Rebel Lion Sound System: Three the Zeb Way

• Three the Zeb Way
• Three selector born on the same day all ‘playing roots in their own way’
• Zeb 22, Siman Reality, and King Simeon 
• Sat 23rd September
• Gonzo’s Two Room, 68 Bank Plain, Norwich, NR2 1JT

“Three the Zeb Way"....

3 selectors, all born on the same day, all playing roots 'in their own way'

a dance a long, long,long time in the making.....

1st two 'blood brothers' , in life and in music, discovering they were born on the same day,

years later discovering yet another blood brother , in life and in music was also born that exact same day,

not long after ,all coming to the same conclusion, "we have to play a dance for that"....

often talked about ,

vague plans muttered,

venues suggested,

affirmations of intent made,

life issues , elements of the i-nervise and more getting in the way...

and now as nature intended, on this month of Zebulon, 2023, it's come to be....

as White Mice did sing "Nothing Ever Done Before The Time"!!!

featuring 3 Zebulon /September born roots selectors spanning the generations & denominations of the nowatimes highly varied, many nations involved & multi dimensional UK roots and culture family tree.

all coming together as one , for a night of Zeb muzikal vibes and expression.

and as products of their own muzikal environments , some shared, some unique to each ,

all playing roots & culture "in their own way" .

plastic, dubplate cd, polyvinyl dubz, and original 'black steel' acetate dub slate a run.(maybe even a SA-X 90 dubplate cassette or ,dub dat or two) .

'irregular' tune aplenty, and plenty h'exclusive/ exclusive selections.

**for anyone wishing to travel to Norwich we strongly advise buying a ticket now as the club is very limited capacity , and events sell out in advance**

featuring:( you're prob best to put on the kettle or pour yourself a cold drink, and take a seat)

King Simeon, from the "school of the 90's".

growing up in the Wiltshire city of Salisbury , his launchpad & formative first steps on his reggae trod came through seeing Jah Shaka's now legendary Brighton's Essential Festival all day session under a 'big top' . checking Blackamix's 'Dub School' Promotions, attending Camberwell's then regular underground roots & dub spot, 'Imperial Gardens' ( and at one time home of an Aba Shanti I residency) . along with extensive travelling up and down the country to go to various roots and dub sessions .

when it came to buying tune , he undertook very traditional type 'record trips to London' . with stops at Camden's strictly roots reggae & dub specialists...The Dub Stall /Dub Shack (run by Dougie Conscious & Bags ),and also at decade to decade reggae record stalwarts Dub Vendor & Supertone records. as well as picking tunes from stalls at sessions and from old collectors and various 'link's he picked along the way.

over the course of these travels and links building up a wide network of musical associates across the land ..and leading to a very unique situation. ending up finding himself , to our knowledge , the one & only dual apprentice & master pupil , of not one but two of the UK dub and roots powerhouses. that are Iration Steppas and Jah Tubby's sound systems , of Chapeltown, Leeds and Hackney, East London respectively.

going on to pass both proving grounds of muzikal schoolings , with flying colours, distinctions and merits galore. which all helped build the skills , stripes and knowledge that he took into his later role as a dynamic , dedicated and diligent , globally influential ,roots & dub activist and propigator .ending up with his own sound system , record label, studio, dubplate productions and more.

here’s a taste of his own productions and remix works…

https://kingsimeon.bandcamp.com/album/peckham-dub

https://nyabin.bandcamp.com/album/formulla-writings-on-the-wall-vibescreator-records-digital-relases-3

after a long old stint residing in the musical hotbed of London town , Sim is now back hailing out of the deepest birdsongtastic Wiltshire sticks.( and some of us thought a Hamlet, was just a brand of cigar! ). but the music works continue sameway, and his passport is still good for Chapeltown, Homerton , Little London, Peckham, Brixton, Mainland Europe, Bristol and beyond .and you can catch him yearly playing at Jah Tubby's spot at St.Paul's Carnival... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9k1RXyKe60I

as with any true school of the 90's roots crew member, who grew up when yard roots, uk roots and oldies would all play in the same dance (and not just with oldies seen by many a sound & selector as fit to only play the 'warm up'/early doors' role). he plays across the board musically. and the roots , and the culture of the music & selection remain integral to his selection . with not just dub & steppers styles extracted from the vast & wide sphere of roots & culture music , like some kind of weird 80's sci fi movie gene splice laboratory experiment scene .

