Dubmatix

One of Canada’s premiere dub, reggae & electro artists having spent months on top of the Canadian & International charts, touring domestically & internationally, collaborating with legendary reggae heavy weights (Sugar Minott, Michael Rose, Alton Ellis and more) and a sought after producer/remixer working with artists across the globe (Scotland, Italy, Portugal, Switzerland, France, Germany, Canada).

DUBMATIX / BACKGROUND

Having imprinted his name in the mind of the reggae fans across Canada & Europe with one of his first-ever releases back in 2004, the Toronto-born producer is now firmly established as one of Canada’s premiere reggae/dub artists and with two chart-topping releases behind and the new “Renegade Rocker” just coming out, the future looks brighter than ever.

Music runs deep within the veins as does the various musical styles Dubmatix drops – from pure, old-school King Tubby dub to the freshest electro/steppers dub to classic conscious roots to Drum’n’Bass and more. Growing up Dubmatix was surrounded by instruments and recording equipment which provided hours of experimentation and recording from an early age. Having learned drums, bass, guitar and piano as a youth helped push the boundaries of musical taste and production later in life. Over the past years he’s been in various reggae & acid jazz groups jumping from drums to bass and back in 2002/2003 firmly planted the seeds of what became the first Dubmatix release “Champion Sound Clash” which garnered rave reviews across the globe and landed a European licensing deal. Since then “Atomic Subsonic” was dropped in 2006 and “Renegade Rocker” in 2008 with various remixes, production and digital releases in between. Working with local artists such as Treson, Kulcha Ites, Raffa & Howie Smart to legendary heavy weights Sugar Minott, Michael Rose, Alton Ellis, Wayne Smith and more – Dubmatix brings a vibe that is hard to lock down but always provides solid grounding in bass-heavy grooves.

HISTORY

Dubmatix is the solo musical project of Jesse King. Involved in music from his early childhood while on the road and in studios with musician and local Jazz-er father Bill King (whose own career spans 5 decades.) Bill King’s roles have ranged from Musician, Arranger, Producer and Musical Director for some of music’s most well known artists including Janis Joplin, Martha Reeves, Pointer Sisters and many more. In the early 70s – King was keyboardist with a local reggae group that included Everton “Pablo” Paul who immigrated from Jamaica to Toronto alongside one of reggae’s most well-known writers, arrangers and keyboardists – Jackie Mittoo. It was this group and meeting with Paul that would define and shape the music that Dubmatix would produce years later. Paul provided the key to the city of dub by lending Dubmatix his first and life-shaping LP King Tubby meets Rockers Uptown in the 80s. Pablo “Everton” Paul is also one of the members of the late 60’s reggae band “The Cougars” featuring Jay Douglas, Wayne McGhie, Jackie Mitoo – managed by the late Karl Mullings. These members appear on the Light In The Attic release “From Jamaica to Toronto” that stormed the retail and radio charts in 2006. In this small world of music – Dubmatix collaborated with Mullings’ daughter and 2008 Juno Award Nominee Tanya Mullings on her latest release “Music Is My Life”.

2008 has already blasted off at full force with the release of “Dread & Gold – Dub from the Smoke Factory” a 10-track compilation of unreleased dub spanning 2003-2008. The release of “Dubmatix meets Howie Smart – Hard Road” recorded between 2004-2005, “Renegade Rocker” and the D&B side project- DJ Ironbelly “Amped”.