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IRIE. How has Third World manage to stay together 40 years strong?
Bunny Rugs: We’re a very close family. And it has always been the fear if Third World was to breakup, that we didn’t see any another group on the horizon that would replace the type of music that we play and the type of message that we’re always constantly pushing for. And I think what that has done to us is bring us closer together, It was a concern and worry a few years, that there weren’t enough groups being formed out of Jamaica. Like when we would go to Europe, you see young groups playing Ska and fusing it with Reggae. They have a larger instrumental section, trombones, violins, whatever, but that wasn’t happening in Jamaica. Now recently that has changed and there is a Reggae revival movement in Jamaica. Because you have some really nice musicians coming out of Jamaica, like Stephen “Cat” Coore’s two sons, Shiah Coore and Steve “Jumbo” Coore (Shiah is a producer and plays bass with Damian “Junior Gong” Marley and Jumbo plays guitar in the Zinc Fence Band with Chronixx). There are so much young musicians, it so wonderful to see the youth embrace a group dynamic. Its such a special brotherhood being a part of a musical group. I did a birthday performance in Jamaica, last February, and the young musicians that performed with me, they were amazing so, naturally, I’m feeling better about that.
IRIE. Was music a subject you learned in school while growing up in Jamaica?
Bunny Rugs: When I was going to school, music wasn’t a subject. That’s because the Jamaican form of music was just being formed and experimented with by groups like the Skatalites, Alton Ellis, John Holt, the Pyramids, Lee Scratch Perry, early Bob Marley and the Wailers. I’m not sure if music is a main subject being taught in the schools today but the Edna Manley School of Music is a very good school with talented teachers. It’s turning out lots of great musicians. Music wasn’t a part of the curriculum when I was going to school. I went to two Catholic school and the only time we had music is when there was holidays coming up or some outing or something.
IRIE. When you are not with the band and you want to unwind, who do you listen to? Are they any other genres of music you want to explore?
Bunny Rugs: When people were listening to Earth Wind & Fire, I was listening to the Jazz Crusaders. I liked instrumental music. When I’m at home I listen to a lot of dub music. I think dub is the highest order of reggae music. It’s the jazz of reggae. Most of the time when I listen to other singers and the songs they sing, the subject that they are talking about… I don’t really want to focus on that. So what I do is listen to dub music, King Tubby meets the Upsetter. What I use to do is in the days when they sold vinyl. You know.. every weekend you go to the record shop and get the new stuff. I would take the record home because how they normally do it is that they have the vocal track on side A. And on side B, was the instrumental mix. What I would do is take the vinyl home and tape the instrumental mix on a Sony reel to reel tape. I would have like 15 hours of just dub music.