with his studio works continuing on whilst his label takes a sabbatical. trust us when we say, he always has some 'secret service' home studio brewed dubplates ready at the press of a button for sonic dispatch .

get set for an unleashing of rootsical expression in all directions , selection without reigns, as we love it out east.

take a musical sip of King Simeon vibes, from 35.30 mins https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3aNg9ZjsLc

Zeb 22... from the "school of the 70"s" .

musically in tune and attuned, from just a little kid . Zebbie started out buying tunes with his pocket money ....both the sounds of Jamaica via 7"s on labels like Trojan and Blue Beat, and also the hot sounds of 70's England's Top 40 Pop Charts..... Slade, Hot Chocolate , the Osmonds ( 'crazy horses' !!!! ) 10CC and the Jackson 5.

a huge formative feature on his musical mindscape was going to blues dance parties from the age of ten or less. with his mum taking him along to Fatman Sound parties. who at that time were regularly playing a house on The Crescent in South Tottenham (the Ratcliffe family home at number 93! ), just a short trek further down the same road from his own home.

a lifelong 'Shakaite' , like many of his era, Zeb was 'raised & grown' on Jah Shaka sound system. an utterly devoted , i-lghly connected and deeply passionate follower .he was one of those young black men of that era , for who "Shaka was our church". and who's whole musical soul and character was moulded & acetate plated in Shaka's own totally unapologetic ,unforgiving , uncompromising ,unique and rawsome, take on playing roots and culture 'Rastafari' music.... '"King David Style".

Shaka provided Zeb and his generation of uk born Black youth with the brightest of shining beacons of hope, positivity, good example and inspiration. and with spiritual upliftment and enlightenment of levels indescribable by mere word alone. and all this taking place in the midst of a racist, police brutality, sus law ridden, grey, wet , mass youth unemployment ridden, plenty Alf Garnett type mentality , whiter than white tv & media, opportunity famined , 'three day week' , hard times, rough place, inner city UK. Shaka also provided a critical source of education on history , knowledge, examples of Black success & greatness (along with in himself , a living example of Rasta livity, dignity, upfullness , upright lifestyle & militant staunchness in the face of a Babylon society ,) Shaka.providing facts & truths relevant to these youths and their own heritage , culture, and ancestral lineage . and critically, one that was totally non existent in the uk school system of that time !!!! and providing these teachings via the lyrics of songs and his own mic chat & introduction to tunes ...showcasing pivotal moments & figures in history and current times like Joseph Kenyatta ,Marcus Garvey & Nelson Mandella.

a firm, firm , firm regular at two of Shaka's most infamous and legendary residences .Phebes in Stoke Newington and Tottenham's Club Noreik .as well as a pilgrim type attendance to others of Shaka's regular venues across London.spots like Peckhams 'Sekklement and' Self Help Centre'’, the weekly Friday night ' Balham Studio 200' 'early' session (running till only 2am), , Dalston's Cubies, Arklow Road ,Deptford and many, many , more this pilgrimage also taking him to Shaka dances , clashes and 'cup competitions' across London, and across the land. including trips to Leicester ,Leeds, Nottingham (meeting V Rocket sound) , Huddersfield ,Northampton , Bristol and Gloucester (including the legendary first session with Jah Trinity) . Zeb got to experience Shaka and his dubplate selection at the peak of it's beyond phenomenal heights , sonics, mystics & powers.and as any original Shaka-ite will tell you.... only those who were there in the 70's and 80's can truly carry this essence of Shaka's original vibes through in to this time when selecting.

