Moe:
Do you feel a certain responsibility of being a member, in my personal opinion, of the most famous band… the most influential band of all time?
FM:
Ya mon, we come together from the late 60′s ya know… as singers and players of instruments and our duty is to spread the message… four corner of the Earth. And thy will must be done by all means, no matter the crisis.
Moe:
I’ve heard that you feel that you’re destined to be continuing on the legacy of Bob Marley and the Wailers.
FM:
Well yes! My legacy is also to keep the music going because I am on the road officially from 1969 until 2007…
Moe:
Wow.
FM:
Nonstop…
Moe:
Nonstop… How does it feel?
FM:
It’s good! Ya know… to be doing it before Bob, with Bob and after Bob! Ya my man!
Moe:
You were the band director during the time with Bob, and still now, correct?
FM:
Yes. Before Bob, with Bob and after Bob! (Laughs)
Moe:
(Same Time) … with Bob and after… (Laughs) Right! What were your duties of being band director? Did you write a lot of the songs? Were you doing the lyrics?
FM:
Well between Bob, my brother and I, we wrote like… eleven tracks. And we registered six out of that. And I put the band together, not only as the band leader, but the musical producer and arranger, bass player, and I play many other instruments too on all the catalogs. I play rhythm guitar, lead pluck guitar, keyboards and percussions.
Moe:
You joined with the Upsetters, correct? Your brother and yourself were together, and you were recruited to play with Bob?
FM:
Yeah… The first band was called… I mean, the first name was the Ippy Boys! And from the Ippy Boys, to the Upsetters… and also Youths Professionals, that’s what become Wailers International.
“Ya mon, we come together from the late 60′s ya know… as singers and players of instruments and our duty is to spread the message… four corner of the Earth.”
The Wailers
Moe:
Well you were working with Lee Perry, correct?
FM:
Yes.
Moe:
His nickname was “The Upsetter,” correct?
FM:
Yes… He’s “The Upsetter,” and we are “The Upsetters!” (Laughs)
Moe:
(Laughs) How was the team? Was it a great team working together?
FM:
Yes! And that was the state where we started out with Bob, Bunny and Peter…
Moe:
Right.
FM:
And the first track we doing was “My Cup Is Runneth Over.”
Moe:
One of my favorites…
FM:
Yeah, my man…
Moe:
When you joined Peter, Bunny and Bob… How was it getting acclimated to that new scene?
FM:
I know it’s kind of “joining,” but what we really do, we come together as singers and players of instruments, ya know? And to carry on Jah Jah, the Almighty Message, and create the reggae music… and I am the Architect of Reggae, and they know that reggae music is the heartbeat of the people. It’s the universal language what carry that every message of roots, culture, and reality… (Laughs)
Moe:
Well speaking of the message, you say that “Riddim is the Message,” correct? And the heartbeat…
FM:
The drum is the heartbeat, and the bass is the backbone… Yeah…
Moe:
Your basslines are some of the most recognizable basslines in all of music. How do you take the spirit and passion of reggae, and put it into your basslines and into your music?
FM:
It’s simple, because I love singin’, but I didn’t practice!
Moe:
(Laughs)
FM:
So when I play the bass, I sing baritone… So I give that melodic lines…
Moe:
Yes you do… Yes you do!
FM:
(Laughs)
Moe:
I think it’s a culmination, you say, of everyone working together… and your basslines do hold it together and just really gives it a great overall feeling of the music…
“I know it’s kind of “joining,” but what we really do, we come together as singers and players of instruments, ya know?”
The Wailers
FM:
So true my man… So true!
Moe:
When you were with Bob Marley and the Wailers… Reggae music was primarily in Jamaica, but you brought it together as a global consciousness of reggae music…
FM:
Yeah… In Jamaica, the first music… you know… constructed was called ska. And it go from ska to rocksteady, and I and I bring it to be reggae! (Laughs)
Moe:
(Laughs) How was the influence of ska in your music?
FM:
Well the reggae music is consists of all different cultures of music. It got funk, it got soul, rhythm and blues… and of course some of the Chicago blues here…
Moe:
Right.
FM:
And it’s very jazzy…
Moe:
When Al Anderson joined the band, didn’t he bring a blues influence to The Wailers?
FM:
Also… from 1974.
Moe:
Yes… What are your thoughts of Bob Marley being a prophet?
FM:
Yes, we all are prophets of lyrics and we are musicians of the… we call… the archangels. (Laughs) Yes….
Moe:
(Laughs) There’s so many different messages with The Wailers… Love, unity… What do you feel the main message of Bob Marley and the Wailers… What do feel that it has been?
FM:
It’s to keep all nations… especially the young people… in line, so they don’t walk on the wild side. (Laughs)
Moe:
(Laughs) You don’t think they walk on the wild side? (Laughs)
FM:
(Laughs) To keep it in a straight line… Positive!
Moe:
When I spoke with Ziggy Marley… I spoke with him at Bonnaroo… We were talking about how he feels he was on a quest for the truth, and he felt that it wasn’t through religion, through politics, but he feels that “love is the truth.” What have you found to be the truth in your life and in your music?
FM:
Well, we know there’s lots of errors globally, you know… near and far… over abroad… That’s why we choose to do the positive thing, and make songs like “Rastaman Vibration… is positive…” And we always talk about what is taking place on Earth… you know… a lifetime… and you know… politics, the global issues.. (Laughs) Things like that….
“It’s to keep all nations… especially the young people… in line, so they don’t walk on the wild side.”
The Wailers
