Interview - Rob Spragg, Alabama 3

Although founding members Rob Spragg and the late Jake Black met a few miles away (at a rave in Peckham, long before it was cool), the influence of one of London’s most multicultural areas goes way back to their debut album (1997’s Exile On Coldharbour Lane), named after one of Brixton’s most infamous streets. Emerging from the South London acid house squat scene of the decade before, Alabama 3’s trademark fusion of techno and soulful rock has long seen them lauded as pioneers. 

Spragg still resides in Brixton and, over the course of a detailed conversation with Clash, explains what it is that makes the area so special: “I’ve lived in Brixton for 30 years now. What keeps me in the area is the same thing when I arrived. I left college in Aberystwyth and I moved to North London. I was there for about four years and I decided to move south. At the time I was – shall we say – heavily involved in the wrong kind of substances or whatever. Of all places, I moved to Brixton to sort myself out! I sorted myself out by the general buzz.”

“The Prince Albert (pub) was run by an Irish woman and all the customers were Jamaican. Then there would be a bar on the corner that was mostly Jamaicans…this is where Alabama 3 came from. I was hearing reggae versions of country and western… there was an old fella singing Hank Williams songs! For the development of Alabama 3’s concept, that was really important, to know you could amalgamate that remix or dancehall culture. If it’s a good song, it will change its genre to what you want it to be. So, we came up with country and western techno, like reggae but a bit faster. So basically, I’m ripping off a load of Jamaicans!

https://www.clashmusic.com/features/exile-on-coldharbour-lane-alabama-3-on-their-brixton-bedrock/