After a techno opening, complete with spaceship sound effects, Steel Pulse took the stage in a multi-colored blur of Jamaican and African inspired garb that seemed to float on the rock-steady beat powered by original Steel Pulse member Stephen "Grizzly" Nisbett and bassist Alvin Ewen, along with Conrad Kelly on percussion. Grizzly's beard may have grayed a bit since the band's Rock Against Racism days of the seventies, but he kept traditional reggae time as the band segued through "Life Without Music," "Black and Proud," and "Islands Unite."

[Photos immediately above and below by Tim Owen]

"It was twenty years ago this year that Bob Marley went to meet our maker," said lead singer David Hinds, dreadlocks flowing. "Thirty-five years ago, His Royal Highness Hailie Selassie the First made his first and only visit to Jamaica. Twenty years ago, Muhammad Ali was crowned the heavyweight champion of the world, and ten years ago policemen played judge and jury with Rodney King."

After this brief history lesson to add a bit of perspective to the afternoon, they chanted into "Chant A Psalm" from True Democracy, followed by one of their better-known anthems from that 1982 Elektra release, "Rally Round (Worth His Weight in Gold)" about the colors of the Jamican flag. Selwyn Brown leapt from behind the keyboards to rap, and this slight hip-hop flavor updated this reggae anthem nicely. Hinds played rhythm guitar to Clifford "Moonie" Pusey's leads, and Donna Sterling's vocals soared on "Never Turn Your Back on Jah." One thing that's unique about a Steel Pulse show: you get a mix of history, some great rock-steady reggae, superior musicianship, and the songs all seem to flow into one another.

When Hinds sang "Taxi Driver," it reminded me of how Steel Pulse continues not only to sing about injustice but also to play a crucial role in helping people help themselves. This 1991 song from their Victims release mirrors the band's $1 million class action lawsuit against New York City's Taxi & Limousine Commission. In the 1992 suit, Steel Pulse charged that taxi drivers refused to pick up blacks and Rastafarians throughout the streets of New York. The band also performed in a video of the song with the Rev Al Sharpton, Jay Leno, Branford Marsalis, C. Thomas Howell and filmmaker Robert Townsend, among others.

The set closed with two songs that brought the upbeat, positive message that is a Steel Pulse tradition, "Reggae Fever" and "Back to My Roots," both captured live on the group's debut disc on Tuff Gong, Living Legacy.

I talked with Steel Pulse co-founder Selwyn Brown shortly after their late afternoon WOMAD set. Selwyn Brown had changed into street clothes from his bright blue dashiki-inspired suit.

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Cosmik: Thank you for taking time out to talk to me today. I've been a big Steel Pulse fan for many years. I saw you guys when your hair was all black. That must have been twenty years ago or so.

Brown: Oh yeah. We left our black hair at home.

Cosmik: Steel Pulse continues to sing about some pretty difficult subjects. How has the band been able to keep the sound fresh for nearly two decades?

Brown: When we originally started this band, we wanted to create music that would inspire people in the same kind of way that we felt inspired by the music we were growing up on. Music by such artists as Bob Marley, Burning Spear, and all the conscious reggae singers like the Abyssians, Gladiators, Peter Tosh, Wailing Souls, Bunny Wailer, and Third World. We were inspired by them, and we wanted to create music that would inspire people in much the same way. Fortunately for us, even though that there are only three original members of the band left - we have musicians that come in and out of the band - these musicians have adopted the same philosophy toward music, whether they are with us for six months or ten years, and basically, they contribute to Steel Pulse. Many of our musicians were fans themselves before they came into the band so they knew what we were about. I think because of our message, we deal with the realities of the have-nots of the world. We also deal with environmental issues, political issues and religious issues, difficult issues all over the border.

Cosmik: It breaks my heart that we talk of racism today. I thought that stuff would be all behind us.

Brown: It is very, very unfortunate, yes.

Cosmik: In this region, here in the Pacific Northwest, we've had the World Trade Organization protests that you may have seen in the news. Racial profiling is a reality, you just have to look at the headlines.

Brown: I've seen that. It is very unfortunate. We still have to talk about it because these things are still happening every day all around the world. Certain things have improved over the years, though. One thing that has improved is that people are mixing more. Your kids and my kids are all growing up together. Therefore, if our kids grew up on the same block, my kids would eat the food you eat and your kids would visit our home and eat the food we eat. They'd come to my house and see pictures of Marcus Garvey and we would all talk about that. Same thing would be true of your house, too. It is a generational thing, really. The roots of racism are so strong; it has taken many generations to break them down.

Cosmik: In addition to this tour, what's next for Steel Pulse?

[Photo by Tim Owen]

Brown: For the last couple of years, we have been working on a new studio album, on and off. The reason why it takes so long is that we normally take a long time to do our albums. The music has to be of a certain standard as far as the playing, as far the production, and the lyrics, it all has to sound right. What we're doing this summer is taking a break from the studio to tour with all of the musicians. It keeps us in touch with each other. Most of the band lives in England, but some of the guys live in New York, so tours like this pay the bills and keep us all in-tune with each other.

Cosmik: Who's the woman who's joined you on this tour? She's got quite a voice.

Brown: That's Donna Sterling. She's been with us for three and a half years now.

Cosmik: She wasn't on Living Legacy, though.

Brown: Yes she was. She was on parts of it. Living Legacy was not recorded in just a single show. The songs were taken from a variety of places with different line-ups of the band. That's why you'll hear some horns on some of the songs, and no horns at all on some of the other songs. Over time, we brought the women in because people would ask backstage 'how come you don't have any women in the band?' We tried it and it works.

[Photo by Tim Owen]

Cosmik: You guys don't stop. Today at WOMAD, you packed in not only some great music from every era of Steel Pulse, but you also taught us a little history, too.

Brown: We really try to make our shows a whole package. As opposed to us just going onstage and playing and going home, we want to give people something back to think about when they go home. That's why we put on our costumes. We ask all of our musicians to put one on.

Cosmik: Yours was very colorful. Very blue.

Brown: Thank you. Especially for our newer members, it becomes second nature after awhile.

Cosmik: You've added some raps into a few of the songs as you jump out from behind your keyboard and cross the stage. How have the other core members of the band reacted to this style of rapping? Was this a natural thing? A natural transition?

Brown: It's partly natural and it's a link to your pop music today. We all listen a lot of music. We enjoy your pop music and we realize that for us to keep attracting the young audiences, we have to do certain things to do that.

Cosmik: The way you work rap into the songs, it flows just like your traditional style.

Brown: Thanks. It's something that we enjoy and it's something that the youngsters can say, when they hear it, 'hey, let's take a listen to this stuff.' The younger people will also ask, 'who are these old guys anyway?' This does draw the youngsters in and again: it is something that we all enjoy. It keeps us up to date with what's happening as well.

Cosmik: I'd like to talk briefly about the way you open your Living Legacy CD. You begin by talking about a famous battle and revolution right at the start. You did that this afternoon during your set here at WOMAD. You talked about the tenth anniversary of Rodney King, you honored the achievements of Muhammad Ali, and I think too few musicians take on this type of conscious message. When I listen to the radio today, I'm depressed. Without Steel Pulse, these messages are lost.

Brown: We keep this knowledge happenin' and we remind people that these things are still going on, you know it is going on, and we're trying to give these messages a voice to people who do not have a voice.

(C) 2001 - Eric Steiner