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Born in New Orleans, raised on the isle of Bermuda Colin Harper is not an easy youth to pin down geographically. His musical alter ego Collie Buddz however, is one of the most firmly grounded voices you may ever encounter. Incorporating influences from hip-hop to soca, Collie-s music nevertheless has a rock-solid foundation in reggae.
Peppa Pot chats with Collie Buddz about his new found success, recent remix with Beyonce, the dancehall / reggae scene in Bermuda, and his debut album.
Peppa Pot: You recently did the remix of "Ring The Alarm" with Beyonce. How did that link up come about?
Collie Buddz: The link came through Sony. They sent me the remix and asked me if I would be interested and of course I jumped at the opportunity. They basically sent me the tune, I spit my thing over it and they sent it back to the producers, some youths named The Transformers from Big Yard Studios did the riddim. When I did the tune and sent it back to them they sent it to Beyonce and out of a few other remixes she picked mine so that was a big thing for me.
Peppa Pot: Alright now, your background is very unique, born in New Orleans and raised in Bermuda. Tell us about the reggae scene in Bermuda.
Collie Buddz: The reggae scene in Bermuda is pretty similar to Jamaica, you know we have dance every night. Pretty much reggae and hip hop run the island, a little soca here and there but mainly dancehall and hip hop. Everybody have a sound there, construction workers, taxi drivers, bartenders. I have never been to a place where they have so many sounds. The reggae scene is just huge in Bermuda.
Peppa Pot: I heard that you used to work with your brother on his sound system, what was the name of his sound system?
Collie Buddz: It used to be Nuclear Weapon, which is one of Bermuda-s founding sounds. It has been around since about the early 80-s. It was run by Sneak Success which is basically the guy that got my brother and I into this whole music thing. But now my brother runs a new sound called Herbally Supreme.
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| Collie Buddz | Peppa Pot: How did you get the name Collie Buddz?
Collie Buddz: It is a childhood name. It came from Collin to Collie and as we entered the teen stage, the Buddz came into play [laughs], which is pretty self explanatory.
Peppa Pot: [laughs] I know your grew up on sound clashes. What is one of your favorite sound clashes?
Collie Buddz: It would have to be Kilamanjaro vs King Addies. Also I remember seeing Katarock vs Kilamanjaro in Bermy [Bermuda], that was good. But Kilamanjaro was my favorite sound. We used to go every week and get the latest Jaro tapes.
Peppa Pot: So Ricky Trooper was your selector.
Collie Buddz: Yeah Man, Ricky Trooper. Stand Guuaaard! [laughs]
Peppa Pot: While you were growing up in Bermuda, who were your basic influences in terms of the music?
Collie Buddz: Well Buju-s "Mr. Mention" is still one of my favorite albums. So definitely Buju, Bounty, Beenie. Barrington Levy, Garnett Silk, Tenor Saw same way also had a big influence on me.
Peppa Pot: From there you made a transition, went to school and became a producer. Did you work on any popular riddims?
Collie Buddz: Not really. It was all pretty much original stuff. When I came out of the school I just borrowed some of the gear and started racking up my own stuff. We set up shop in Bermuda first, there were a lot of local talent passing through doing dub plates and stuff like that so in my spare time I just tried to produce my own stuff. And that is basically where I came up with the demo to approach Sony with all original riddims and stuff.
Peppa Pot: Speaking of that. Is it true that Interscope was also interested in signing you?
Collie Buddz: Interscope was interested in signing me. We had approached them before we approached Sony and they liked our stuff and said that they would get back to us. They did not get back to us so we kept the link with Sony and built a good relationship. So when it was announced that Sony wanted to sign us the label got all hype like "Oh we could have signed him reh reh reh" but it was already too late. Sony and I had already built a good relationship and I was not about to start over with a new label and everything.
Peppa Pot: As far as like I know you are one of the first Artistes to buss from Bermuda, have you been back since and what has been the reaction from the people?
Collie Buddz: Yeah [laughs]. I-m actually living there now. But in terms of the reaction; they are just loving it. I think that they are really proud of me. Just for the very fact that a Bermudian has made it in the music scene because we have so much talent down there but it is hard to get off the island and really make it to an international level. So I am just trying to do my best and put Bermuda on the map. It is crazy, having kids coming up and wanting autographs and stuff, it is definitely a trip.
Peppa Pot: With you being a producer, how do you think that it helps you as an Artiste?
Collie Buddz: It helps a lot with the creative process. I mean to date, every track on the album I recorded myself. I am there running from the booth to the board doing my own thing. It definitely helps with the creative process because I can get that sound that I really want knowing pro-tools and stuff. It is a big help.
Peppa Pot: So the tune "Come Around" did you produce that?
Collie Buddz: No I did not. That was produced by Crown from Firehouse Music, New York. They produced it. It is actually a whole sample from Beres Hammond's "The Last War".
Peppa Pot: The video was shot at Passa Passa in JA. How was the vibe?
Collie Buddz: Passa Passa is crazy yow. Nice vibes man, it is always a crazy vibes down there. Swatch International, Maestro, it was crazy. I got there around 1 o-clock, it was dead out, but by 3 4 o-clock the place full. Ras Kassa directed the video, he was just running around getting shots, getting different angles, it was just a nice vibe. It is definitely one of the best experiences that I have had so far.
Peppa Pot: Down in Jamaica, did you get the opportunity to deejay at any shows?
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| Collie Buddz | Collie Buddz: Yeah, I actually did Champions in Action in August. That was probably the biggest show that I have ever done in terms of crowd in Jamaica. That is the real catch right there. If you go out and buss the crowd in Jamaica, you are good. I thought that I got a good response, a couple people stood up, couple girls there bubbling to the tune. I did not get bottled [laughs] so that is a good show for me!
Peppa Pot: Tell us about the debut album.
Collie Buddz: Yeah, May 22nd is the tentative date. I got some big producers on there. I got Black Chiney to do a couple tunes, Tony Kelly, Massive B, Firehouse, Steven McGregor, that youth is talented I tell you, I love the riddim that he produced.
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