There are not many bands with a legacy as enduring as UB40. The English reggae and pop band, formed in 1978 is still making waves as proved by their recent concert at Bengaluru’s Catholic Club.
Formed by Ali Campbell, UB40 was super successful with four Grammy nominations. Although Campbell, Astro and Mickey Virtue have left, the band continues to perform.
Ahead of their Bengaluru gig, brothers and bandmates Duncan and Robin Campbell share their insights into the scene, their music and their love for all things Indian.
“Although it has been a long time since we came to India and it is our first time here in Bengaluru, we are always excited,” says Duncan. “We’d love to return and do 30 concerts in India in bigger and cheaper venues so everyone can come and hear us!”
Robin says since they hail from Birmingham, “We feel right at home here since we live in the middle of an Asian community. There are a thousand Indian restaurants within a couple of square miles. Whether we pay much attention or not, we were immersed not only in Jamaican culture but also multiculturalism. Indian pop music and Bollywood was a major part of our lives. Bhangra specially bhangra is a massive hit there. Asian weddings are a regular affair with us so we are not at all surprised at the horses and wedding bands here.” Duncan adds that they love it all. “And we’ve done our share of collaborations working with Indian dhol drummers and vocalists.” Commenting on Indian food, the duo say they eat curry all the time. “Indian restaurants across the world temper their food for the local taste. But the second we tell them we are from Birmingham, the chefs tell us they’ll make us a proper curry with the spices.”
On their current set list, Robin says that they won’t be playing anything different here that they don’t play anywhere else in the world. “We’ve been going for nearly 40 years and we’ve had many hits. People will love to hear them, but you never can make everyone happy. Everyone has a favourite. We are also recording so we’d like to play a few ones off our new album.”
While most of us grew up listening to UB40, there is a generation of youngsters who may be listening to them for the first time. What is the biggest takeaway for them? Robin says: “That we are still relevant. We still tour the world, still sell out concerts and the amount of young people who come to these shows amazes us. When I’m looking at the audience, I’m thinking ‘this song I’m singing was recorded 10 years before you were born!’ and they know the lyrics to every song! We get new audiences every time. That makes it possible for us to tour since half our first audience may be dead or very old to attend,” he laughs.
“All we want our audience to do is be open to what we play and enjoy it,” Duncan says. “We have a party. It’s dance music, so we want people to have a good night.”
Several bands have said their inspiration is UB40. Duncan says: “It feels great. It is an honour when bands say they look up to us, grew up on our music and were inspired by us.” Robin adds: “Although sometimes I don’t recognise how our music influenced them since they are so different. At the same time, we meet reggae artistes who grew up on our influence. How can we ask for more?”
Music has always been an emotional form of communication for UB40, says Robin. “We’ve been doing it for decades and we still love it. We love recording, but we equally love performing. There is no replacement to a live audience. It is a drug. The adrenaline rush, joy and love we get from an audience can’t be found anywhere else. We realised how much we missed it when we took a break for a couple of years in the 90s. It is priceless and irreplaceable.”
Looking ahead, Duncan says the band’s music won’t change a lot. “We love reggae and love experimenting too. Even our covers are done in our style. It will always be reggae no matter what experimentation we do since we are instantly recognisable as a brand.”
