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Biography
for|the stock character|Mad scientistRefimprove|date=December 2010Infobox musical artist| name = Mad Professor| birth_name = Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser| alias = Mad Professor| image = Mad_Professor_at_Reggies.jpg| image_size = 250| caption = Mad Professor during a soundcheck at Reggie's Music Place in Chicago, IL| birth_date =| birth_place = Georgetown, Guyana| Occupation = Music producer, music engineer| Origin =| Instrument =| Genre = Dub (music)|Dub , Reggae , Jungle | Years_active = 1979-current| Label = Ariwa| Associated_acts =| URL = http://www.myspace.com/madprofessordub Myspace page| background=non_performing_personnel Mad Professor (born Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser , 1955, Georgetown, Guyana|Georgetown , Guyana ) is a dub music producer and engineer known for his original productions and remix work. He is considered one of the leading producers of dub musics second generation and was instrumental in transitioning dub into the digital age. He is a prolific producer, contributing to or producing nearly 200 albums. He has collaborated with reggae artists such as Lee "Scratch" Perry , Sly and Robbie , Pato Banton , Jah Shaka and Horace Andy , as well as artists outside the realm of traditional reggae and dub, such as Sade (band)|Sade , Massive Attack , The Orb , and Brazilian DJ Marcelinho da lua .
Fraser became known as Mad Professor as a boy due to his fascination with electronics. He emigrated from Guyana to London at the age of 13 and later began his music career as a service technician. He gradually collected recording and mixing equipment and in 1979 opened his own four-track recording studio, Ariwa Sounds, in the living room of his home in Thornton Heath .Larkin, Colin (1998) The Virgin Encyclopedia of Reggae , Virgin Books, ISBN 0-7535-0242-9, p.13-14 He began recording lovers rock bands and vocalists for his own label (including the debut recording by Deborahe Glasgow ) and recorded his first album after moving the studio to a new location in Peckham in 1982, equipped with an eight-track setup, later expanding to sixteen. Fraser's Dub Me Crazy series of albums won the support of John Peel , who regularly aired tracks from the albums. Although early releases were not big sellers among reggae buyers, the mid-1980s saw this change with releases from Sandra Cross ( Country Life ), Johnny Clarke , Peter Culture , Pato Banton, and Macka B ( Sign of the Times ). Fraser moved again, this time to South Norwood , where he set up what was the largest black-owned studio complex in the UK, where he recorded highly successful lovers rock tracks by Cross, John McLean, and Kofi (musician)|Kofi , and attracted major Jamaican artists including Bob Andy and Faybiene Miranda . He teamed up with reggae legend Lee "Scratch" Perry for the first time in 1989 for the album Mystic Warrior .Huey, Steve "Allmusic|class=artist|id=p2906/biography|pure_url=yes Mad Professor Biography", Allmusic , Macrovision Corporation
Dub music, which combines reggae music and recording studio trickery, seemed to fit Mad Professor's musical and technical tastes perfectly and his early work remained faithful to the traditional Jamaican dub pioneered by King Tubby , Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Augustus Pablo . Mad Professor's early work was characterized by few vocal tracks and heavy echo, reverb, and phaser effects on the instrumentals. Eventually, he began to experiment with electronic sounds and effects alongside the traditional instruments. Synthesized sounds began to find a place in his mixes. This experimentation caught the attention of artists outside of reggae and dub genres and led to Mad Professor's work with electronic artists, most notably Massive Attack.
Recordings
Mad Professor has released hundreds of original recordings and has worked with a number of reggae and non-reggae artists. He is perhaps best known for his 12 installments of the Dub Me Crazy series and 5 albums under the Black Liberation Dub banner. The following is a list of his more accessible original releases, collaborations with other artists, and remixes. A complete discography can be found at Discogs.com. http://www.discogs.com/artist/Mad+Professor Mad Professor
Since the 1990s he has remixed tracks by Sade (band)|Sade , The Orb , The KLF , Beastie Boys , Jamiroquai , Rancid (band)|Rancid , Depeche Mode , Perry Farrell and Japanese pop singer Ayumi Hamasaki . His best-known project, perhaps, is 1995's No Protection (Massive Attack album)|No Protection , an electronic music|electronic dub version of Massive Attack 's second album, Protection (album)|Protection . He has also done a version of I& I for New Zealand reggae band Katchafire . Mad Professor has done three versions for New Zealand electronic group Salmonella Dub .
No Protection (Massive Attack album)|No Protection "Dub version of Massive Attack album Protection (album)|Protection " (1995)
Soul Coughing "Sugar Free Jazz (Multiple Remixes (Most were released on the Sugar Free Jazz: Slash In-House Cassette))" http://www.discogs.com/Soul-Coughing-Sugar-Free-Jazz/release/2788769 Sugar Free Jazz: Slash In House Cassette - Discogs (1995)
Black Orpheus Dub Dub version of Black Orpheus for the AIDS-benefit album Red Hot + Rio produced by the Red Hot Organization (1996)
Brigadistak Sound System|Urrun Dub Dub version of Fermin Muguruza 's Urrun (1999)
Salmonella Dub " For the Love of It (Salmonella Dub song)|For The Love Of It " (1999)
Miss Kittin " Happy Violentine (Mad Professor Smiling Orange Dub)" (2005)
References
Reflist
Interviews
http://reggae.vodpod.com/video/6202-mad-professor-and-jah-shaka-interview-1985 Mad Professor and Jah Shaka Interview (Video)
http://remixmag.com/artists/remix_mad_professor_2/ Interview in Remix Magazine
http://niceup.com/interviews/mad_professor Interview at niceups.com
External links
Discogs artist
http://www.myspace.com/madprofessordub Mad Professor on MySpace
http://www.ariwa.com Ariwa Sounds Website
http://www.reggae-vibes.com/rev_sin/newgalax.htm Album Review
http://www.reggae-vibes.com/rev_sin/rewiredf.htm Album Review
http://www.dubechoes.com "Dub Echoes", a documentary about dub's influence on the birth of electronic music and hip hop
Persondata | NAME = | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH = 1955 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Georgetown, Guyana | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = Category:Reggae musicians Category:Dub musicians Category:Guyanese musicians Category:Guyanese reggae singers Category:1955 births Category:Living people
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