2021, February 2021, Reggae, ZOOLOOK
REGGAE | ZOOLOOK meets Dubmatix
Feb
ZOOLOOK meets Dubmatix
Soul Rebels
By Nicholas Da Silva aka ZOOLOOK
On February 6, 2010, mixed-media artist Nicholas Da Silva aka ZOOLOOK, published Dread & Alive, the first comic book series featuring a Jamaican as its protagonist, Drew McIntosh. This groundbreaking comic book series cleverly meshed cultural fact with fiction while offering a curated reggae soundtrack with each published issue. Artists featured on the soundtracks included Anthony B, Lutan Fyah, Toussaint, Mutabaruka, Kiddus I, SOJA, Bob Andy, Annette Brissett, and more.
The inspiration for including music with comics came from ZOOLOOK’s love of movies and tv shows by directors who understood music’s importance to a film or tv project. Some of ZOOLOOK’s favorite directors include Italian director Sergio Leone’s The Good The Bad And The Ugly with composer Ennio Morricone; Michael Mann (Manhunter, HEAT, & Miami Vice); and John Hughes, whose movies included a great soundtrack.
The idea of pursuing reggae music with comic books started to gain traction with ZOOLOOK after he befriended legendary Jamaican director, Perry Henzell who directed the first Jamaican feature film, The Harder They Come. ZOOLOOK eventually purchased two DVDs that set the wheels in motion for creating his reggae comics series; ROCKERS, the 1978 Jamaican film by Theodoros Bafaloukos, and ‘The Mighty Quinn,’ directed by Swiss director Carl Schenkel and based on the novel ‘Finding Maubee.’
ZOOLOOK realized the importance of the reggae music selection for these films and decided to introduce music with his comic books.
His first attempt was a digital comic book project for his spy thriller series, HITLESS. Using his song, ‘Ambush,’ he produced a motion graphics comic book with Adobe After Effects, exporting it to the fourth generation iPod and SONY PSP.
His made-for-PSP comic got noticed by POCKET GAMER in their article “The best digital comics for your PSP” (July 6, 2007). Pocket Gamer writes, “Drip feeding information and utilizing the show-don’t-tell
dynamic of the comic format to deft effect, Agent HITLESS is predictable yet gripping at once.”
ZOOLOOK would go on to publish seven issues with accompanying soundtracks. He would then take a sabbatical to dive deeper into the story arc of Dread & Alive.
For the new Dread & Alive series, Nine Night, music would play an essential role in storytelling. The 12-Chapter graphic novel maxi-series would include a curated soundtrack for each chapter.
As a musician, ZOOLOOK wanted to contribute original songs to the series while inviting other reggae artists whose music inspires his work to be a part of the soundtrack series. He would find great inspiration and guidance from a talented musician.
ZOOLOOK meets Dubmatix – Soul Rebel Dub Mix
Release Date: February 6, 2021
Copyright: 2021 ZOOLOOK
Total Length: 04:30
Total Tracks: 1
Format: Single
Genre: Dub Reggae
Enter Dubmatix… Canada’s premier & most celebrated Reggae recording artist, Dubmatix, first burst onto the music scene and into the heads of reggae and bass music fans around the world with his debut release Champion Sound Clash in 2004. The Toronto-born Dubmatix is now firmly established as one of the top reggae producers in the world.
A fan of Dubmatix for many years, ZOOLOOK has purchased and downloaded many of his extraordinary reggae loops. Hearing Dubmatix release, Sly & Robbie meets Dubmatix, ZOOLOOK knew that he wanted to work with Dubmatix on Dread & Alive: Nine Night.
When ZOOLOOK sent the first track from Nine Night, titled ‘Soul Rebel,’ Dubmatix responded with, “Dude! That’s badass. Head noddin’ beats. If you want any instrumentation from me or anything – I’m in.”
Dubmatix was all in, offering his skills to help ZOOLOOK with his first track for the series. He also produced a wicked dub mix of Soul Rebel.
ZOOLOOK considers Dubmatix a Soul Rebel. Maaad Respect!!
Official ZOOLOOK Website:
Official Dubmatix Website:
BUY/STREAM:
ZOOLOOK on Spotify | ZOOLOOK on Spotify
Dubmatix on Spotify | Dubmatix on Spotify
IRIE Playlists
IRIE on Spotify | IRIE on SPOTIFY – February 2021
IRIE on Pandora | IRIE on Pandora – February 2021
