Rasta, Roots & Progressive House With Worship's Rob Paine

"The sun comes up in the morning and goes down at night and that's all you need to worry about. The world's gonna do what the world's gonna' do; we're living in Armageddon times already."

Philadelphia DJ Rob Paine, who co-runs one of America's best progressive house labels Worship Recordings is one of the few prominent rastas in the US club industry and his commitment to all things Jamacan stretches further than just his religion. Reared on a love of reggae and English derivative music, he's nurtured and developed his own form of dub/house/disco to create a funky and surprisingly progressive original style.

Nowadays championed by the likes of Chris Fortier, he's collaborated with respected producers including former Wamdue Kid Chris Udoh, San Francisco's Rocket (DJ Garth and Eric James), releasing tracks from them on Worship. 4 years after opening the label with musical partner Zach Eberz and Dan McGehean, he's just released a label compilation containing their first ten releases. Skrufff's Jonty Adderley called him up in his central Philly base last week and discovered him relaxed though eager to communicate. "We're trying to come across with more conscious ideas," he says.


Skrufff: What's the vibe behind Worship-

Rob Paine: "Our foundation is in early 80s reggae music and that's always been there no matter what other music we make or listen to. Both Zach and I played in bands previously and it's been a part of our background so when house music came in it, we merged the two. It's always been about the bass for us and hearing the bass in house music triggered old reggae idea for us."

Skrufff: The album sounds very progressive in that early 90s way pioneered by Guerrilla Records on their Dub House Disco compilations, how much were you inspired by English music-

Rob Paine: "Lots of great music came out of England and going further back there was stuff like The Clash, The Police and The (English) Beat; all those bands were early influences. In terms of house music, after the acid house summer of love thing happened there (1989) it touched down over here and we all started doing the same thing. We partied for a few years then I started DJing in 1991. I was in a band at that point playing three or four gigs a week and doing quite well but I had to break out from that world. I was the youngest and I'd break out and go and do acid or whatever after the gig, with the other guys always saying 'What are you doing, man-' (chuckling)."

Skrufff: Philadelphia has a very rough reputation, what's it really like-

Rob Paine: "Our sports fans are the craziest in the country and that sets the tone for the whole city. There's always trouble with them in the headlines. Talk is cheap here and people curse (swear) a lot but mostly, it's cool. I've lived in the city (centre) for 9 years and never had any problems, it's no different really from any other cities in the US."

Skrufff: You're born and raised in Philadelphia and are also a Rasta, what in practical terms does being a Rasta entail-

Rob Paine: "Rasta is different for each individual, but in a sense Rastafari is about no religion at all. We burn up religion and don't deal in it, man; in a sense, religion is the second root of all evil, next to money. But citing his Majesty Rastafari definitely came from studying the Bible closely and reading the scriptures. As we lived our lives and learned more about Rastafari we discovered it was how we wanted to live. It's not a religion really, it's a lifestyle and anyone can follow it- you don't have to be dread to be rasta.

It comes in all different levels and no two rastas ever agree about anything and that's one of its beauties. You always hear about brethren sitting down and 'reasoning' or discussing things and then everybody sits around the fire and it's wonderful, you give thanks for being here every day. The sun comes up in the morning and goe Tags

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