it can not go without saying, it was in fact Zebbie's older sister who was a sound system ‘raver’ before him….coming back to the family home ,and telling her younger brother the next day all about these sound system dances and amazing music & vibes she’d taken in.

check some vintage Shaka Phebe’s action here ( and best turn down that bass in case you blow your speakers! ):https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKqTZ3szSfE

another hugely influential relationship was Zeb bucking up with UK roots & culture human pillar ,Ras Muffett. knowing his music through tracks like Sister Rasheda's " Shashamane Land" ( a Jah Shaka anthem and key dubplate selection in his muzikal armoury....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNbiOdBnB14 ) .

as he was a such a fan of it, and truths be told ...as the music nut he was (and still is ) he was super keen to get hold of this Rasheda track and equally keen to meets it’s creator.

so sometime in the late 80's Zeb asked a London based Wolverhampton Rasta brethren of his (who also happened to be his next door neighbour!) , to set up the link to visit Muffet ..given the nod to link up, one night whilst on a driving job to Stoke on Trent , they both stopped off at Muffet's place in Heathtown..and the rest is history.

a ‘vibes spark’ lit instantly and a close bond was formed from that day onwards. and on that fateful night the dubzz started getting 'run off' the mastertape ...and have never stopped ( only the format has changed). Zeb soon became the man in London for sound systems to check for Muffett dubplate productions , soundmen friends like Julian Fair Share /Fair Share Unity sound, and associates like Joe Aba Shanti loving what Zeb had played for them. and Zeb , asking ,and then getting the ok from Muffett to pass on now legendary status tracks to the sound guys. including tracks like big tunes of then , and uk roots anthems till now, Ras Benji's 'Rasta Soldier and Rick Wayne 'Almighty Father'.

as a late 80's /90's musical movement coming from the underground , and as a 'poorman runnings' , naturally these runnings were done via cassette ...to this day, some tracks & cuts exist alone on these cassettes. with the possibility of some getting cut to polyvinyl and aired for the first time on this September the 23rd session.

picking up Errol Dunkley's ' A Little Way Different ' 12" on the week of release from Tottenham's Third World Record Shop as a youngster. and with decades worth of multi weekly trips to all of London’s top reggae spots for tunes over the era’s…. R& B records, Petticoat Lane Market, Daddy Kools, Regal Record ,Dub Vendor, Third World/Body Music, Dub Shack, Gladdy Wax, Dub Vendor etc etc. and still trawling the Dub Vendor & Jah Waggy's websites multiple times weekly to this day....Zeb has 'never slept' on seeking brand new tune or oldies that he has missed along the way.

( the 12 Tribes Band 'Kill The Devil' being one 7" that has always irked him on just how impossible it was to find even as a new release on J.A. 7" pre!, and the lifelong ,long old ,search for it, was only recently vanquished with the recent repress ).

from all this , ‘the box’ is as deep and wide as the red sea , and the man really does have ‘tune like rice’.

like the stars of the Kung Fu movies he watched at 'Late Night Kung Fu' cinema shows as a youth, and remains a super fan of . and with the attendance of Roots music's own 'Shaolin Temple ' in those Jah Shaka dances of old.....expect all kinda 'styles' and special moves from Zeb 22. and watch out for that ultra deadly 'dubplate chop' , that can kill any over inflated ego sound boy at fifty paces!

Siman Reality, from the "school of the 90's" ....

as a young 'sapling' Si and his brothers had a regular watering from their dad's small but cherished selection of reggae LP's (amongst a real mixed collection) ,whilst spending alternate weekends roundabout the Dereham Road/Distillery Square sides of the 'Fine City' that is Norwich. this 'early years' musical syllabus contained highly influential tracks like ' Best Dressed Chicken In Town' ,'Beefy's Tune', 'Rockers', 'Bucky Skank' , 'Ites, Gold & Green ( not the Burning Spear one) and 'Fade Away' . and along with his mum's 'played near daily' cassette of Bob Marley & the Wailers 'Legend' . these 'sounds of freedom' & consciousness set the muzikal roadmap onwards.

