Pura Vida: Costa Ricans in Hamburg
Welcome to Germany! During their first ever Pura Vida Europe tour, four artists from Costa Rica did a pit stop in Hamburg, too, and of course we had to meet them. On a breezy Saturday afternoon, yours truly met up with Selectress Night Nurse (SN), Aborijah (A), Selecta Herbalist (SH) and Ras Manuel (RM) to talk about their first exposure to Reggae, the scene in Costa Rica and their experiences on the road so far. For more information, check out their IG channels:
@selectressnightnurse @aborijah @herbalistcr @rasmanuelcr
Greetings, Costa Rica family! Let’s start with a short introduction…
RM: Hello, people! My name is Ras Manuel, I’m coming from Costa Rica. I do reggae music since I think 20 years. And yeah, we are so happy to be here in Europe, on a little tour we are doing right now to promote ourself. Hamburg we deya!
SH: Yeah, Hamburg City! My name is Selecta Herbalist from Costa Rica. I’m a reggae selector, I started out around 22 years ago. And I’m so happy to be here!
A: Yes, yes, yes Hamburg! Big up yourself. My name is Aborijah, a conscious dancehall roots artist from the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. I’m in the scene for 24 years now, and I am promoting my latest release, my EP with House Of Riddim called “The World Needs Love”.
SN: Hello, my name is Selectress Night Nurse, and I started out in music when I moved to Santa Teresa, on the Pacific side of Costa Rica, about 17 years ago.
What brought you to reggae music? What was the motivation to start reggae music?
SN: Because I love the reggae and I want to share the music with all people. I just love reggae and roots! I don’t do this for money or for fame, I play music because I love it! And to share the music with all the people around me, it’s for this reason I travel with my friends together.
A: Well, growing up on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, which is the African side, you know, it’s like a small Jamaica. Growing up with music like The Gladiators, you know, Mighty Diamonds, Peter Tosh, going to school and listening to the radios, them time, you know… I mean, of course it’s going to penetrate your mind, you know what I mean? And I was also influenced by my grandmother, who was an African indigenous lady. So, it was the whole roots and the concepts, more importantly the message that reggae roots has to offer to the people and to the younger generation. For me, reggae music is a mission, you know?
SH: Reggae music saved my life. I listen reggae music for the message and the purpose. I don’t know, it brings the people the message, the reggae message, you know. I started to listen when I was 15 years, and we found this soul rebel music. And now I always want the people to listen the good message reggae music has!
RM: Well, I discovered reggae music when I was a child. I remember my auntie used to clean the house playing some music, so I just loved hearing those riddims. But once I start on my juvenile age, I started to understand the lyrics and… I think I didn’t choose reggae music, reggae music chose I! And, yeah, reggae is a weapon. It’s a good way to communicate and bring the message to the people in my case. Bring me a lot of good lyrics to change some ways and choose a different future for myself. So that’s why I’m here!
Thank you. And how is the scene in Costa Rica?
RM: Costa Rica is huge, very big on reggae music. We consume reggae music 365 days a year. Every week, every day, every hour. You can listen to reggae music on the radio, in every local, every discotheque, every club, every bar, they play songs of reggae music. So yeah, I think it’s very big, the scene in Costa Rica, and we are on a mission trying to make the bridge and export a little of what we do and make the whole world know about us, that in Costa Rica there is good talent, good artists. So yeah, you can look for us and be part of it!
Yesterday we heard you at the Angelklub here in Hamburg. Is this something you would normally play back home in Costa Rica, or did you change it up somehow to adapt to the audience here?
SH: Yeah, I’m used to play this kind of music. But I adapted to the place, to the situation. Roots and culture, dancehall for the ladies, too. Similar to what I play in Costa Rica, because last night, there were a lot of Costa Rican people. They want to listen the original reggae night from Costa Rica here in Germany!
How is the general population of Costa Rica towards reggae? Is it big or is it only a small group that comes to parties?
A: No, it’s big! You know, most of the artists right now from Jamaica and even from Europe, they want to come to Costa Rica because people support them a lot there. Every artist will come from outside to Costa Rica, and even if it’s a small artist, he’s going to get a good forward. Our people support… they are open to see and feel the vibes from other countries. But one thing I got to say is that for a Costa Rican artist, it’s a little bit more tough, it’s a little bit more harder, you know what I mean? As Ras Manuel said, we are here on the mission to make that bridge that, the same way we welcome Jamaicans, Germans, Swiss artists, sometimes we want to feel the same vibes because we have good music, we have good lyrics, we have good selectors! So yeah, that’s one of the missions to be here to promote our music and make bridges. But Costa Rica is big in reggae music! Small country but reggae music everywhere.
You already visited some other places in Germany and in Switzerland. Do you see any differences between the audience here and in Costa Rica?
SN: Bueno, I think here it’s more dancehall. But I usually play reggae and roots, some dancehall, it depends on the situation. But last night, it was incredible for me, I felt so good! And that’s it, I feel so good when I see the people dancing!
What kind of parties do you play at in Costa Rica? How do you get your bookings?
