Music

Data Breaker

Marathon Man DJ Collage Goes the Extra Mile for Dancehall

by Dave Segal

Tools

• Email This
• Print
• Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Newsvine
  • Reddit
  • StumbleUpon
  • del.icio.us
• 5 comments

DJ COLLAGE

Jam Jam

DJ Collage, Element

at Baltic Room
Mon.

More info »

DJ Collage is one of Seattle's most powerful energy sources. Collage (aka Mr. [Lawrence] Chatman) has been running Seattle's internationally respected dancehall/ roots rock/reggae night Jam Jam on Mondays at the Baltic Room since July 2006. To keep a night going for that long on the worst day of the week for clubbing takes mad energy and determination, both of which Chatman has a surplus.

If you've seen Chatman perform, you know that he owns that stage with alpha-male authority. A DJ in the Jamaican sense (what Americans call an MC), Chatman's mastered dancehall/raggamuffin/dub/bhangra ceremonies with a mercurial patois that's self-aggrandizing, but engagingly so. Chatman bigs up his considerable self, but you end up feeling empowered by his efforts. If music doesn't pan out, Chatman could embark on a career as a motivational speaker.

Chatman's new album, Marathon Man, seems rougher and rawer than The Parlor (Collage's strong 2006 album, which was never officially released), although the slick "Rubbadubb Style" could be a hit single. "[The] only different approach that I took to Marathon Man was that I wanted to [capture] those vibes I had when I started making music," Chatman says. "I was going for a more stripped-down, rawer sound focusing on riddim, bass, lyrics, and vibes, whereas The Parlor focused on more electronica elements."

Chatman is best known for striking cameos on tracks by prominent artists like Meat Beat Manifesto, Sofa Surfers, Dubtribe Sound System, Ghislain Poirier, and Truckasauras. He says he's learned a lot from those collaborations, applying techniques from them to his own productions. But, as adaptable to different musical styles as he is, Chatman prefers dancehall. "[There] is so much energy and versatility in the riddims and lyrics, and it's very hypnotic in the way it all works together—especially the '90s era of dancehall."

A sonic chameleon, Chatman gets grief from genre purists who don't like his hybrids. "Electronic-music purists don't see the connection with ragga lyrics and electronica, just as reggae-music purists don't understand chatting over what they consider 'techno,'" he explains. "But there are some music scenes out there that I'm a part of where musical genre–mashing is much more accepted. In Canada I have collaborated with a group called Delhi- 2Dublin, which is a fusion of bhangra and Celtic music with dance beats and dub bass lines. And in San Francisco I am a frequent guest of the Non Stop Bhangra night, chatting raggamuffin lyrics over heavy bhangra/hiphop mashups." That latter style can be heard on Marathon Man's "Bombay Rokk" and on "Crown Mi King," from The Parlor. ("Crown Mi King" also appeared on Webdreams, a Montreal-based reality-TV show rooted in the porn industry.)

Chatman's hustle is nonstop, so prepare for much future activity.

Buy Tickets for Other Events