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living in this modern world of technology that allows remixes to bring the sound to different audiences. We wanted to make sure that the album had a strong base and groundation of where my music comes from. Then allowing it to be remixed by various different producers brings different types of audiences to the situation. Sometimes you have to do some remixes for some audiences to feel that Maxi has stepped into their arena with what he's doing. YOU MENTIONED ABOUT THE DIGITAL AGE BEING WHAT IT IS, WOULD YOU SAY THAT THE DIFFERENCE IN DISTRIBUTION AND PUBLICITY THAT THE INTERNET PROVIDES IS A GOOD THING? YOUR ALBUM IS AVAILABLE FOR SAMPLE ON SOUNDCLOUD, I CAN IMAGINE TEN YEARS AGO THE SITUATION WAS VERY DIFFERENT? There are a lot of good things about it and there are a lot of bad things. We cant run away from it, we've got to face it, hopefully I'll stay in it long enough to be a part of the changes when it begins to sort itself out. We can only pray and hope that things iron out and bring us back to that golden age of music where things were flourishing on a high. WITH 'EASY TO LOVE', ARE YOU TRYING TO RE-ACHIEVE THE OLD DAYS OR PRESENT A NEW PERSPECTIVE? I think it's both really, you've got to keep a foot in where you've come from and you have to be able to stretch to where you want to go. IN TERMS OF WHERE YOU CAME FROM, WHAT ASPECTS OF YOUR PERSONAL AND MUSICAL BACKGROUND STILL FOLLOW THROUGH TO THE MUSIC THAT YOU MAKE NOW? Well, me as a person, my upbringing and my whole life are a big part of my music. When I say groundation, I mean, the Reggae thing has always played a tremendous part in my lifestyle as well as in my music so I'm hoping that a lot of that has come through. SO WHAT KIND OF METHODS OF PRACTICE HAVE YOU ALWAYS TRIED TO STICK TO IN MAKING YOUR MUSIC? Good songs, delivery, making sure that the message that you're sending out is for the mass, trying to reach a worldwide audience as well as catering for a specific group of people. I READ THAT YOU CAME FROM A VERY MIXED BACKGROUND OF GOSPEL MUSIC AND REGGAE WITH YOUR OLDER BROTHER'S MUSICAL TASTES PLAYING A BIG PART IN YOUR INFLUENCE. DO THIS STILL STAND WITH YOU? They will always stand with me. You can't know where you going to unless you know where you're coming from. That being said, we have to evolve, we have to embrace what the technology does to the music world that brings a massive change on how people hear music and what they are hearing. I embrace change; change is a must. WHAT WOULD YOU SAY ARE SOME OF THE MAIN CHANGES THAT HAVE TAKEN PLACE TO AFFECT THE WAY THAT MUSIC IS LISTENED TO AND DISTRIBUTED? Well the Internet is the biggest difference. With the downloads and everything; that's where the major difference is. They're still going through court cases now about how to deal with publishing and various different parts of the entertainment world like how artists should get paid and all the rest of it. We can't just push it aside, we have to work with every situation that comes across and comes our way. All of these things are a matter of choices. People need to look at the choices that they have – should I rip something from the internet and support that or should I buy the music from iTunes considering the state of some of the court cases that are going on like the deals that are in development with Google and Apple and major record companies. We're trying to figure out a world of Internet that none of us really know the beginning and end of. We're still trying to define how this thing is really going to work and I'm probably not the best person to be talking to about it at the moment. I've got to rely on professional advice from the legal aspects to the promotional side of things. THE INTERNET HAS, OF COURSE, BEEN PROBLEMATIC TO THE BUSINESS OF MUSIC THAT HAS BEEN AROUND FOR A LONG TIME, BUT A GOOD ETHOS OF MANY GENRES INCLUDING REGGAE IS THAT MUSIC IS FOR EVERYONE AND SURELY THE INTERNET ENHANCES THIS IDEA? Yeah, it's for everyone, but it won't sustain and it won't survive if it's all free. It is a business, just like how we used to work on a building site – if we never got paid, we wouldn't be turning up for work and sooner or later the business folds. There has to be a buying public for me or anyone else to be able to survive in this business. This is the same for you as a publication, all the marketing people and for the musicians trying to earn a living from music. IT'S GOOD TO HEAR THAT FROM YOUR PERSPECTIVE. ASIDE FROM THAT, WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS ONE OF YOUR BIGGEST MEMORIES OF BEING ON THE ROAD OR PERFORMING, WHAT IS A MOMENT THAT HAS ALWAYS STAYED WITH YOU? Standing in the Amazon at 1o'clock in the morning, stuck in a vehicle trying to get out of the Amazon jungle. I was going to visit this gold mine in Guyana heading towards Brazil and we got stuck in the Amazon jungle at 1.30 – 2.00 in the morning. That's one memory that stands in my brain from touring and going around the world with this music business. THAT'S BRILLIANT, I TAKE IT YOU MADE IT OUT AND GOT TO WHERE YOU WERE GOING? I wouldn't be talking to you right now if I hadn't (laughs). It's interesting that you ask me that, at the time in Guyana there was an uproar of people trying to over-throw the government and they brought me over there to perform for them and that's how I ended up in the Jungle at that time of night. We went to go and see this gold mine that they said they had and they ended up giving me a whole lot of raw gold and some raw diamonds that I treasure. It was a time and a moment that I'll always remember and when you asked me, that's just what came into my head. There have been so many experiences along the way. THAT'S A PRETTY EPIC EXPERIENCE TO HAVE HAD! Thanks. There was another one where I was standing in front of a cave in the Amazon and a tonne load of bats came flying out. You're thinking – wow – please – am I in the way? Will a massive snake come out? (LAUGHS) THAT'S REALLY FUNNY. IT MUST BE GREAT TO HAVE THESE EXPERIENCES THROUGH BEING ASKED TO PERFORM MUSIC AROUND THE WORLD. Oh massively! I appreciate these things, I know a lot of people who haven't had half of the experiences I've had through the music. COMING BACK TO REGGAE, IT'S DEFINITELY A GENRE THAT HAS STOOD THE TEST OF TIME AND IS IMPORTANT TO AN ENORMOUS SECTOR OF SOCIETY, WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE REGGAE SCENE AT THE MOMENT? I think that it has stood the test of time but I don't think that we should still be battling it like we still are, especially in this country. Most other countries embrace it and accept it as a part of the norm. In this country we're still trying to question and battle it within mainstream society, but actually it is very much a part of it, it's part of the culture now – get with it. Even the kids growing up today know about it, they know where it came from and they know what it's about and think it's a part of their life as well. YEAH THAT'S FANTASTIC. THANKS EVER SO MUCH FOR SPEAKING TO US AND ALL THE BEST FOR THE WORLDWIDE ALBUM RELEASE NEXT MONTH! God bless you! The support that we've had so far has been fantastic, I feel like I'm travelling with an army. I don't blink to tell you that I can play this album from top to bottom without any kind of flinching or explanation of this track or that track, I feel so confident with it. It's an honour and a pleasure to be on your Guestlist. IT'S AN HONOUR AND A PLEASURE TO HAVE YOU ON THE GUESTLIST, THANKS AGAIN. Maxi Priest's 'Easy to Love' is out and available now, go and have a listen. 7 37 Issue 64 / 2014 HOUSE / ELECTRIC guestlist.net " In this country we're still trying to question and battle it within mainstream society, but actually it is very much a part of it, it's part of the culture now get with it." follow @MaxiPriest