Interview with Ethiopian band Dub Colossus
By ARomero
World Music Central
I’ve followed the career of Nick Page for a few years. He was a member of TransGlobal Underground and is now one of the components of Temple of Sound, two of my favorite world music groups. Page uses several artistic nicknames, such as Dubulah and Count Dubulah. Dub Colossus is one of his latest projects. I was very curious about this project and Dubula, as usual, did not disappointment me.
Dubulah’s musical taste is very eclectic. He has ventured into Arabic, Jamaican, South Asian and Latin American music. In this case, however, he pursues his passion for Ethiopian music by combining his state of the art electronica expertise with the vocals and instruments of some of Ethiopia’s most talented musicians as well as ambient sounds recorded in the streets of Addis Ababa in August 2006.
For the recording sessions in the UK, Real World Records invited singer Sintayehu ‘Mimi’ Zenebe (Addis Ababa night club owner ), saxophonist Feleke Hailu, Teremag Weretow (vocals and messenqo one-string fiddle), pianist Samuel Yirga and Tsedenia Gebremarkos, winner of a Kora award as the best female singer in East Africa in 2004.
The result is a brilliant mix of rootsy Ethiopian melodies, mesmerizing African blues, and the exquisite dub and trippy global electronica enrichments provided by Dubulah. Let Dub Colossus take you to a Town Called Addis.