SN: I usually play where I live, on the Pacific side. I play in a bar in front of the beach for sunset. But usually I play reggae music, more roots.
Let’s talk some more about your current projects. Aborijah, you already mentioned your album. Can you say something more about who you recorded it with? What’s like the main tracks in it?
A: Well, as I have mentioned, I recorded most of it with Sam Gilly of House of Riddim. We’ve been in contact for a few years and they give me the opportunity last year, they sent me some tracks and we recorded the first EP, released on January 11th. It’s on all digital platforms called “The World Needs Love”. And for me, one of the best songs to perform is “It’s All Over”. At the same time, I gotta mention my brethrens back home: Fire Lion Music and I’m Positive Studio with Jahricio which is an artist and a producer, and DJ Chris, that’s a DJ and he’s a promoter and producer, you know what I mean? They also built a nice rhythm not too long ago, Feel All Right riddim, it’s a big riddim. Look for that riddim right now, it’s on all digital platforms, YouTube… Feel All Right riddim from Fire Lion Music. Ras Manuel is there, myself is there, Olivia Aurora from Switzerland… you know, we’re working with them too, making singles that are coming out.
SH: My current project is here, being in Europe, you know (laughs). I live in the present here, we’re going to perform in Rototom, Spain, as part of our Europe tour. Different countries, different cultures, here in Europe and in Spain, I want to see Rototom soon! It’s my first time in Europe, first time in Germany… (laughs) Everything is new! This is my future, my future is the present now. I also have a project in Costa Rica, I have a two radio shows on Radio Urbano, I have to continue with that. I want to record some riddims, too. I have a riddim from 2018, Aborijah is deh pon di riddim, Herbalist Selection riddim.
RM: I’ve been here before once, thirteen years ago. I also came to Hamburg then, I performed in the same place that we performed yesterday, Angelklub. It was 13 years ago when I came to Switzerland for some gigs, and then I decided to stay for three months in Europe. I made a lot of links, I met many producers on the way that I now work with. One of them was Jugglerz, Shatta Paul and Meska, we did a few tunes with Million Stylez on a riddim called Reggae Miles riddim. And from there, I established good relations with some of them, and the doors are opening! Now I’m trying to promote my last EP that I recorded in Jamaica, in Tuff Gong studios. I recorded four singles there and I have a few tunes with Norris Man that is coming out soon. These are my latest things that I’m working on, and right now I’m focused on the tour that we are doing now. It’s such a good experience what we are doing, we’re coming from a long road. It’s a long, long road and we are exploring the festivals here in Europe. We’ve been through Summerjam and now we got the chance to be officially on the lineup of Rototom Sunsplash, so it’s something that is really nice for us, you know, I’m focused on that. And of course, enjoying and making this tour bigger and bigger and bigger every day! Now we are with you in an interview, it’s really a pleasure to be here, it’s a dream come true! So we are living the dream.
Safe travels, everywhere! What are some of the difficulties you encounter? Like, what are things you struggle with, preparing for the trip or coming here or being here?
RM: What is difficult is the process. The process is always very important, it’s something that maybe everybody ignore because you just see the result, you just see the last picture, you just see the funny things. But behind everything there is pain, there is struggles, there is good and bad feelings of course, but it’s part of the process and we are enjoying it, too.
SH: It’s a sacrifice! You know, I leave my work in Costa Rica, there I have a lot of shows and events. I produce some events, reggae events, I had to leave that. I have to leave the family, the food, it’s different here (everybody laughs in agreement). We leave everything in Costa Rica, but it’s a good experience, and we are living the dream, as Ras Manuel said. Ready for anything Jah gives to us!
A: It’s true, it’s true what he said. Actually, before I came, some few things happened, I have to leave things in order, because we also have a life, you know, we have family, we have a mother, I have a son. We’ve been planning this a few months ago, saving some money to make it happen and come and promote ourselves. So yeah, the struggle is there, but I believe that behind every struggle something beautiful has to happen when you sacrifice something. You know what I mean? No expectation, but that’s the way that life awards you sometimes. And we’re really happy to be here, just to share with all the people from Europe our music, our Pura Vida vibes, our good energy!
And what do you wish for the future?
SN: Continue with the music! I would like to make a new project when I’m back in Santa Teresa, to San Jose.
RM: I wish to come back and to perform with a band. I wish to meet more producers and work with more producers. This is what I wish, this is one of my biggest intention on this trip.
SH: I want to play in a lot of festivals here! So we deya, follow me on social media, Selecta Herbalists to the world! I have some mixtapes on YouTube, Soundcloud… We are ready, and everybody is welcome to Costa Rica! We say Rasta Rica, Pura Vida, everybody welcome to Costa Rica. We love reggae music every day!
A: Yes, we want to say thank you to, Sista Gardy, to Irie Ites Germany, for the opportunity to do this humble and nice interview. We are a solid crew, we try to maintain it like that. And as Ras Manuel said, we’re here on a mission, trying to work with producers and make a voice and a name out there. You know what I mean? All the power and the glory to the Almighty. Blessed love!
Text & Fotos: Gardy Stein
