Sometimes dreams do come true. A few weeks ago our small, indipendent yet stubborn and enthusiast radio station was dreaming to have a written interview with Julian Marley for our web-site. So I contacted Julian Marley publicist, with very little hope in my heart for a positive outcome, considering what a huge name he is in the reggae and music world. At my surprise just the following day I had the kindest answer from the lovely and super professional Diane Podlock. She asked me for more details about how we usually showcase interviews and artists and finally she not only agreed on sending him my questions, but she also sent us a few songs for our playlist. Time went by and Julian was touring Europe in a tireless schedule that left him with very limited time for answering a written interview. That's when we thought that maybe we could just go to see his Stockholm show to write an article. So I wrote again to Diane and she immediately told me that we would have been their guests to attend the show and take some good pictures . At that point I asked if it would have been possible also to have an interview with him on that day. Well things got really hectic at that point since we were about leaving for Sweden and during the trip I wouldn't have had the possibility to check my e-mails. Long story short, when we arrived in Stockholm I found out that we could have the interview. I spare you all the excitement and heartbeat and joyful screaming and take you immediately with me and Gaia ( one of the Back&Forth voices )waiting for the tour menagers Marco and Isabelle to set up the final details and the time for the interview. We patiently waited and finally the band arrived for the soundcheck. After a while Isabelle reached us and kindly asked us to keep waiting there. It was only later that she came back to us again, very sorry, because Julian Marley had to leave early from the soundcheck to go back at his hotel. But she told us that after the show we could definetly have the interview, we chatted a little bit and as Diane, she was so kind and helpful, really willing to make things work. So after a few hours touring Stockholm we went back to the Debaser and made our triumphal entrance as ''press'' in the venue. It was still empty so we spotted a nice place just in front of the stage and we stuck there with all our cameras and equipments. Around 9PM (21:00) the show started. And from that moment on it was pure magic. I am forty, I grew up listening Bob Marley (and reggae music ), dancing at his catching tunes, reflecting upon his lyrics, weeping over his ballads. Regretting to be too young to have seen him live. Well when Julian came out everything became almost surreal. One of Bob's sons was there. A top performer. An incredible artist, songwriter and musician, an excellent singer. And the spirit of reggae, of Rastafari faith was more alive than ever on that stage. And I was there, not a teenager anymore, but sharing that experience with my own doughter. A circle was closing and it was very emotional. But let's focus on the music. The Uprising are a band of incredible skills. The quality of their music is basically perfect, they perform and support and go along Julian singing without missing a beat or showing any sign of tiredness. Huge smiles, and dance and energy flowing. And then Julian. I have hardly ever seen a performer giving so much of himself to the audience, interacting, dancing, feeling the music. The show was pure excitement and fun one moment, touching and lyrical the following, very conscious and mystical and spiritual the next. As a music lover, and for my work with RQL, I had the chance to see many bands live, but I hardly ever saw anything that close to perfection as in Stockholm. The show lasted more than two hours, and after it ended, we indeed had the chance to interview Julian Marley. A few minutes of wisdom and love and faith shared with us with a caring and kind spirit, in spite the extreme fatigue. An experience we will never forget.
The interview will be broadcasted next sunday during 'Back & Forth' from 18 to 19 (GTM+1) and it will be possible to listen to it either here on the web-radio and on air in the loviisan area on 106fm.
Once again I want to thank Diane Podlock, Isabelle and Marco, Owen Dreadie Reid ( The Uprising bass player, a delightful and big hearted man ) and Julian Marley himself.
One love, one people, one aim, take care of one another, are not just words, but a reality which it is possible to live.
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