blessing Of Compassion"), Sugar Minott, Willi Williams, Wayne Smith and more pack these hardcore roots riddims with energy and powerful performances and the dubs make it clear the disc would sound great ever if there were no guests. An excellent set from beginning to end.
Chuck Foster - The BEAT Magazine (Vol. 27 No. 3 2008 Oct/Nov) - Chuck Foster - The BEAT Magazine

Artist calls on reggae masters for new CD Renegade Rocker
THE TORONTO SUN - June 27 2008 by Errol Nazareth

There's no denying that hearing the classic dub reggae record, King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown, marked a pivotal moment in Jesse King's life.

Everton "Pablo" Paul, a Canadian reggae legend who played in a band with King's dad, Bill, gave him the disc when he was a teen and it blew his mind.

"I'd never heard anything like it," King recalls. "It had this thundering groove that just did not stop. It was relentless. And it had echo and reverb and delay, which I've been a fan of.

"It had everything that I loved in one sound," he adds. "In fact, I still have the cassette tape that I ripped from that album in my car."

While many of us can relate to King's experience -- I recall my brain frying the first time I heard Public Enemy -- very few of us go on to make music that comes close to matching the intensity and excitement of a record that impacted us.

But, that's exactly what King's done.

Under the cool moniker Dubmatix, King has just released Renegade Rocker, a record packed with 16 rib cage-rattling blasts of authentic dub, classic reggae and electro-dub. The musicianship and production is stellar, and the contributions of reggae legends Michael Rose, Sugar Minott, Alton Ellis and Willi Williams make this disc even more essential. Toronto voices on Renegade Rocker include Raffa Dean, Ammoye and Kulcha Ites.

Dubmatix is essentially a one-man operation. King, who began working on the record last July, played drums, bass, keys, melodica, and percussion on Renegade Rocker.

He says the record evolved organically, that he wasn't chasing a particular sound.

But, speaking with King, you get an idea of how much pressure he puts on himself to not only deliver hard-'n'-heavy music, but to continue a rich music tradition.

"I ended up with about 80 to 100 tracks, then I got it down to about 30 tracks, then down to 20 and then down to 16," says King. "I've listened to every song on this album between five hundred and a thousand times because when I work on a song I'll spend two or three days listening to it over and over.

"I'm a perfectionist, but I also know when to wrap it up," he says.

After laying down the drum and bass, King says he puts on "the piano, guitar, the organ, and any riffs I hear in my head. And then the singer comes in and when he's done, I'll bring in the horns, add percussion and guitar solos. That's like the icing on the cake."

And how did he manage to get so many reggae icons on Renegade Rocker?

"A lot of networking and I just got in touch with them," he says matter-of-factly.

"I'd talk to them on the phone, tell them what I was doing, what I've done, and ask them if they were interested. Fortunately, all of them were. So, I gave each of them two or three different rhythm tracks and asked them to use whatever they were feeling the most. With some of them, I'd send them the music and within three days I'd have it back (with their contribution)."

King says one of his challenges was to find a sound that matched a singer's style.

"For example, the track with Ranking Joe, that's very much a modern kinda roots sound." he says. "Whereas the track featuring Alton Ellis has an old-school reggae sound. And if something has a more electro feel, then I'll go with a synth sound.

"So, there's a lot of experimentation involved," he adds. "I'll try a variety of sounds and styles until I think it'll work."

Dubmatix, Chameleon Project, and Muva Soundsystem are at Lee's Palace Monday. $10. 529 Bloor St. W.

Dubmatix are featured in Jamaican Echoes, a documentary on dub reggae that airs Sunday at 8 p.m. on CBC Radio 1 (99.1 FM) and noon on Radio 2 (94.1 FM). - Errol Nazareth - The Toronto Sun

Dubmatix's Renegade Riddims
By David Dacks

Dubmatix’s new disc, Renegade Rockers, is without a doubt the most star-studded Canadian reggae album of all time. The guest vocalists on Rockers represent six decades of Jamaican music, from grandfatherly Alton Ellis, whose first record came out in 1959, to contemporary Jamaican-Canadians Ammoye and Raffa Dean. Along the way, the mix incorporates Black Uhuru’s Michael Rose, early dancehall artists Sugar Minott, Linval Thompson and Ranking Joe and digital dancehall stars Pinchers and Wayne Smith. These very special guest stars add significantly to the man born Jesse King’s speaker-rattling electro-dubscapes. Dubmatix’s sound is resolutely modern, but differs greatly from the joyless dancehall styles gaining so much hipster cred. Though assembled by laptop, it remains organic, with a sweetness derived from a lifetime of Jamaican inspiration.

His method was born from a studio accident a few years ago. “The whole concept of everything I’ve done is contained in the fifth track from the first album [Journey To the Center Of the Dub],” says King. “I took a King Tubby sample and dropped it on a house beat. Eventually I yanked the sample out entirely, but that’s what the electro dub that I’ve been creating came from. You can use the same tempo as the roots stuff and just throw a faster beat on it.”

His approach to collaboration with these giants of Jamaican music is also very contemporary, and offers intriguing possibilities to other dance music-based laptop artists. King has always played with local artists wherever he’s toured, and the proposition for Rockers extended the concept. “I thought it would be a cool idea to do a tour, maybe ten shows, and bring one of these [singers] each time we go out. So I called them all, sent them down a bunch of music I was into, and they all agreed. These guys are still really eager to keep doing music.”
Exclaim Magazine Link - David Dacks - Exclaim Magazine

"Dubmatix, one man with a relentlessly inventive approach to reverb, rhythm, and reggae - the Primary colors on any dub producers palette. On "Renegade Rocker" he works with vocal legends such as Linval Thompson, Alton Ellis and Sugar Minott to create an album of deep authentic, glass-rattling dub platters"
iTunes Canada / USA July 2008 - iTunes USA

Exclaim Magazine #3 Record of 2008

#1 - Erykah Badu New Amerykah Pt. 1: 4th World War (Motown)
#2 - Al Green Lay It Down (Blue Note)

# 3 Dubmatix Renegade Rockers (7 Arts)
Decadent roots production only begins to describe Dubmatix's third album, Renegade Rocker, and with a star studded guest list including vocalists I Wayne, Pinchers and the late Alton Ellis it is solid proof that Toronto’s dub king is a heavy contender on the world stage. Dubmatix’s modus operandi is to keep the proceedings interesting at all times: tracks chock full of delectable sounds, spiralling echoes, multiple counter melodies and background effects make good old fashioned hypnotic repetition dub seem bland by comparison.
Brent Hagerman - Brent Hagerman - 2008 Music Roundup Exclaim Magazine

Earshot Radio Charts #1 International cd of 2008 (National Radio Chart) - Earshot National Radio Charts