Aldubb meets Diana Levi – Interview with Diana Levi

Aldubb_Diana Aldubb meets Diana Levi

2012 saw the release of the extraordinary 10 Inch from the Berlin based dubproducer Aldubb and the singer Diana Levi from Poland. A more than interesting project for sure! But also a project, that evokes questions about how it came about, the lyrics of the songs and more. So Diana Levi was questioned by Irie Ites.de….

The release of the 10 Inch together with Aldubb from Berlin was not too long ago. How did you and Aldubb meet and how did this project evolve?

We were connected on the Web. I heard the song “Mother Earth” and I felt that it is a high quality dub. I googled the name Aldubb and found him. I sent him a short message on myspace, that I really love the track and I would love to make a collab with him. Then a year after we’ve met in Poland, Sound Camp in Człuchów, we performed together for the first time and it started to shine*

What do you like most about the productions of Aldubb?

Proper bass, deep sound and professional skills. I love to work with him, he is really fast, he exactly knows what he wants. I think we have a similar view about the dub and bass music, that is why is so easy and comfortable to work together.

Since not too many people speak or understand Polish. Could you give us a brief idea of the content, lets take “Stwortki w Kapturkach” for example!

Hehe 😀 Stworki w Kapturkach…jeah, a lot of people ask me the same question. In this particular one, for the polish I use to say that’s an art so feel free to the way you going to read it. But for you, hmm, I would say… its about the creatures with captures, who live around us, you can read whatever you like – as people, as feelings, as pictures of something or behaviors of all us. All those live between us, you can touch them, you can only look at them. But you should mind that they live between us.Ufff 😀

Aldubb Diana Levi

In 2012 you went on a little tour with Aldubb and Jah Seal in Poland. How would you describe the reaction of the massives?

Hmmm..I heard mostly the opinion about the deep feeling alongside connected with music and the lyrics. Meditation. I saw people standing and dancing with eyes closed. The biggest dub massive nowadays is in Krakow, so I think they liked it most. I felt really nice looking at how Aldubb works on all this equipment he brings. He is master of the sound.

I know that the polish reggae-szene ist very lively. What role does Dub play in Poland?

Mostly conscious, meditative connection. Of course its not so popular now, I would say pop reggae or dancehall are on top…but Dub has a lot of people involved in. The soundsystem scene is getting bigger and bigger every year. We have for example a free label Paproota Dub.org, which collabs with producers and sounds from Europe. This means we are getting better and better and the quality of dub productions is not too bad as well. Also, I have the feeling, that still not too many understand the way of, how dub music rolls and what it means. The world is crazy, people are busy…its hard to stop sometimes, close your eyes and just go through and deep into music, the same is with life. Maybe that’s why.

Is the 10 Inch getting a lot of reactions and support in Poland?

Not so much really. I think that what we made with Aldubb is kind of alternative reggae. But I have a lot of positive reactions from polish artist and reggae activists. Someone said, that my lyrics are poetry, for me that means a lot. More than making money. Because for me, in music the goal is to say something important, the goal is to make people stop for a minute and think deeply about their lives. The goal is simple. Simplicity.

Diana Giurov turned into Diana Levi. What was the inspiration for you to turn towards reggae?

Hmm.. I did not plan it. At the time when I was thinking about a name, I was reading about the 12 tribes of Israel, I was also studying in artistic school where I had a subject – history of music. When I heard, that the tribe of singers in the old testament was called Levits..then it was like a sign, its me, I’m a Levi. I remember I even wrote a song about this. At the end, after a few years I’m really happy with the name, I believed it can be used connected with different genres, and sound nice I heard 😀 haha!

What projects have you got in the pipeline?

First of all I would love to finish my album with Aldubb. This precious thing is really important to me. And..I am working on a few EPs with Jabbadub, FleCk, King Bracket and some smaller things. Would be nice for me to release also my own polish album, I have everything ready but I need to find a label interested in helping me.

I am also planning to form my band…What could be a surprise for some of you is, that it’s not going to be reggaeband 😀

Interview: Karsten Frehe (02/2013)

www.one-drop.de

About Karsten

Founder of the Irie Ites radio show & the Irie Ites Music label, author, art- and geography-teacher and (very rare) DJ under the name Dub Teacha. Host of the "Foward The Bass"-radio show at ByteFM.