Badbull Boss rolls with recording studio on wheels

With the advances made in technology in recent years, recording studios have been set up in the most curious places - from bathrooms to containers and everything else in between.

It's time to add a new one - a car. Armed with a laptop, headphones and a professional mic with all the necessary fitting to carry out the recordings, the 'Badbull Boss', given name Dave Gouldburn, says he was forced to become creative in response to a frustrating situation.

Gouldburn, a producer and promoter, is the 2006 winner of the Tastee Talent Trail, which he entered with his daughter, under the moniker Classical and Baby Trish.

Since then, he has made many links in the music industry, becoming the middle man in business transactions for dub plate specials between the artistes and overseas selectors.

"The selectors would send me their money for the special and when I call the artistes they would have me waiting for more than a day because dem don't want to leave dem house. And all this while the selector a pressure me, because once dem get the notification from Western Union that me collect the money, dem want the special same time," he told The STAR.

The solution, he said, was to take the studio to them. So he outfitted his 2013 AD Nissan wagon with studio equipment and took it on the road.

"This four-seater with black leatherette is creating history. It is right inside here that we make sound clash lyrics," he boasts of his mobile recording studio.

He also has his in-house Badbull recording studio at Georges Lane, off East Queen Street, downtown Kingston.

VARIOUS CLIENTS

Gouldburn's clients, who are from countries such as the Netherlands, Germany, Sweden, and several Caribbean islands, decide which artiste they want and these are usually the ones who are very popular, especially in the dancehall.

"People do follow the sounds which use big name entertainers," he said.

The price varies according to the stature of the artistes and final payments are usually done upon the completion of the dub plates.

To prevent any form of impersonation (where other artistes use the name of the 'brand' artistes) the overseas clients request a video recording. This is done by Gouldburn in the mobile studio and sent to the clients immediately. He also finds a creative way to collect his payment.

"What I do is ask the artistes for a special for myself, so for every three or four specials that I get for the artiste, I get one for myself," he said. He then sells it to whichever sound is interested.

Gouldburn has very fond memories as boss of this mobile studio, like when Sizzla invited him to Judgement Yard in August Town. But there have been a couple of unfortunate incidents.

"One night I travelled as far as Clarendon to record an artiste. My recording mic fell and I thought it was fixed. But when I was ready to record everything was dead," he laughed.