a childhood product of the surprisingly roots muzik saturated Muswell Hill up in the hills of North London. as ball was kicked & mischief had ,roots music was always blasting out of a neighbours window. trips to that house to play Wonder Boy on Sega master system or 1943 on Commodore 64 with the younger brothers, had those same roots tunes , reverberating through walls & floors from their older brothers Jamo speakers. and also mention of a "that ain’t for you" about a mysterious vhs tape with a handwritten title of 'Babylon' on it. ( little did they know, and never clocked by Si, that his own dad had the soundtrack LP at home and 'Beefy's Tune' was one of 'his tunes' ).

next came listens, temporary lends and gifted ownership of a set of very,very serious TDK 90, SA-X 90 and 'metal tape' teachers ,full of the deepest of deep roots selections ,’the River’ , ‘Forgive Them Jah’, ‘Ark Of The Covenant’ , No Equal Rights Ina Babylon’ and including multiple dubplate cuts of Kunte Kinte. other tapes containing the latest & ruffest digital roots out of yard (Jah Warrior sound selection tape 89'? ).these ‘teachings’ along with plenty of schooling from human muzik elders in his older brother & his friends , and the generations of local roots crew above them were all musical signposts that led the way forward.

Hornsey came next, being a box boy for his older brother's newly established sound system ,Reality Sound ( a little later down the line starting to get limited plays on the sound here and there.and earning the stripes to be the ‘sub’s bench’/ B team selector).and at the same period , were the fledglings of learning the craft & art of "flat foot record hustling". Si organically turning into a flat foot , wheeler, dealer of tunes to fund his own fresh pre release & golden oldies, religious fervent like, record buying habits. alot of this activity happening in and around the local north london turf and traditional secondhand record mecca that was Camden Town and it's markets, Saturday record fair & shops.

alongside the holy grail type ,often daily, quest to find the 70's and 80's vintage roots that was ,and still is, his muzikal heart beat . record buying of new release music was of uppermost importance . as with new releases, espec the j.a. pre's, "if you blinked, you missed them" .

(and getting hold of what fresh tunes Shaka had played the night or week before was top of the list of missions, as it was for all generations of Shakaites going way back …and was still up until his recent , gone all too soon, passing on to Zion realm).

to achieve these somewhat ‘mission impossibles’ .without fail, Si was there for Saturday morning opening time at Camden's 'Dub Stall' /Dub Shack to grab up the latest startrail , yam euphony, exterminator and penthouse type 7" pre release j.a. roots tunes.along with the fresh releases ,from at that time , the first wave of modern uk roots & dub ..Dub Judah, Blakamix, Jah Shaka etc

(also doing this after going to sessions the night before, and infamously whilst others headed home to bed, it was Si who headed to the tunes instead... often having to kill a good couple of hours around Camden Market before the shops even opened !!!).

Dub Shack also happened to sell nuff crucial secondhand roots gems and the latest reissues ... so it was beyond rare for him to walk away from them with more than his bus fare home (often spending that too, including the day he was given the old 7" shop shelving unit .walking it the near 4 miles home, with the unit over his shoulder).

record seeking for new and old records went London wide.... the regular haunts being Daddy Kools up in the West End , All Tone Records of Brixton ( Selector's too) , the various Tape and Record Exchange branches , and West London's Reggae Revive. and plenty, plenty of other spots too.

like all others of his age and above , Jah Shaka was the dominant force of muzikal influence... although for Si , and his 'left arm' Reality Dan , the sound closest to their heart and that remained so , was the first sound they took in, and then followed... Wood Green's underground roots representatives, the rawer than raw, Jah Negus Tafari Sound with Zebbie Lion at the i-trols. ran with , and as the flyers said , ran " no partiality**". the rawness, no partiality and rawkusness of the way Zebbie Lion ran the set and played tunes was ingrained on Si's muzikal soul, mind and spirit.( including that 90's way of playing a mix of new uk and yard roots, alongside oldies) . most roots people are Shakaites. Si is also that, but foremost a JahNegusTafari-ite.as the dubplate special stated " you can't stop Jah Negus Tafari Sound, no way-ee-aa"

record runnings took a next step when an apprentice type role was taken up at Camden's Flash Forward records , under the tutelage of Paul Lawrence...

