Dub Akom

Riddim Maker

Established in 2002 by Faby (bass), David (drums) Dub Akom is a backing band from Marseille, France. The other members are: Claude (keyboard), Titi (guitar), Stef (keyboard) and Laurent (sound engineer).

Dub Akom provides services for artists of various styles from roots reggae to dancehall, whilst bringing together all sectors of Jamaican music.

The collaborations over the years have been diverse, leading the band to work with many notable artists such as: Mr Vegas, Konshens, Etana, Gyptian, Popcaan, RDX, Jah Mason, Lutan Fyah, Pressure, Protoje and Don Corleon, Turbulence, Chezidek, Perfect Giddimani, Million Stylez, Lyricson, Omar Perry, Nuttea, Cali P, Lorenzo, Anthony John, Jah Marnyah, Rod Taylor, Murray Man, as well as others with whom Dub Akom has shared many stages at festivals across Europe and beyond such as Garance Reggae Festival (France), Rototom Sunsplash (Espagne), Summerjam (Allemagne) Ostroda (Pologne), Dour Festival (Belgique), Reggae Donn Sa (Ile Maurice), Carnivore (Kenya) …

In 2007, the band formed the label Akom Records for which it composes and produces popular riddims. Notable creations have been: the ‘Vitamin Riddim’, the ‘Highlight Riddim’, the ‘Bonafide Riddim’ the ‘Full Swing Riddim’, the ‘Heartwarming Riddim’ all of which have been used by many different artists from the reggae and dancehall scene. The label is back in 2014 with a new production, the ‘Way Back Riddim’ with a line up including veteran artist Johnny Osbourne and artists from the dancehall / new roots scene as Konshens, Turbulence, Pressure, Jah Mason, Million Stylez & Lutan Fyah etc…

The Interview

IRIE. Take us back to 2002 when you first established Dub Akom. How did you and Faby meet? What made you two decide on forming the band? And did you decide on being a backing band from the beginning?

Dub Akom: Faby and I are a couple. We were together before playing in the same band. In the beginning, we each played for different reggae bands. Later, we jammed together then recorded different kinds of riddims on a 4 tracks tape recorder and made some dub mixes. It was the start of what made us want to become a Dub band. Theat’s how the Dub Akom band was born. The backing band side came a few years later when we starting working with local singer in 2004. We wanted to hear different singers on our riddims so we started linking up with artists like Lorenzo, Murray Man, Rod Taylor and Anthony John. We started organizing show’s in our city. That’s how we met Jah Mason for a production. We were feeling a great vibe with him and then he called us for some shows. He was very instrumental in introducing us to others artist like Lutan Fyah and others. Big up Jah Mason!!!

IRIE. What were you musical backgrounds? Were you both exposed to roots reggae and dancehall during your childhood? 

Dub Akom: Faby and I have been listening to reggae music now for about the past 15/20 years. We weren’t really exposed to reggae during our childhood. As teenagers, we listened to different kinds of music ranging from underground rock music to big radio hits in France! We also enjoyed different style of music like funk, soul, hip hop and R&B.

IRIE. You play drums while Faby plays bass. We’re your parents involved in music or was it something that the two of you discovered on your own?

Dub Akom: We discovered music on our own. Neither of our parents played an instrument however my father really enjoyed sharing some of his favorite soul and funk tunes with me. I went straight for the drums when I was teenager. I was attracted by the rhythm. Faby liked the guitar from an early age. Later on, after experimenting with others instruments, she chose to focus on playing bass guitar. Faby does play guitar and keyboards on some of our productions.

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