PART ONE: Christafari "Reggae Sunday School" Interview
Sep. 1, 2005 - Aug. 21, 2005 - Christafari Takes You to School--"Reggae Sunday School"
Meet the Teachers
We caught up with Christafari founder, producer, chief-songwriter and lead vocalist Mark Mohr, on the eve of the release of the group's first children's album (Christafari's tenth recording). He had just returned from his favorite pastime of surfing and with the scent of salt water still in his long dreadlocks, he sat down with us for an extensive interview on their most ambitious project. In this segment of the interview we discuss the inspiration for the album and the cast of voices that he uses for the interludes:
GR: Hey Mark it's great to be here with you. Thanks for agreeing to meet with me. I'd like to start out by asking--why a children's album?
MM: For the last 10 years, I have had it on my list for things to do. But, the timing was never right. Fans have been asking us for years to give them something that they can play for their kid... because most children's music is lacking in production and quality. And gospel reggae for kids-up-until now has been nonexistent. Then a year and a half ago, I was hired by Gotee Records to record a reggae remake of a children's song from the 70's. It was from the "Music Machine", a popular kid's musical and album by Agape Land. This short song eventually triggered the recording of our album.
GR: Go on...
MM: I was thinking about all of the great songs that I heard in my visits to Jamaica over the past 16 years and how much I would like to introduce them to the youth of the rest of the world. The recording of a song for this Gotee release inspired me, and so I instantly began tracking. A year and a half later, it's finally done.
GR: Did you approach this album differently than any of your past recordings?
MM: Absolutely! I have always said "Music is the only thing in the world that doesn't taste better with cheese on it." Yet on this album I wasn't afraid to throw on some extra queso. Because it was a children's project, I was given the liberty to temporarily reshape our sound. I used a lot more programming and bright sounds for the drums. I brought in my good friend Einstein Brown to play steel pan on a few of the tracks. I was open to any fun idea the musicians and guest vocalists suggested. We took a no holds barred approach.
GR: What about the song writing, did anything change there?
MM: I had to simplify things from the normal approach that I would take on a Christafari song. One song is so simple that it only has 12 words in it and a whole lot of repetition--this song is called "Higher Higher".
GR: I noticed on the cover of the album you have some unique artwork, tell us a bit about that.
MM: My mom did the cover. She worked at Hannah Barbara years ago and is a professional artist. We had a lot of fun putting together the characters.
GR: Now that you mention it, tell us about this unusual cast of characters.
MM: Well, I was waiting in line at the DMV one day and came up with the concept. You see I have always enjoyed doing interludes in between songs. So in addition to the 13 new songs on the album, I thought to myself, "What if we used animated voices--like in a cartoon for the interludes?" And one by one these characters came to mind.
GR: Like Nigel?
MM: Ya that one was easy. For years I had a hyper active pet iguana named Nigel. He would bite you if you tried to show him affection. In Reggae Sunday School, Nigel thinks he's a chameleon until the rest of the cast convinces him otherwise. Let's just say he acts a bit over-caffeinated. I do his voice and it fits perfect with my type A personality.
GR: And Calypso?
MM: ya, David Fohe plays this character. He's the lead singer of 'Imisi. Man, his voice can go really low. He plays a singing coconut. He ends every sentence with "...mon" and likes to randomly break out into song accompanied by a steel pan. He's the atypical islander!
GR: Tell us about Seymour...
MM: Our keyboardist Bobby Cressey plays him. He is a seagull. He has a cockney accent and is a newscaster with a bird's eye view of the events on the beach.
GR: And Manu?
MM: My brother Greg does that voice. He is an overripe know-it-all mango with an East Indian accent. He corrects everyone.
GR: And last but not least, tell us about Patchouli.
MM: She's a jellyfish with a Brazilian accent that washes up on shore on her way to Brazil. She has good intentions but she keeps accidentally stinging others. The other Sunday school leaders end up bringing her to Christ through one of the final songs. Fatima Caldeira plays her.
GR: So, these characters are the Sunday school teachers?
MM: Ya, it's a long story, you have to get the album and hear the interludes to understand. It's kind of like Veggie Tales meets Ren and Stimpy with a bit of Tom & Jerry. But the album is far more than interludes and funny voices. It is 13 killer reggae songs. Everyone that hears it says "Are you sure that this is a children's album, because it sure doesn't sound like one?" Very few children were involved in the recording process, it was recorded by adults, for adults that happen to be parents or are kids at heart. Even if you don't have kids, you'll love it. It's not like anything you've ever heard before.
For a complete review of the album, soundclips of all the songs, and to purchase your copy today, simply go to: http://www.gospelreggae.com
