Dub Club is a Los Angeles staple and has been going strong every week for 10 years. In 2000, Jason Mason, Eddie Ruscha, and Tom Chasteen were all friends and decided to start a weekly reggae club where they could play the classic records they loved and collected fanatically (a 4th selector named David Orlando later joined the group). No ipods here – strictly turntables and vinyl. For the first year or two the crowds were small but gradually it caught on and grew more and more popular with a young and diverse crowd. Eventually they took the next step of bringing in the original artists they idolized to come and perform live. Not as a history lesson, but as a party.

This Wednesday night the legendary Dub Club hosts two of the most critically acclaimed selectors in the world, Sir David Rodigan and Downbeat the Ruler. This is not a clash but a night of pure musical madness.

On July 28 they will host their 10 year anniversary party. Over the past decade the world renowned club night has brought many legendary artists to LA to perform, such as Ranking Trevor, Tappa Zukie, and Welton Irie who had never performed in California before. Resident DJs Tom Chasteen, Boss Harmony, Dungeonmaster, and Roy Corduroy spin strictly vinyl, and strictly reggae, every wednesday night at The Echoplex in Echo Park LA. Jah Faith, Ras Benji, and guests have been holding it down on the mic. Over the last 5 years Dub Club have compiled footage of what are now referred to as legendary sessions of reggae icons toasting to their favorite riddims and have plans to release a documentary called Return of the Rub-A-Dub-Style.

David Rodigan, Lloyd Hemmings & Ranking Joe. Photo by Boss Harmony.

Check out a clip of Dub Club’s documentary film Return of the Rub-A-Dub-Style to be released this summer.

Ask most people to picture a reggae artist and they will think of Bob Marley singing with his band playing behind him. The real roots of reggae grew from a giant wall of speakers, an echo-laden voice chanting over a microphone, a selector flipping through stacks of 45s to find the right riddim to play next, they grew from soundsystem style reggae. The concept of performers rapping over records, the idea of the remix, the promotion of the bass to the lead instrument, all these trends come out of the soundsystems.

Starting in the 1950s, soundsystem operators in Jamaica would set up their speakers outdoors and play American R&B records for their dancing patrons. Some time in the 60s DJs began chatting between the selections, to hype up the crowd or introduce the next tune. In the Jamaican terminology, the DJ is the one who talks on the mic, and the selector is the one who spins the records. As General Smiley, of the famous Michigan and Smiley DJ duo, points out in Rub-A-Dub, “a jockey rides a horse, and a disc jockey rides the riddim.”

Dub Club has blessed us with a free download from Tippa Lee. The music is played by Dub Club All Stars. Tippa Lee started in reggae music as a kid of 8, toasting on the mic for his fathers sound system. He did his first recording at age 11 at King Tubbys studio, alongside Toyan and Johnny Slaughter. Later in his career he teamed up with Rappa Robert and had many hits in Jamaica, such as “No Trouble We ” which was a No1. “Nah Call No Police” is a warning to all pirates…This track is one of many that the Echodelic Soundsystem has recorded with veteran artists. Rather than cutting specials , we have focused on cutting original tunes, which we will be starting to release this summer, after the release of our DVD “Return of The Rub A Dub Style”.

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Click to Download “Tippa Lee – Me Nah Call No Police”
(Stream & Download Courtesy of Media Contender)