Reggae pioneer Clinton Fearon spreads peace of mind around the world

Photo courtesy of Clinton Fearon. Photo credit: Nicolas Baghir Maslowski.

Dailyreggae.com interviewed reggae pioneer Clinton Fearon about his Jamaican roots, finding his groove in The Gladiators, the new music he’s excited to release, and the power of reggae music to bring peace of mind to the world.

What was it like for you growing up in Saint Catherine, Jamaica? How did that help shape you as a person and a musician?

I was in nature a lot. I grew up with my stepmom and my Dad, and for awhile it was just my Dad and I alone. That particular time we spent our time in the woods. I really learned you can be friend with trees, and flowers, and birds, and roads, and little walkaways. It’s all important. 

During that period of time, all the elementary schools in Jamaica met in Kingston at the stadium and I saw The Skatalites play, and I knew then that’s what I will be doing. That is too cool! I thought I have to do that. 

I went back and told my Dad what I saw. We didn’t have a lot of money, so at first, I made my first guitar. 

I was about to ask about that. How did you make it?

I got some cedarwood and I didn’t have any tools, so I used my machete to chop it up well. I got a six-inch nail and broken glass to shave it down. I didn’t have sandpaper but I cut the top off some utensils to create frets. At one point I tried hanger wires, but it was too tough and hard to bend, but the fork was a little more supple. And then I asked a gentleman to buy the strings and keys in Kingston for me. 

But that was a whole another cup of tea. It started me off. I played guitar in church as well and then my Dad helped me to buy a real one, which I took back to Kingston with me. 

That’s awesome. Do you think playing in church left an impression on you as a musician? 

That helped me as well. Everything that had to do with music back then. We didn’t have a radio, but some of my friends had little pocket radios back in the day, and some families had radios. Not many people had TVs, and there was only one main station. 

As a guitar player myself, I’m very impressed you were able to make a guitar yourself. 

Thank you. You know the strings were high off the fret, but I didn’t care anyway. It didn’t take me long to realize that uh oh this isn’t really top of the line (laughs). 

Well hey, I’m sure when you got that next guitar it was amazing.

Oh yeah, it felt like a million-dollar guitar in comparison (laughs).

Tell us about your journey from playing in your youth in the hills and singing at church and then you make your way to Kingston. How did you get involved and become a member of The Gladiators? 

I started a little group called The Brothers. Two of my friends that I met when I just went to Kingston. I had my guitar and was jamming around. I knew my chords and when we met we said let’s form a group. 

And then I realized that neither of them was too sharp on harmonies, so I decided to let one lead and I would coach and harmonize with the other one. We did a few auditions but didn’t get anywhere. 

In the process of that, I met Errol Grandison from The Gladiators, who was passing by one day and introduced himself. We played music together and he said they lost a member and he thought I would be good for the slot. 

He told Albert (Griffiths) and he came by a few days later and from then on I was a Gladiator for 18 years. 

When you were playing with The Brothers, were you playing guitar or bass? 

That was the guitar. When I joined The Gladiators I was just singing, I wasn’t playing bass right off the bat. We were just a trio. Errol Gandison left and it was just Albert and myself. And then Gallimore Sutherland came in later, and we decided we wanted to be a self-contained group. 

We would practice and when we thought we had a good one, we’d take it to Coxsone (Dodd) and let him know that we think he would like to hear it. And oftentimes, he would let us record it. Later on, he would listen to it and if he liked a song he’d put it out. 

So was it after you were singing in The Gladiators that you really picked up the bass? 

Yeah, Albert actually suggested that I play bass, because he was mostly playing the guitar, and Errol and I would be harmonizing. I would be playing a drumbeat on my thigh and humming the bass line. Albert used to play bass, so he had an idea of what was going down. 

When the time came he told me he thought I’d be a good bass player, so I got assigned to the bass. And that was a whole other cup of tea again. Singing and playing bass is not an easy exercise. 

It’s really not, especially in reggae. You have both the melody lines that you’re taking care of! 

Exactly! It’s left side, right side. 