'cutting his teeth' as a 'counterman' on the market stall, and then also at the shop upstairs shortly after.

along with Zebby Lion and Paul .other seriously musikally influential & educative forces and individuals on Si at this younger age were the Manasseh KISS FM show , Cool & Don on powerjam radio , Joey Jay's show on Kiss FM, Usyn Flash Forward, Steve Daddy Kool, Shaka Benji , Adrian, Majah P, Potchie and the 'other' guy, Feebus, Conscious Ken. Jo Ancient Black Records, Stine, Kimbo, Barry Isaacs , Mango Timeless Sound, Roots Ting ,Postman John and a load more.

at a time when musical boundaries in minor key roots & rootsy music productions & releases were ever expanding , and 'brave' selectors playing some really different sounding beats. Ting and Nick Mannaseh were amongst the very most experimental , brave and pioneering of all.... forging new sonic territories for what was considered failing under the tree of roots muzik . Si was also always up for these pioneering sounds ..and the ears of this small pack of individuals took a distinct divergent direction from many others amongst the Roots crew.and those sets of ears never looked back remaining attuned to sounds from the outer reaches, of the ‘nothing not normal’ variety and from ‘off the beaten track’.

fully taking over selecting duties on Reality Sound after Boris Reality found the squat party circuit that the sound had ended up on, just a little too wild to take anymore of ( a night of headbuts , air pistols shot at speakers and people eating their mates pet pigeon will do that!). these parties were where Si started to craft his style and flow of playing tune. with the sound trying to provide a bastion of Roots vibes and behaviour and a conscious soundtrack , and where only weed smoking & alcohol in moderation was welcomed .as an alternative to the drug fuelled, hedonistic nature of the other Acid Techno and Break Beat sound systems also present at these parties.

cutting a long ,long story shorter , but still long....Norwich was next and as Reality Sound was retired along with Norwich's 'Culture Vibes' sound, the two owners Tim and Lee, merged like Transformers and this birthed Rebel Lion sound . providing Si's next selecting role.

with Si in the selecting seat, from the start Rebel Lion played "in their own way" ... bringing to Norwich a strictly roots focused selection and a ruggedness & rawkusness in both selecting and operating .which it itself had been birthed from the influence of Jah Shaka, Jah Negus Tafari ( himself a Shakaite) and others. a combination of which the ‘Fine City’ hadn't seen or 'felt' the likes of any similar before . and unlike all ,the then active sounds and preceding sounds...even Culture Vibes, who were of the same lane, but not of the same construction.

this roots centric style and rawkus way of playing upset many of the original attendees of these early Rebel sessions who found it totally alien, and highly unpalatable .... " can you play something else" , "can you play some barrington levy" ( no doubt meaning 'here i come' or 'under me sensi' ), "can you turn the bass down it's giving my girlfriend a headache" , "the bass is distorting" etc etc etc.

Si decided on a tactic for the following dances of a " kill weakheart selection" to deal with the matter. and deal with it 'quick & proppa'.to his reckoning and by a selector’s intuition he surmised these complaining folk were never gonna like Rebel's style of reggae & playing anyway ....so it was best to get rid of them early at dances (rather than they leave bit by bit and the dance empty out/de-energise over the night with the effects of this) so. even if it meant emptying the dances badly , and probably getting rid of this crowd for good. to him it was better to aim to just build a crowd and a following from those who remained after the ‘clear out’ .

