“MAGMA” ON AN UPWARD FLOW
By Baldwin S. A. Howe
Jamaica, the birthplace of Reggae music has been a beacon and source of positive inspiration for the world. Its magnetic appeal has attracted creative artistes the world over. One such artiste who has gravitated to Jamaica to immerse himself in the culture is Adam Mayo, a.k.a. Mango seed, who hails from Bermuda. He became aware of Rastafari from as early as 17 and began to visit a Bermudian Rastafarian commune that frequently held Nyahbynghi celebrations. The music, especially the drumming, was the magnet that kept pulling him and encouraging him to experiment musically. At first, he began playing the “Kete” drums. He diligently learnt the art of playing these drums during his early initiation to the Rastafarian faith.
Rastafarian theological concepts had such a positive influence on Mango seed’s life that he fully embraced the faith and became a devout believer. It was during this time that he decided he would utilize the medium of music to deliver his special message to the world. With this resolve in mind, Mango seed began to study playing the guitar. He did so relentlessly and at 19, considering himself a fully fledge musician, he made a trip to Mexico. While there, he began performing ‘gigs’ in the town of San Miguel with a group he formed and, of course, his repertoire was straight reggae. Mango seed worked in Mexico for a year, returned home and later he made a move to Gt. Britain.
In England Mango seed pursued academic studies in the field of horticulture, which to him, was a way of keeping in tune with nature. He worked at this occupation for a year before the lure of music called on him again. An English record producer/engineer named “Messenger intrigued by Mango seed’s musical ability” took a decision to produce him. This association evolved into the birth of the musical group, Mango seed. The group recorded an album titled, “Conscious Fire” in an attempt to gain exposure and recognition for their special brand of reggae music. After serious attempts to get the “Conscious Fire” album released in Europe they eventually released it in Bermuda. “Conscious Fire” garnered rave reviews in Bermuda, received nationwide radio rotation and spawned several hits such as, “Too Much Concrete”, “Babylon” and the album’s title track, “Conscious Fire.” These songs were categorised as being culturally positive and they made Mango seed a household name and a respected artiste in Bermuda.
On the strength of the “Conscious Fire” album, Mango seed got the opportunity to perform, here in Jamaica, on the prestigious annual music festival, “Reggae Sumfest”, in 2002. In playing that ‘gig’ he had the honour of performing on the same night that such heavyweight acts as, Capleton, Anthony B, Paul Eliot and other major reggae stars preformed. His act was of a very high standard and he impressed the entire media corps in attendance.
Since making that first trip to Jamaica in 2002, he has become a constant visitor to our shores. His popularity here has grown considerably and his songs are receiving deserved rotation on national radio. One of his fans is popular radio deejay Mighty Mike of Irie F.M. who especially expressed a liking for his song, “Too Much Concrete”, which he plays quite often.
In 2003 Paul Elliot, who remembered his “Reggae Sumfest” performance from the year before,
approached him and expressed the desire to produce some work with him. The first release they worked on together was a combination effort titled, “Build Another Bridge.” The song became very popular and this encouraged Paul Elliot to produce a hit video for the song.
After shooting the, “Build Another Bridge” video, Mango seed paid another visit to Great Britain in 2004 and almost immediately he became an in-demand act. He got the opportunity to tour all through Europe working on several sound systems, two of which are, Nation Vibration and Roots Garden. The tour took him through several countries namely France, Germany, Italy, Belgium among others. Mango seed used this opportunity to experiment and gauge audiences’ reaction to his work as a solo act. He told Reggae Times that the experience he has gained touring through Europe with these sound systems was quite invaluable. He said the tour helped to equip him in fine-tuning his act, to the extent that he learnt to adjust his performance to satisfy a particular audience in whichever country he performed. When Mango seed returned to England after the tour, he got billing to perform at the Glastonbury Music Festival. Mango seed considers his performance at this event to be a milestone in his career as he got the privileged to appear before over, 65,000, (Sixty five Thousand), people, backed by a 30, (Thirty), person strong orchestra on what the event’s organizers call the Samba-Reggae Night. Mango seed followed up that performance by getting billed to also work on the annual concert series organized by, Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, through his charity organization, The Prince’s Trust. On that occasion, Julian Marley called him on stage, to perform for thousands, in the heart of Leicester Square, London.
Since 2006, Mango seed has virtually taken up residence here and has been campaigning on the national recording circuit. In that year he recorded two singles titled, “Let The Lion Out” and “Marcus” again both songs received wide and frequent rotation on national radio. He later had the video of “Marcus” filmed which also became popular. On the performance side, Mango seed has also worked on the popular annual “Boxing Night concert, “Sting”, both in 2005 and 2006.
With the coming of 2008 Adam Mayo has decided to dispense with the Mango seed tag and will from now be known in the world of entertainment as, Magma and he intend to keep flowing upwards like red hot lava. ‘Magma” is poised now to really ‘buss out.’ He is currently working diligently on his debut album project, for executive producer, Joe Bogdonovich, the owner of, Down Sound Records. Magma has confided to Reggae Times that a few of the tracks are already completed. He is very secretive about this project and do not want to divulge too much about it. Despite doing this special project for Down Sound he remains active and has recorded material for the Caveman Record label and G-Jams Records out of Portland.
Magma says this year is his year to ‘erupt’, everyone should watch and listen out; the lava flow is on the way up. He also told Reggae Times he is now working on improving his presentation as he billed to perform on “Roots Night’ at Reggae Sumfest this year.
