Band & Music

Q. UB40 has been together for over 40 years. What’s the secret to your longevity?

A. I have no idea why we lasted so long in the music business, mostly luck I suppose. But I also think we are a pretty good live band with a unique sound, so that has probably helped too.

Q.  Are you working on any new music right now?

A. Yes, we are currently working on a new album right now. I really enjoy making
new music.

Live Performance

Q.  What can Atlanta fans expect from your upcoming show?

A. We will obviously be playing all the hits. People would be very disappointed if we left them out of the set, but we will be playing some new material too.

As a band we like to try and indulge ourselves, or at least test ourselves to see if we can get away with playing tunes none of the fans have ever heard before. Luckily, we have a lot of hits to fall back on if the audience look like they’re losing the will to live.

Q.  What’s the energy like when you perform live versus recording in the
studio?

A. Live performance and recording are two completely different disciplines.
Recording requires lots of patience, you have to try and capture the dynamics of live
performance, but it’s for posterity, so you don’t want the inevitable mistakes that
happen live.

Anyone from the outside could be driven mad by playing the same few
seconds of music over and over and over again to iron out the glitches.

Of course, when you are concentrating you don’t notice, but to an outsider it’s probably a bit like
torture.

Because of the advance of digital technology, the ability to record music has
become democratized to the point that anyone with a computer can create music for
themselves without massive financial investment. But not everyone can get up on
stage and reproduce the music to a good standard. It takes a completely different set of skills and ensemble playing to do that.

Musical Journey

Q.  How do you approach reimagining classic reggae songs for your
audience?

A. Generally we try to keep the original tempo of the song mostly the same, but we
try to approach the backing track from a completely different angle. Making effort not to reproduce the original musically in any way.

Touring & Atlanta

Q.  What do you enjoy most about touring in the US?

A. It’s the best place in the world to be on ‘the road’. Most other places require lots of
flying from country to country, but the USA is all about being on the road – hours and
hours on the tour bus.

When you are with your brothers and best friends (which we are to each other), it’s just fun.

We all get on really well, not like a lot of older bands who don’t really like each other and are only together when on stage.

We genuinely like each others’ company. It can be grueling sometimes, which is why we call this new tour “relentless,” but we know we can rely on each other. And being a genuine band we can share the burden of responsibility, and keep each other on track.

Current & Future

Q.  How has the music industry changed since you started, and how have you
adapted?

A. As far as records are concerned, the music business is unrecognizable from the
late 1970’s and early 1980’s when we started.

The rise of digital technology has completely transformed the record business.

The democratization of the means of production has created access to record making, while at the same time undermining the value of recorded music – and streaming platforms have helped that along too.

Maybe that’s why younger generations don’t really want to pay for it.

Record sales have completely tanked. Nobody buys albums anymore, as even the top artists are only selling a fraction of what was sold when we first started.

Luckily, the live scene has proved to be very robust. While the business has been transformed by technology, performing live has stayed the same for centuries.

You turn up, set up, perform, get paid, and move to the next town.

Like I already said, anyone can make a record these days, but not everyone can get up on stage and reproduce that record to a level that justifies people handing over their hard-earned cash to witness.

Personal Touch

Q.  When you’re not touring, what do you enjoy doing?

A. When I get home it’s family time. We all have big families, lots of kids and grandkids, many of them grown up together.

I’ve got four grown-up daughters, their partners, and even grown-up grandkids, as well as a four-year-old grandson who is like a tornado passing through the house.

We mostly live close to each other, so getting together is a very regular thing, for meals or watching movies. Just normal stuff.

Q.  What advice would you give to musicians starting out today?

A. Can’t say I’ve got much advice for young artists about how to negotiate the pitfalls
of the modern music business, but one thing has been very important for us is the
fact that we have always shared everything we do equally between the original band
members.

Nobody gets more than anyone else, so we all feel we have a stake in the
success of the band. Everyone contributes in their own way.

That is probably the thing that has kept us together for all these years, and why we still get on so well
with each other still. For a band I think it’s essential.