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POPULAR: Rampage Sound

THIS WEEK we continue our Carnival countdown with something that is
close to my heart – sound systems.

As a DJ who started out lifting speaker boxes and heavy equipment, I have nothing but respect for those that supply a service over two days with little or no pay. What would any carnival or festival be without hearing your favourite songs blaring from a wall of speakers?

I remember as a kid going to Carnival with my mum begging her to go to spots that I had heard my older brother talking about and the sounds that would be there.

ENTERTAINING

Stringing up a sound system in west London is not as easy as you would think. It kicks off with the early wake-up call over two days to get the equipment loaded on the van to get to your designated area to set up your stuff.

Entertaining ravers all day is a joy but it’s hard work for little pay, as Carnival is a free event where some smaller sounds may never see sponsorship money.

Then there’s the end of the day to get the equipment back on the van – only to discover many of your team have bad backs all of a sudden. Trust me, I’ve been there, it’s no jokes.

“It’s something within you! The passion of the music and the culture that drives us,” cries Rampage’s Treble T.

Rampage Sound have been at Carnival for over 20 years, boasting the biggest spot with the biggest crowds.

It’s been said that the main questions police get asked are: “Where are the toilets?”, “Where is the Tube station?” and “Where are Rampage?”

Summer season is very busy for Rampage Sound due to their ongoing residency in Ayia Napa. Treble T was getting ready for a boat party there when we spoke.

Even though I know they have had some wild time in Cyprus, Treble explained that Carnival is a huge marker as it ends the summer for them.

I’m sure Treble and the team are glad it marks the end of the summer, as what it takes to make it happen sounds like it’s enough to send a bear to hibernation: “Year-round Carnival meetings, liaising with the borough of Kensington and Chelsea and police, the Carnival committee, logistics for the staging, and every year the commitment and costs gets bigger and bigger.”

He continued: “The current running cost for 2019 is looking like in excess of £35,000” – my immediate response was WOW! – “compared to 20 years ago, which was £10,000.”

“The cost of public liability, crowd barriers, security, etcetera, have gone through the roof, and the local residents via their various committees have made sure these are requirements that are met.”

I felt pretty bad in the conversation as over the last 10 years I’ve been turning up at the Rampage sound system to get my 30 minutes of fame without realising the amount of work that it really takes to keep their corner going.
On that very corner at peak times you can expect to see nothing short of 15,000 people partying to a soundtrack of hip-hop, R’n’B, dancehall, grime, drill and a nice sprinkling of soca.

Carnival wouldn’t be carnival if you didn’t get the legendary Rampage old-school garage and jungle set.

Not to mention a second-to-none line-up of guests passing through. Sean Paul, Swizz Beatz, Tinie Tempah, Shenseea, Dizzee Rascal, Buju Banton, Ryan Leslie, Ms Dynamite, Lloyd, Wiley and Stormzy have all climbed the Colville Gardens scaffolding.

Over the years, I’ve seen and been part of too many memorable moments with Treble T, Mike Anthony and the team.

One of my moments was the annual dancing policeman, but this PC from 2017, definitely had some skills and even ended up on The Jonathan Ross Show with me screaming down the mic in the background.

PANDEMONIUM

Treble T tells me of the time when he had to beg the crowd to leave the trees on the road alone: “It was when we played Lethal B’s anthem Pow. People were literally shaking the trees out of their roots.”

I had to remind him that it was after Stone Love sound from Jamaica played and shelled the street. Mike Anthony had something to prove and played the notorious Pow after telling me he had refused to play it all day knowing the pandemonium that may happen.

This is one of the key things I love about the guys. They know how to regulate the road. One sniff of bad behaviour and they are happy to turn off the music for 15 minutes to calm things down.

With the experience they have on this massive weekend they are not into playing games.

Playing big songs is what Rampage is all about, so I had to pick Treble T’s brain for five big shellers for Carnival 2019 before he headed off for his boat trip.

“I’m going for Cadet and Deno – Advice, Russ & Tion Wayne – Keisha & Becky, any D-Block Europe, Koffee – Toast, and Mr Killa – Run Wid It,” he predicted confidently.

If you’re up for the challenge of getting through the crowd, make sure you experience Rampage Sound at Carnival. Catch them at their usual spot, Colville Gardens. Get there early!

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