Rhygin records

Rhygin records is a relative new label. The most interesting fact is that Rhygin don't just re-release out of print material like many other labels, but they produce new material with the unique sound of the 60s and early 70s.

Therefore I thought it would be interesting to send them some questions.

Who is the founder of rhygin records ? Is he a known person in the Jamaican music scene, or in the music business generally ?

Rhygin records started off years ago originally as a sound system playing classic reggae in Southern and Northern California which featured Rob and Bryan who is the other dj and co founder. We eventually became a record label with the addition of Paul, who is the producer of the label, and with a few friends decided to release some singles from some homegrown bands that played classic reggae in California namely the Sand Dollars from Santa Barbara, the Rhythm Doctors before they morphed into the Aggrolites, as well as the Rhygin Rockers which features some members from the Aggrolites.

Rhygin is not a usual name for a record label ( although it sounds pretty cool ). On the website we can read where it come's from, but how did you came up with the name ‘ rhygin’ ?

I found out about Ivan 'Rhygin' Martin from a reggae book I bought about 20 years ago called Reggae International. It's a great book on the history of reggae and in one of the chapters there was a story about Rhygin who was the inspiration for the Harder They Come movie. It was from the Jamaican Gleaner newspaper article that describes how he came into Kingston from the country side in the 40's for a better life but with so much poverty in the big city instead turned to crime which became very serious after a few petty criminal acts. He was one of most wanted men in Jamaican history, when the police finally caught up with him, he had a gun battle with them and lost his life in 1948. He was most likely the inspiration for the rude boy phenomenon, the big Don of the ghetto, the champion of the sufferers. In the book there are photos of him posing for the Gleaner, where he demanded them to take his picture with his pistols as he was dressed up sharp with a fedora hat that the zoot suiters wore back then. I along with my dj partner Bryan always thought Rhygin would be a great name for a sound system that played classic reggae not because he was a bad man but more of that he was the champion of the poor. His presence in Jamaican history and reggae music in general is still strong today, that's why we named our sound system/record label in tribute to him.

Can you tell something more about the sandollars, because they are unfamiliar to me, and probably to a lot more people. Is it a new band ?, or should we know them from something/someone ?

The Sand Dollars are a great reggae band from Santa Barbara who we are showcasing now. They have a very unique quirky sound that is very original. I would describe their sound as kind of like the Upsetters mixed with some Meters and topped off nicely with a mellow lounge vibe. We will be releasing more tunes from them in the future, in fact our first 12 inch will be a killer rockers tune from the Sand Dollars.

Are there currently beside Cedric Im Brooks any other well-known Jamaican artists involved with rhygin records?

As of now we don't have any new Jamaican artist/musicians recordings yet, but things are in motion. We do have another Cedric Brookes tune he did with the Rhythm Doctors a few years back that we may plan to release in the future.

Rhygin records produced and recorded several singles with new material. Are there plans to re-release out of print albums from the 60s and 70s.

All of the material we are releasing now is current.Our main focus right now is the Sand Dollars. We believe they are one of the better revival reggae bands out there and we want to showcase them to all lovers of classic reggae who love the oldies as well as the rockers like us.