so at the next dances, he set his trap into action. playing a short set of some 'appeasing & agreeable to those types' selection of roots and lulling them into a state of false security and temporary satisfaction . then without warning, drawing for the most rawkus ,rugged, thunderous, uncompromising selection in his box..... and raining this selection down hard,hard.upon their heads…. sending the 'complainers' and 'middle of the roaders' fleeing for the exit within a few tunes. job done !!! nuff said!!!

this honed one aspect of Si's selecting which has never let him, a ‘no prisoners , no surrender’ style ‘extra gear’ that can come into play at any tim. and still can ‘do the job’ on any complainers if needed.as Garnett phrased it best ”put on the pressure, me a go fling on the heat”

Si went on to play many a session and residency with Rebel Lion,at places like The Bank, Concept, Fat Paully’s , Geldeston Locks. with Rebel setting the pace and taste musically in the far east part of the uk.and naturally through these sessions, humbly and without ulterior motive, inspiring in part or fullness,and laying the groundwork scene wise , for the creation or rebirth of many other Roots sounds…First Light, Foundation Sound, Free King Sound ,Young Star Roots, and so on.

and part of this groundwork was playing roots in an increasingly different way to the vast majority of uk roots & dub sounds, as these sounds and the scene became more & more uk roots & dub focused as the years went on. and as oldies became more and more a warm up thing , and yard roots became came a highly endangered species at their dances. Rebel still played all branches of the roots tree , and also played the brand new muzikal, rootical, shoots that were emerging from j.a.studios and artists at the time. with man like Humble C’s then extra close muzikal parring p friendship with Si having a joint influence on this direction . and the sourcing of the tunes to be able to play that particular hand of muzikal cards.

anthems were born, and live to this day, in the hearts and souls of the people, and remain bonafide ‘people’s anthems’ out East

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5CfB_3_3p0

Rebel specialise in working with artists on the mic , with a literal army squadron of singers and players gracing the mic over the years & decades.Si being seriously blessed to work alongside i-ghly gifted individuals like Chanter, Principal, MC Ishu , Sandeeno, Jah Mirikle , Reuben Mystic , Donvon Kingjay and many more.Si’s selecting style is geared to knowing what rhythms singers and mc’s will be ‘keen as mustard’ to jump on (pun intended) .this is now a deeply intuitive and powerful force within Si’s muzikal soul & mind..

over time ,selection wise, si has taken many other muzikal paths and journeys , and creation of new styles of playing to meet the mood & vibes of changing times (espec the challenges of rapidly diminishing powers of attention & ‘hold’ in the dance once the smoking ban kicked in). Rebel with Humble C and Si on duty,, going digital roots crazy at one time….running the sounds of early computer roots with a fever and a passion like very few others in the land at that time.

these muzikal sparring partners & parring p’s including Humble C ,Jerry Perilous, Big Jack, Brian Bless, Carlos Thunderclap ,Majah P , Fillipo and his original ‘left arm’ Reality Dan helped ever sharpen Si’s selecting craft & levels . with endless bouts of flinging tune on each others head, one for one musical ‘sparring’ and ‘bouncing’ tunes off each other.the dedication to the mastering of flow and AWOL flowin particular, is something that will remain off the internet

you could hear Siman Reality play 5 different times and might well hear 5 fairly distinctly different muzikal moods, but the style of playing remains …Hornsey style /AWOL district style.

and much like Steven Gerrad in the UK Premiership league , and staying a " one club man" …..whether 'in or out of the sound' , 'deh bout the place' ,'off radar’ or ,’ fully off radar’/’ totally gone awol and off sonar’ , Siman Reality has remained and still remains a Rebel Lion man till this day.

(even now no one is sure if he is or out of the sound..possibly not even himself)..

Si will be drawing deep for this one, playing alongside these two of his muzikal blood brothers , both for the first time….this means alot to him, and full Zeb powers will be coursing through those selecting hands.and he plans to take all in attendance on a high power mystical sonic joy ride of levels unbound , and has lined up just the right’ very special’ veteranl guest toaster to ‘set these levels’ and do things proppa……