Not many people have done two Phonica mixes but Govind Singh is a man of many talents and his Silsila Dubs alias is something that we most definitely needed to visit.
A former staff member of Phonica and now handling things at Above Board Distribution it goes without saying that Govind lives and breathes this industry. Commonly known under his Kylin Tyce guise which has put out garage, house and a little bitta D&B for labels like Tesselate, PIV and Oldivibes over the years he has now focused on another deep love of his.
Silsila Dubs is two records deep now and is all about Govind’s passion for Dub and soundsystem culture. Having had both his debut “Perseverance” and his follow up “Walk The Light” (featuring Trumpet from our own Luther Vine) being blessed at Notting Hill Carnival by the legendary Aba shanti I soundsystem it only speaks volumes of Govind’s in-depth knowledge and ear for this sound.
For Off The Record 51 we asked Govind to put his Silsila Dubs hat on and show us what inspired and is currently motivating the project with an hour of Dub selections. We had a brief chat with Govind about the mix and what the project has in the pipeline:
Hey Govind, thanks for joining us! Can you tell us about your mix and what the idea behind it was?
Thanks for having me! The idea behind the session was to record about an hour of 70s-90s Roots, focusing on more digital leaning cuts from the halfway mark – all played in a traditional style, A Side plus Versions on 1 deck & a dub siren.
Can you tell us a bit about how you usually approach recording a mix or a set?
I usually pick a bunch of tunes from my shelf & shortlist them trying to find a loose order that works, usually building up from 70/80’s revival to more digital/steppers – it all depends on the mood at the time.
What are your preferred methods for finding new music—do you still enjoy digging around in dusty crates, or do you prefer to buy online?
I’d say physical shops are still my favourite, both 2nd hand & new from places like Phonica, MVE, Reckless, SOTU – followed by online, mainly Dub Vendor, eBay, Discogs etc… When it comes to finding Roots music for me though, most of my knowledge & understanding has been handed down to me from my brother & his circle of friends – I’m forever getting them to ID tracks still to this day & put me on to bits I’ve never heard – That’s the reason for my name also, ‘Silsila’ in our culture (Punjab/North India) refers to the passing on of teachings & knowledge.
What drew you into your love for soundsystem culture?
Reggae, specifically Roots/Dub was always around growing up in West London – we were spoiled for choice every weekend with dances being held at Southall Community Centre, Tudor Rose, Hayes Gate FC & more. Once again, my brother & his friends taking me to my first dance set it off for me. Seeing sounds like Jah Shaka, Aba Shanti-I, Word Sound & Power, King Earthquake on our doorstep was a dream.
We usually ask “what are five records you couldn’t live without 👀?”, but what would you say are five records that NEED to be heard on a quality soundsystem to get their message across?
Now that’s difficult, there’s so many but here’s 5 tracks that stick out for me:
The Disciples – Return To Addis Ababa
TNT Roots – Elohim
Jah Shaka – Warrior
Martin Campbell – Wicked Rule
Sound Iration – Seventh Seal
What has been one of your most memorable sets over your career?
I’d say going B2B with Yung Singh at Fabric back in 2021 – specifically running my last tune, The Dub Factory – Asian Rockers
What do you have up your sleeve for 2024/5?
We have new releases planned on the label, stepping out of the digital realm a little with more live instrumentation such as bass, guitar & melodica – plus some trumpet from Phonica’s very own Luther Vine who also featured on our 2nd release ‘Walk In The Light’. A lot of this year has been spent building dubplates for our sound system also – Mya HiFi. It’s a handbuilt sound system so it’s taking some time, but we’ll hopefully be holding our first dance in 2025!
