Adrian Sherwood

Born August1958 in London, Adrian Maxwell Sherwood has been a pioneering force in UK reggae since the late 1970's. He was brought up in Slough, Buckinghamshire, where he lived next to a Mars Bar factory. He initially showed a bright talent for music while working with the likes of Emperor Rosko, Judge Dread, Johnny Walker and Steve Barnard and gained an early contact with the reggae world through work for the Pama and Trojan roadshows. Also during school holidays he spent time working for the legendary Pama and Vulcan labels.

Whilst still only in his seventeenth year, he co-founded the Carib Gems record label and showed great foresight by issuing the first Black Uhuru sides, not to mention some fine early dub work by Prince Far I, with whom he would work many times before his tragic death in September 1983 in Jamaica. This first attempt to set up a label and subsequent attempts at setting up other labels in the late 70s were quite disastrous, and cost him a great deal of money in the process. Undeterred he pushed on and set up the On U Sound label to house ex-Pop Group singer Mark Stewart's New Age Steppers project, in partnership with photographer Kishi Yamamoto at the birth of the 80's.

The label took a lead from their old Jamaican counterparts and played out as a sound system, thus helping to promote and showcase the sounds they were making. Sherwood was by now also quite an accomplished producer, having learned first hand from Prince Far I and Dr Pablo, and having cut his teeth on Creation Rebel's fine 'Dub From Creation' and various 12" singles released on Hitrun Records, another early label attempt. He was helping set new standards of dub production and produced a vast army of reggae, funk and rock artistes including New Age Steppers, Singers & Players, Creation Rebel, Bim Sherman, Mark Stewart & Maffia, Judy Nylon, London Underground, African Head Charge, Dub Syndicate and in conjunction with Tommy Boy Records of New York City, Akabu.

It was in New York that Sherwood recruited guitarist Skip McDonald, bassist Doug Wimbish along with drummer Keith LeBlanc, together the onetime house band at the famed rap label Sugarhill Records, and under a variety of names (most commonly Tackhead) the trio brought new power and definition to the company's densely-textured recordings.

By the mid-1980s, Sherwood was among the most visible producers and remixers in all of contemporary music, working on tracks for artists as varied as Depeche Mode, Einsturzende Neubauten, Simply Red, The Woodentops and Ministry. He became increasingly involved in industrial music as the decade wore on, producing tracks for Cabaret Voltaire, Skinny Puppy, KMFDM and Nine Inch Nails, and although On-U Sound continued to reflect its leader's eclectic tastes the label remained a top reggae outlet.

On-U Sound helped breaking down the barriers between reggae music and the English independent music, punk and new wave. You can find Adrian's unique touch on the mixer on albums by African Head Charge, Creation Rebel, Dub Syndicate, Mark Stewart, Little Axe, New Age Steppers, Bim Sherman and many others.

His biggest commercial success came in 1991 when self-styled "white toaster" Gary Clail, who had been warm up act for On-U gigs, "Human Nature" peaked at a very creditable #10 in the UK charts. The rest of the 90's were fairly quiet for the label and its activity was mainly kept to reprints on CD from its catalogue. Another reason for the slowing of On-U output was that Sherwood, who had now become a very in demand producer, began collaborating with various artists from various and different music scenes. He produced and remixed people such as Sinead O' Connor, Primal Scream, Air and Asian Dub Foundation. He also produced Bim Sherman's delightful 'Miracle' (Mantra records 1996). This album saw Sherman re-recorded six of his old tunes in an acoustic session at Richard Branson's Manor Studios, accompanied by Skip McDonald on guitar and Talvin Singh on tablas. A trip to Bombay followed where India's finest film musicians provided the extra layers of sound that resulted in probably the roots reggae veterans most unusual, yet accomplished albums. Also in the 90's he established the Pressure Sounds imprint. The label is dedicated to reissuing classic reggae and dub releases and its reputation has just grown and grown until now the Pressure Sounds name is virtually a mark of quality.
Adrian's natural approach to stirring up sounds from different cultures with sensitiveness and taste attracted the attention of Peter Gabriel's Real World Records, who, in 2003, commissioned him his first real solo album. The release of 'Never Trust a Hippy?', titled after Jamie Reid's infamous punk slogan and featuring collaborations with various artists such as Sly & Robbie, Steven "Lenky" Marsden, Carlton "Bubblers" Ogilvie and Jazzwad, brought a new reputation and international visibility to Adrian Sherwood. In 2006 he released his second album 'Becoming a Cliché' that again featuring numerous artists, though with more reggae appeal, such as Lee "Scratch" Perry, Bim Sherman, Dennis Bovell, Little Roy, Lee "LSK" Kenny, Samia Farah, Raiz and Mark Stewart. Also a limited 2-disc version was released simultaneously with the second disc titled 'Dub Cliché'. This year also saw write an original reggae score for the independent film 'Johnny Was' starring Vinnie Jones, Roger Daltrey and Samantha Mumba

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