Kingston, Jamaica – Irishandchin.com sits down with Donovan Germain, super producer, artist development guru and former manager of the Grammy-award winning Buju Banton, for the first filmed interview of his 40-year illustrious career. A true pioneer, who has been billed as the most successful Reggae producer in the digital era, Germain gives Irishandchin.com an exclusive tell-all interview, which is featured in the site’s producer-inspired “Behind the Music” series. The interview is by all means of historical significance for Reggae music.
The interview is truly an attention grabber as Germain’s face is definitely not one that Reggae enthusiasts see on a regular basis. Even though Germain’s career and impact on Reggae music is larger than life, the producer’s interview was graced with humility from the very start. Shedding light on his inspirations, rise to fame, artist relationships, what makes quality music, and issues in the Reggae music industry, Germain leaves no stones unturned. In fact, the interview was so chock-full of content, that it had to be featured in two segments.
When asked about his reluctance to do interviews, Germain responds “I didn’t do interviews before because I never thought they were necessary.” The producer adds sincerely “I did it now because there are a lot of issues in the industry that need to be addressed and I have accumulated enough issues, so I need to address them.”
From early on in the interview, Germain gives credit to super Reggae producers Gussie Clark, Lloyd Campbell and Sonia Pottinger for inspiring his craft. As Germain started his career as the owner of a record store, he details his progression to producer stating “even though I learned the business backward and wasn’t originally a producer — in the record store, I got the first chance to see how customers’ responded to songs….this was very important.”
Germain carried his customer-driven mindset with him through his rise, landing early impressive productions including Sugar Minott’s “Good Thing Going” and Audrey Hall’s “One Dance Won’t Do” under his Revolutionary Sounds imprint in New York. But it was the opening of Penthouse Studio and Records that skyrocketed Germain’s career to unprecedented levels. It’s there that he worked with nearly every star of the Reggae music industry.
On producing quality music, Germain says “one of the most important ingredients of a song is an infectious melody…..without it a song is just words.” Through out his career, Germain has prided himself with producing stellar music. He says “once you set high standards without ever compromising them, people will always respect what you are doing.” It’s great songs like Freddie McGreggor’s chart-topper “Just Don’t want to be Lonely,” Beres Hammond’s “I Feel Good,” Buju Banton/Wayne Wonder’s “Bonafide Love” (Movie Star), Buju Banton/Beres Hammond’s “Who Say,” “Pull It Up,” “Honeycomb” and other classics from Germain’s extensive catalogue that hold true to the producer’s credo.
Ultimately, through Penthouse, Germain solidified himself as a staple Reggae Dancehall producer by working and solidifying relationships with the likes of Mad Cobra, Cutty Ranks, Tony Rebel, Marcia Griffiths, Freddie McGreggor, Morgan Heritage, Wayne Wonder, Beres Hammond and more. Germain’s most successful venture to date has been with the Gargamel himself Buju Banton, who afforded the famed producer with more number one hits than any other artist. In the Reggae music industry, the names Donovan Germain, Penthouse Records and Buju Banton are synonymous.
When speaking on Buju Banton, Germain is very passionate. It’s clear that their long-term production and managerial relationship was significant. He credited Buju with being extremely talented, indicating that success came to him at a very early age. Furthermore, Germain defined his critical role in the development of Buju’s career. Through out the interview, a central theme of building relationships resonates. “I believe in long relationships,” the producer confirms. “I build them, so that when you take away the business, there is creativity — allowing things to flow better.”
The Donovan Germain interview in Irisandchin.com’s “Behind the Music” is enlightening, inspiring and informative. Whether one is a Reggae music fan, artist, songwriter or producer, all who see the Germain interview will take something valuable from it. “It was an honor for my site to be granted an exclusive interview with a driving force in the Reggae music industry, Donovan Germain,” says site owner Garfield “Chin” Bourne. “I have a deep rooted respect for Germain’s impeccable music that stems back to my early days as a sound man.”
The newly revamped Irishandchin.com offers Reggae Dancehall fans and aficionados a place to see candid interviews with their favorite and top artists, sounds, selectors, celebrities and producers. The online portal also boasts extensive pictorial and video coverage of leading Reggae events, new music videos and special features. Moreover, in addition to the site’s popular “Behind the Music,” weekly series like “Sound Chat,” “Vybin with the Stars,” “On the Rise” and “Money Pull-Up” are also thriving.
Click here to view the Donovan Germain interview on Irishandchin.com:
http://irishandchin.com/irish-and-chin-tv/behind-the-music/viewvideo/3143/behind-the-music/behind-the-music-with-donovan-germain-pt1
