The Mighty Ruler Sound System
The Mighty Ruler Sound System
“The Mighty Ruler sound system crafted by the late “Count Rob” was an integral part of Dalston’s history and breaking down barriers in the 1960’s and 70’s.”
“We are a group of around ten friends, primarily, we come from a few different sound systems, but we've been working together for a long time. We started out through a sound called Soca Saga Voice, which is behind you, which was on the road at Notting Hill Carnival for over 30 years, and we used to rig their carnival trucks and string up their sound. We all met through that. The Mighty Ruler are collective of different sounds namely, Jamie Magic, Soca Saga Boys and the Passa crew.”
Ely
“We saw an eBay listing, and it just said something like. vintage speakers. I sent it to a couple of the guys in the crew, namely Papa Simon and Desmond. And thought, what do you think of this? It was very hard to see what was in the listing, because it was a crowded room. We ended up winning the bid for it and came to collect the system from the daughter of the late Count Rob, who was the original owner and who built the sound in 1962 which was when the song of the same name the “The Mighty Ruler”, by Roy Panton came out, who on the blue beat label in UK. We think it might have come up a bit earlier in Jamaica, but yeah, it was named after the song on blue beat, which is obviously like a synonymous kind of era of music, essentially ska music but it was named bluebeat after the label, and then yeah, we went to collect it. It was still strung up in count Rob's front room. He played it up until the day he died in covid. He kept playing the sound, and he never stopped the sort of sound system dream. So, we thought it was only fitting that we take over the legacy.”
“Sound System culture is the most resilient movement in the history of London, because it constantly is under attack, you can't play any venues. Storage costs are through the roof, but still, sound systems keep going, which is amazing. I think sound system is important because of the Big C word – community - because you cannot be a sound system by yourself, even if you're a singular person, you must have a team, and that's important. You know, teamwork, you can't do anything without your team. We have the best team. But also, it's a way of hearing music and experiencing music presented in a way that is so unique, and even just on a scientific level, the frequency ranges.”
“I think there's so much mythology around, like, the big monolith of a speaker stack. And often we work with, like, brands and fashion design and stuff, and they just want, like, a big speaker stack for the looks and everything. I think there's people that just gravitate towards sound system. They hear it. They feel the vibes, the vibe of the crew. It's being part of a team, being part of a community. I think that's a big draw for people in the digital age anyway, because there's a real thing. It's physical. You know, we're sitting in a room full of speakers. They need to get lifted into a van. They need to go somewhere.”
“Younger people who haven't experienced sound system, they don't experience sound the same way older people do, the low end, the top end, separating the frequencies out, it says it's a sonic experience that people kind of need to hear in their life, essentially. But, you know, unfortunately, with the big gentrification, it gets it gets overlooked and it gets marginalized, but there still needs to be a place for it, because, you know, the history of music, especially in London, everyone, everything comes through sound system.”
“The reasons why Count Rob, aka the Windrush generation, built sound systems, was for very specific reasons. Obviously, you know, you couldn't really play in clubs. There was a lot of racism at the time. You had to build, you know, essentially mighty ruler was built for house parties, blues parties, so people were marginalized, so they had had to have their own entertainment. And I think the same thing is happening now. I think there's a lot of brands and corporations who we work with, who pay our bills, but we work with them in a specific way, and they take over a lot of spaces, and it becomes difficult for grassroots culture to exist. It's almost like we're experiencing a top down rather than a bottom up. But what's more interesting is that, like I said, sound system is still prevalent. People are still finding spaces, still making spaces for it, still making equipment and kind of getting it out there, in in even in the most sort of marginalized way, in sports halls and, you know, little bars up and down, up and down the city. It’s important politically. It's got to evolve. It needs to be accessible for all sorts of people. It’s a legacy thing. Because when, when we look at Dalston, we look at The Four Aces, which was just like the epicentre of black music and the whole nightclub scene was nice and raw back then. A lot of a lot of people, if you're from London or, you know, in other cities, you'd experienced sound system. You heard about it from your parents.”
Mark Professor
“If you had a sister, she might date a sound man, your cousin would have known the sound. Your next-door neighbour would have been in the sound. Sound System culture was there even if you weren't from the Caribbean background, you couldn't be away from sound system because this person down the road had one you heard this music there, or your friend that you ran around their brother had a sound or so it just part of British life, community. And then so you, someone's bigger brother would have a sound or something, or their dad would have a sound. Hand them down records, and they'll start a sound. Then they'll have a younger brother, they'll start sound like, with my first sound.”
“Through the ages and different stages of music, there's always been sound system, and it's like a baton that just passes, and maybe equipment changes and stuff, but it's just the same, this, this, this energy, is this thing that does go through with time, and it doesn't stop. Another thing about sound systems…. Everybody had their place. It was based upon their interest. Some people would be fascinated with the speaker boxes. I want to see what cones are in them and how many tweeters. Some people want to see they amplify and how much bass they've got, what amps they use. And then some people are just fascinated by the music.”
Simon
“Sound System culture stems back to the days when we were all sons of immigrants. We all went to school. We learned different aspects of things, but when it came to entertainment, we will walk around streets of irons in our pockets, look in the shop, looking for shop windows, dreaming about having this and that. And I think that's where the element of looking at the older guys, they started making all their own stuff, especially on the carpentry side the woodwork, they started making their own things. You make mistakes, you learn, and then you try and buy the cheapest speakers that you could and even borrow your dad's radiogram, and for what little noise it made you was happy, because you've accomplished something. And then you'd learn about amplifiers, preamps, how they work. I did a course in in a college in southeast London, in engineering and electronics at the time, learning about transistors. I think it comes from, being unable to afford stuff. We didn't have jobs. We wanted to. We loved the music and would you scrape together and buy something to start with. I think I remember buying seven-inch records for 60 pence each. And yeah, you buy them, but then you go home, your dad would let you use a stereo or the radiogram. So you know you got these records. You go to your friend's house, you play them. You want to start your own. You get something broken from a cousin or friend. You get it repaired; you learn about it. Same with speaker boxes, with amplifiers, with preamps, and slowly, slowly, it came together. You know, even if you were not the greatest sounding because you've done it all, you felt like you've accomplished something, and it was yours, and you and your friends would Yeah, you just all be happy. You know, good, brilliant.”
Jean Paul Nicholas.
“It started with an eBay bid that we won during covid times, and then got stored in one of our warehouses. And then, you know, going through tidying up in covid times, we discovered that this sound system was a bit more of just the just a storage piece, you know. There's more of a history piece and we need to be out and telling the story to the world. We restored it to its full glory, put it back on the road and opened the storybook again.”
“My dad is from Kingsmead Estate in Hackney, and he owned a sound system called Tokyo sounds. One of my granddads owned a sound system called Fat Man, and he was playing out in in Hackney and the Dalston area. A lot of my uncles, have sound systems. So, I've always been around sound systems and the art of putting together sound boxes and designing them and getting them to sound right, and stuff like, you know, I've always been in the warehouses with them, just standing on the side like, so cool. Thinking, this is what I want to do one day. And, you know, being able to get a chance with the likes of Desmond, The Soca Boys and General Magic, and being able to get in touch with these sound systems, I've become who I am today. And, just adopted the culture and trying to regain the culture within our community. In my eyes, sound system culture, is what we bought into the country as Caribbeans. If I can, hold that as our culture, and try and retain it and bring it out to our youth, and give them the message that I adopted back in those days. And give it to them in a way that they can understand and be a part of it all.”