Do you think starting as a guitarist and a singer and then going to bass affected your bass playing? 

Yes, I think it did. And vice versa too. Because you learn how much the bass helps to form a melody. 

I love a bass line that sometimes just carries its own and everything rides around it. And then you have others where the bass is actually almost like singing the song. But with that one, you have to be careful if you still want to have a dance beat. If you still want a groove and a bounce going. 

Well, I’m sure that’s where you as a singer really came in to figure that out. 

You’re right (laughs). 

Speaking of your instrumentation and bass skills, you’ve been a prolific session player as well. What did you like about being a session player and how does that differ from being an artist and playing for yourself?

That’s a good question. I think both of them are so interesting because each tells you where you’re at on the other side in terms of growth and capacity. 

When you’re playing for somebody, you totally divorce yourself from yourself.  

You have to pay attention to the person’s creativity, and you want to put your best input in. You listen, and because I love melodies, I listen to see where the melody is going. The bass line has to coordinate with the drums.

Like we said earlier, it will either be a bass line that rolls by itself, or you play the song as close to the melody and singer as possible. 

Speaking of your creativity, you’ve put out so many great albums. The amount of good writing you’ve done is prolific. How do you as an artist putting out all these albums keep it fresh and fun? How do you stay inspired to keep writing because it seems like other artists sometimes fade out, but you haven’t done that at all. What’s your secret? 

That one is kind of hard to answer (laughs). I don’t think I have a secret. You cannot just write about happiness. It can’t be one love song after the next. I try to mix it up. 

As long as things are in balance there are ways to stay creative. 

The same song you write yesterday and then you write today, the relation is so close because the goal is to have love and peace of mind. 

It’s like going downtown, but there are several roads that lead to downtown. 

So today, you’re inspired this way and take this road to go downtown. Tomorrow you take that long road around there but you’re still getting downtown. 

Plus I’m not afraid of working with other musicians. I think that music is music. Once you can speak it, you have it made. No matter where you are from in the world. 

Music is encouraging and inspiring and it feels good that boom you can go to Cuba and play with another musician and feel like we are not too far apart after all. 

I use that inspiration. 

You keep making great music and I can tell that you’re so inspired by what you do. What does reggae music mean to you?

Reggae is about not giving up. Times are tough, things are rough. There is hate and crimes and war all over, but you know what, we are not giving up, because as people we can do better. 

The more we encourage that scenario the more it can become reality. 

We cannot give up. If you really believe in something, then you give your full. 

I believe that we all have the right to possess peace of mind. That is the ultimate goal. We want to go to bed feeling peaceful within ourselves. 

All the work that we’re doing to put simply is to help bring peace of mind. 

Yes, well that love you have really finds its way onto your recordings and live shows. A genuine musician, you cannot fabricate that. That’s for sure. Are there any releases or tours coming up that fans can look forward to?

Yes, we have a new album coming in June. 

I was talking about not being afraid to work with different musicians, and the musicians I worked with on this album are from France. 

The album was recorded, mixed, and mastered there. It was a different approach, and I love it. The root is still there, the groove is still there, and I consider this one of my best albums if not the best. 

We cannot wait!

I might be pushing the envelope there a little bit too much, but that’s how I feel about it. I feel really good about the subject matter, musicianship and engineering. 

I’m really looking forward to seeing how my friends and fans gravitate towards this one. 

What sets this album apart from the rest? Is there a certain sound that this album took on being with these French musicians and recording in France itself?

There is a sound that it takes on. Different parts have a different frequency that envelope your sound. If your sound fits into that, you get a wow out of it! 

There is the happy side, and also I paid attention to the political situations going on and some of it was written during the pandemic. There can be less devastation if we all pay attention and take care. There are many avenues that I feel like made a good album. 

What is your favorite bass to play and what is your favorite guitar?

(Laughs). I love Fender. Fender Precision I really love. I have a Taylor bass that I’ve been playing and I really love the sound of it. It has that woody sound and you can still electrify it. It kind of sounds like a stand-up bass.

Sleepin’ Lion by Clinton Fearon is the Daily Reggae Song of the Day.