Welcome to Jamroc: Meet Jamaica’s EDM All-Star Squad

Words by Jesse Serwer, Photos by Martei Korley—

Alric and Boyd are the godfathers of Jamaica’s rave/EDM scene. Through their long running show on radio station FAME FM and residencies at top Kingston nightclubs like Asylum, the pair have brought the latest in dance music (not to mention hip-hop and other genres) to the island’s shores for two decades. Branching out into production in recent years, they’ve crafted dancehall juggling riddims like 2005’s El Toro riddim and even given Jill Scott a bit of reggae flavor.

Now, after 21 years of working together as a duo, the pair (who also maintain membership in NYC’s Federation Sound, with Max Glazer and Kenny Meez) have joined forces with fellow Jamaican dance DJ/producer Ben-J.A.H. to form a new, JA-based EDM production unit called Jamroc. The trio recently teamed with Chicago house pioneer DJ Pierre, joining the roster of his new label, AATrax.

Boyd at work

“You have to parlay with someone heavy in the industry for you to be taken seriously, because you are coming from Jamaica,” Boyd says of the partnership with Pierre, whose work as part of Phuture in the mid ’80s is acknowledged as the starting point of acid house. “[People think] Jamaica is [just] reggae and dancehall. I remember playing in this big warehouse rave in Atlanta. I was there working on my set and I hear this guy come over and say, ‘What is this dude gonna play, he’s from Jamaica?  Bob Marley remixes on house? come on.’  I played from 3 o’clock that morning to almost 10 o’clock the next morning, nobody wanted me to leave. They were like I didn’t know you could play this well, we took a chance on you. I was like, look, bredrin, give me some slack.”

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Jamroc’s first release with Pierre was actually released on Steve Aoki’s Dim Mak Records. “Seleckta” features Jamaican sound system legend Rory of Stone Love, with Pierre producing the A-side and handling the B-side remix (which premiered here on LargeUp last month).

“Pierre always wanted to work with some Jamaicans, to do vocals,” Boyd said. “He was talking about Sean Paul, RDX, Tifa,  just going through the roster. I had an idea that I know Rory, cause Rory is family, and Rory have a ting where he goes “Seeeeee-leckta” from back in the day. I said, we need that on a track.”

Alric

Ben-J.A.H.

Next up for Jamroc is a remix of “Acid Dreams” by Detroit Grand Pubas, which is out April 16 on AATrax (you can already stream the whole Acid Dreams EP here). That will be followed by Jamroc’s first official release as a unit, “Head Bass.” Though no longer on the radio in Jamaica (their Fame FM residency ended in 2009, after 14 years), Alric and Boyd produce Afro Acid Radio, Pierre’s radio show broadcast in England and Greece. Behind the scenes, they have helped push dubstep in Jamaica forward, connecting up-and-coming producer Noah Issa with Mr. Lexx on the recent track, “Damp.”

“We can’t stop doing what we’re doing, because if you stop then you’re not in the race anymore,” Boyd says. “Because of the whole MP3 revolution, that whole sense of being a DJ has broken down to nothing. Music isn’t worth anything, DJs aren’t worth anything. What we have to do now is try to reinvent ourselves in a way of being a super producer or super DJ. Put those things together and you have something where you can set yourself up.”

For the full history behind Alric and Boyd and EDM in Jamaica, read “Raving Kings: Alric and Boyd and the Untold Story of Dance Music in Jamaica.”