By Teino Evans, Staff ReporterIT ALL started out of a vision to have a sound system that played gospel music for Christians, but Anointed Praise Station (APS) has now grown into a multi-functional gospel record label.
It has not been an easy road, though, as according to Roger Facey, CEO of APS, "it was very hard in the beginning, because nobody took us seriously and so it was as if we were invisible."
Roger (a.k.a. Dre), who also has a twin brother (Robert a.k.a. Big Bird), says they started out as selectors, but now they have branched off and expanded their members.
"It was not until back in 2001 that people started to take us seriously, as we started to get more shows as a sound system. We got a push from a show called 'Gospel in Motion', which was held in Portmore in 2002, which featured artistes like Papa San, Goddy Goddy, Prodigal and others. It was very eye-opening for us, as we didn't expect such a great response from the crowd," Facey said, as he recalled the overwhelming experience.
TEAMS OF SELECTORS
This is what encouraged Roger and his teams of selectors at APS to expand their horizons, as they sought to get their own studio, manage artistes and do recordings.
"Nathan Watkis gave us our first break, as he helped us with acquiring studio equipment and basically gave us a start," Facey said.
Now APS has grown, as they have a hand in almost every area of production. They have now become a production company, a sound system, and a recording studio, and as Roger explains, they have the resources to fulfil your every need.
APS provides music at social events and, in addition, they do music production services via their Dizzle Lab Studios, where they do rhythm building, composition, arrangement, voicing, dub plates, advertisements for radio and TV, mixing, mastering and live recording. There are also provisions for rehearsal services for musicians, singers and bands in their rehearsal facility.
According to Roger, they also have a resident band that will provide live music for functions and concerts.
"We also have our own promotions group called 'Good Fridays Promotions' and this is held every last Friday on the roof at McMaster Commercial Complex in Portmore," Roger said.
Currently, APS has five gospel artistes on its roster - Freshstart (Wayne Clarke), Tin I Cool (Martin Isaacs), NaNa (Christopher Robinson), D.A. Jay (Dwayne Jackson), Elli (Sheldon Ellington) and Kirk Patrick (Andre Small).
Other members of the organisation are Robert Facey (Big Bird), Randy (Baby Blue), Dale Virgo (Dr. Drizzle), Dwayne Fagan (Pastor D), Richard McCalla, Neil Hamilton, Sons of the Prophet and Ariff Butler. The members are all from Portmore and are members of different congregations, but they serve the same God and all share similar goals.
"We plan to put our music in the dancehalls, in the clubs, radios and in the car stereos. We will be dropping hot beats on a regular basis provided by our resident musical genius, Dr. Dizzle, and mixed by our chief engineer, the specialist Big Bird. The tough lyrics would be provided by artistes such as Tin I Cool (Just Chillin with Jesus Christ) and Freshstart, and also look out for a new addition to the group, DAJ the rapper. Look out for us in the future as we take the music to a higher level," Roger said. APS, will be releasing the group's first album soon, entitled Gospel Fi Share.
Facey is a little unsure as to how persons will react to the album, but he said it's either you love it or hate it.
"The album will have 14 tracks and ranges from reggae and hip hop, but it will be mostly dancehall. I'm not quite sure how people will respond to it, because it is very radical and persons may say it is too close to dancehall," he said.
As APS moves forward in the world of gospel entertainment and production, Roger reminds that "firstly, we are all Christians and we serve the ever-living God, Jesus Christ, and we are here to spread the good news about his gospel throughout the world (firstly Jamaica). We plan to achieve our mission of rocking the nation with salvation through the medium of music."
