Interview with Zulu Souljahs AKA Universal Soundsystem – Surfjoint 2008
Co-blogging (surfjoint.dk)
Ever since their unforgettable marathon debut during Surfjoint 2005, ZULU SOULJAHS has been the musical backbone of every single Surfjoint episode ever since, as well as achieving true cult status among the Danish surfers.
We caught up with half of the talented duo for a quick interview before they kick off Surfjoint 08 with a bang Wednesday August 27.
1) You were there right from the start and have been the essential musical backbone of Surfjoint ever since. How did you experience the gradual evolution of Surfjoint since you flipped the first vinyl back in 2005?
Souljah: The first Surfjoint was an enormous experience that always will be printed into our memory. Back then it was ONLY us, so we were there flipping records for 12 hours non-stop. It was super cool, but also a bit exhausting when looking back.
But later on live bands started joining the events in the following years and that has really elevated Surfjoint extensively since the first year. We get a chance have a break and the audience gets to experience more than just us jumping and dancing on stage – even though we properly would prefer to play all the time hehe
We are really looking forward for Surfjoint 08 now it’s an entire different setup this year and with a program that spans over 4 days. Lots of cool bands and of course MUCH more time for us to play records. Things are definitely moving in the right direction! It has to be bigger, wilder, louder and then there has to be BASS!
2) Since last years Surfjoint there has also happened a lot to ZULU SOULJAHS. 2007 was the year where you joined forces with UNIVERSAL SOUND and won an impressive 3. Place during the Danish Soundclash Championship in “Den Grå Hal”. How would you describe the evolution that you as a sound system have gone through during last year?
Souljah: Zulu Souljahs as a sound system does not have as long a history as Universal Sound has, so it was clear that we would continue to play under that name. At the same time it has been a natural thing for us to team up. We performed together already a year before we joined forces and it has only contributed positively on all fronts. We each have our own strengths and combined it just reaches a higher level. We are a very strong sound system and we proved that in “den Grå Hal”, and we will continue to do so again and again the next many years. Also at Surfjoint!!!.
3) What has it meant to your musical expression that you now are a part of UNIVERSAL SOUND?
Souljah: The musical expression is more or less unchanged. We have of course become clearly much more experienced during the last year, so our style is now much more uncompromising in its expression. But there is still room for all the humorous and fun loving moments and we have many of those in Universal Sound. The fact that we are now a much bigger Sound naturally means that we also get to do even more jobs and work much more seriously with finding new records and make dubs and mix-tapes. Oh, yeah we are indeed very serious about this.
4) What other delicate treats are on offer from your event calendar for the remaining of 2008?
Souljah: For starters we are going to Silkeborg and blow away Raggapak Reggae Festival, and after that we are going to Iceland to play a few jobs. Then there is Surfjoint and after that we are planning to go on a little mini-tour to southern Europe. And well then there are of course all the other jobs that fill up the calendar home in Copenhagen. Safe to say it’s going to be a busy Autumn – Wicked!
5) There is now less than a month until you pop the lid of Surfjoint 08, but your many fans within the Danish surf community have already being looking forward to hear you fire it up in Klitten again for almost a year now. Is it possible to get a small appetizer of what your performance is going to include this year?
Souljah: Because it is the first time we officially plays as Universal Sound during Surfjoint we will of course play a lot of dub-plates, but bottom line I think people can just expect quite a lot more savageness, more records (if possible) and of course we are going to make Surfjoint 08 the greatest party on Danish soil. And then we are really going to treat the crowd in the days leading up to the big Saturday party, were we will be cranking it up to the max. We are having an awesome time in Universal Sound so it is pretty certain it’s going to be awesome . And then I think it is about time we clean out among some of Zulu Souljah’s vinyls. So don’t be surprised if there will be a pile of Zulu Souljah’s Special 10’’ vinyls on stake in the competitions this year.
6) Finally, do you have some props to the many fans that are waiting with anticipation for your return to Klitten to hit the gas pedal during Surfjoint 08
Souljah: We are REALLY looking forward for this year, and are looking forward to see some of the old Surfjoint faces again. This time we have more time to play for the crowd, so fingers crossed, people haven’t got sick of reggae since last year…he..he. No seriously we don’t think you can get tired of that.
And then Universal Soundsystem ALWAYS sends props to Natasja (R.I.P.) Big Up!
On behalf of the Surfjoint Team we can only say that we are not sick of raggae at all and are looking so much forward for experiencing you drop the bomb in Klitten again along with the rest of the UNIVERSAL crew.
