Interview with Mark from The Ark Band: A Peak into Rastafari

This is an excerpt from an interview with The Ark Band's lead singer Mark.  Over the course of the hour interview he talked about his various projects in Columbus, Ohio - like his website, www.colleone.com, playing with The Ark Band, being an immigrant from Senegal, but most importantly, Rastafarianism.

The interview started with us talking about The Ark Band's founders, brothers Eustace and Terry Bobb, then leads into Reggae music and Rastafarianism.

Again, big thanks to The Ark Band, and their agent Sam Maher.

Mark: Eustace drops his locks and they drag on the floor.  That is the dedication.  They've had several different lineups, but The Ark Band IS Eustace and Terry Bobb, the St. Lucian Rithmn Twins.

Ric:  And as a [band] that's where you want two brothers playing together [in the rythmn section].

M:  Drums and bass.

Reggae music is a music from the ancient time.  You see, when the slaves first came to America, they were taught God from the White Man's perspective.  You gotta understand; the White Man's perspective talking to a slave, I don't particularly need to go into that.  From the White Man's perspective teaching the slave about his creator.  And not the White Man's creator, but the slave's creator, and I and I know it's the same creator, right?  Remember... the White Man teaching, right?

He said that late at night they got a picture, like [the keys] would be a great example.  Late at night, no electricity, so all this shit [pointing towards hotels in the area] was dark.  Imagine yourself back in the 1800's, 1700's, late 1600's, then you come forward to 1940.  Come forward to the corronation of Haile Selassie (Emporer of Ethiopia from 1930-1974, who Rastafarians believe was the reincarnation of Jesus Christ).

[Note: After having Steve read this over, he made note that this paragraph is confusing.  I think what Mark was trying to say is to imagine yourself back in a time when everything was dark - not only the land but in the metaphorical sense of enlightenment.  At least not until Haile Selassie in 1940.]

Now 1940, all of this was starting to light, not like this, but little structures.  But in this time segregation was alive and kicking.  Just like how herb is illegal, at that time black skin is illegal.  Just like we're paranoid to walk around and be found with ganja on us, because they have a whole list that they throw under that label - child endangerment, driving under the influence, whatever the fuck down the line.

If you had a child with a white girl it would be considered child endangerment, fine.  If you're with a white girl that's a crime, fine.  Some of them were death without trial - lynchings.  And so on and so forth.  So that kind of justice, which we're still under now because of the herb, that kind of injustice is something we've been dealing with forever and ever.

But that reggae music, drums and bass.  We're talking about The Ark Band.  It's *thump thump* *thump thump* - you put your hand on your heart, that's reggae music.  The heartbeat of life.

At the end of the day it's when the lights have gone out, the slave owners have all gone to sleep... remember I'm from Freetown in West Africa; so all the history of American racism is not as big a deal in Africa, as I've come to understand as I've gotten older here.  So as all those guys have gone to sleep, and the African has to call on God, because they find themselves, like the song In The Rivers of Babylon, "how can we sing in a strange land?"  And out comes reggae music.  Back then it wasn't called reggae, or niabingi, or rasta, we have to figure every element of what rasta is today.

We let our locks grow.  It's not that it's dirty, all it is is a technology thing.  A comb in the 1800's in a big technology.  So for anybody of African decent, if you leave your hair alone your locks will grow unless somebody cuts them.

See that's all there is.  Herb is the same thing.  Jah provides.  There's a part that herb plays to feed the human spirit and soul.  Technology tries to combat that with alcohol because you can't manufacture herb but you can manufactor alcohol.  But it's a miscategorization of even subjects.  You're comparing apples and oranges.  Herb isn't about giddiness and happiness like getting drunk on a friday night.  Herb is like your water.  That's how herb fits in.  If your thirsty, if your soul is thirsty you need to be able to feed your spirit with the right food, so Jah provided that.

That's all reggae music is.  That truth, which is the truth from the heart, which has nothing to do with any formal education.  It's a truth that existed before man even knew himself.  You know?  Like when you're in the womb, Jah is already there for you.  You eat everyday as a baby before you come out into the world as we know it.  Before you're even conscious of yourself that you exist.  You're already alive, kicking, and eating.  Just like Bob sings, three little birds pitched by my doorstep, singing street songs, melodies pure and true, sing, don't worry about a thing.  It's because it's a universal truth under the umbrella of Rastafari.

See it's not a universal truth for Babylon.  First there's gotta be an acceptance of rastafari through the herb. Cause that's where it starts, that's what gives you that connection and that consciousness to feel - it's not something you hear - it's something you feel.  Reggae music is that only medium that has kept that truth alive.  No journal, no book, no magazine, nothing.  Except reggae music.

Right now we're in a time and space with wikipeida.  So if you wikipedia Reggae music you find Rastafari.  It's like a heart beat.  It's why you see white people get up and dance, children get up and dance.  It's a gift from the almeighty, and Bob Marley was chosen.  And one day he was sitting somewhere listening to ska and burning his spliff, hungry as a motherfucker, and he said, "Jah, these are the skills I have, what do I need to do?"  And Jah says, "slow music down and tell the world about me."

That's all that is.  The rest is whatever.  Behind it is the truth that God is alive.  The truth of Rastafari is... like there's always a yin and a yang.  So if there is this side there has to be that side.  The opposite end [of Rastafari] is Babylon.  She has her truth, and Rastafari has his truth.  It's always up to interpretation.  I've always said it's "my truth", and my truth is evident as it is right now in the Florida Keys.  My truth is that God is alive.  The greatest gift is not the iphone, it's the gift of being alive to look at an iphone.

Jah first, and all things shall be added.

Babylon's greatest fear is that if you put Jah first they'll lose interest in Babylon.  But you see all the gifts of man come from Jah.  All this technology, and us sitting up here, and I can light fire, and [the papers] say BobMarley.com, [are] all a gift from Jah.

If some dude sat down one day and said, "I am hungry, these are the skills I have, what the fuck should I do?" And Jah said, "let's build a railroad."  And this fucker'll do it.  And so on and so forth.  All the negative shit is from Man.  The Earth and Jah is positive all the time and it keeps rolling along and life goes on.  Negative shit is from man.

The gift is there, technology.  You can use it for good or for bad.  You can use it to feed or you can use it to starve.  At this point Babylon is using it to starve.  And as long as that is going on, Babylon chokes itself to death, while Rasta grows stronger and stronger everyday.

It's a truth before any of this, it's a truth from an ancient time.

If You Enjoyed This Post, You May Also Like:

• A Night with Kellar Williams and His Invisible Band (Live at City Limits, Delray Beach 1/28/09)
• Jahfe is Miami's favorite Reggae band
• Band Profile: Sirens & Sealions
• Sinking the Vandenberg: Discovering a Southern Paradise and The Ark Band
• Zirarock: Rega-Mix #1

Tags: Sinking the USNS Vandenberg, The Ark Band

This entry was posted on Monday, June 1st, 2009 at 1:11 pm and is filed under Counter-Culture, Music. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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