INTERVIEW Martin Zobel & Fully Fullwood
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Germaican Journey Through Time by Valentin Zill Fully Fullwood needs no introduction to international Roots Reggae fanciers - after all, the Jamaican bass player and producer played and recorded with Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, and John Holt, to name just a few. German Roots singer Martin Zobel and his band Soulrise on the other hand are, so far at least, known to rather few Reggae lovers outside of Germany, Switzerland and Austria. On a vacation trip to California in early 2011 Martin Zobel got to meet his hero Fully Fullwood by chance. Fullwood was so impressed by Zobel‘s music that he offered him to record his next album. Just 15 months after they first met „Land of the Free“ hit the stores. With its warm, analog sound, this stunning German-Jamaican joint venture, recorded in the USA, might well be the most genuine Roots Reggae album ever released by a European artist. When Festiville interviewed Fully and Martin, the sheer excitement on both sides could still be felt.
How did you get in touch with Martin Zobel and his music, Fully? Fully Fullwood: Well, it‘s a friend of mine and a friend of Martin also, a guy named Dale Hauskins, that was telling me about Martin. He brought me a CD, and then one day he told me that Martin was in town. I said „Bring Martin over man, mek wi taak.“ He brought him over to my little studio and then Martin played a couple of songs from one of his CDs and it was very impressive. His voice and everything. I said „Wow! It‘s great, man! I would love to do some work with Martin.“ And he said „Yes, I would love to.“ The rest is history.