Dub Inc, a reggae band from Saint-Étienne, France hit Adelaide’s Womad fans with a bang on their first trip down under. Their pulsating reggae dancehall music infused in a hip hop medley had the audience swaying, jumping and grooving to the beats.
Witnessing the performance of Dub Inc. was a unique experience especially for reggae fanatics and dub groove lovers.
Using a mixture of French, English, Arabic and Kabayle (African Dialect) the group blends dancehall, dub, ska and rap to flavour their songs, mesmerising the thousands jamming to their tracks.
Komlan performing on stage at Womadelaide 2014
Salt Magazine spoke with Komlan, one of the leading vocalists whose roots lie in Africa as his mother is from Benin. He said the group is like a family, they all started mucking around playing music at an early age.
The band comprises various nationalities but when on stage you see them as one, and as friends. “We spend a good time together, we developed this chemistry you know, through playing music, and now we travel the world together”
The group sings about injustice, racism, discrimination and integration in France. “When you look at France, it’s a big melting pot and we are part of the system so we want to talk about racism but in a positive way so we can all work together”.
Komlan said they are strongly influenced by English reggae artists such as ‘Black Uhuru’ however their aim is to come up with their own brand of music. “We don’t want to play only reggae, we want to show all our influences, we want to do our taste of reggae” he added.
For all aspiring artists out there Komlan’s advice is you don’t have to wait for someone to make it happen for you, do something for yourself”
SALT Magazine looks forward to seeing them again next time they come Down Under.
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