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Mad Professor | |
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 Mad Professor during a soundcheck at Reggie's Music Place in Chicago | |
| Background information | |
| Born | Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser (1955-03-27)27 March 1955 (age 70) |
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| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Ariwa |
| Website | ariwa |
Neil Joseph Stephen Fraser (born 27 March 1955,Georgetown, Guyana) known by his stage-nameMad Professor, is a Britishdub music producer, engineer and remixer.[1] He has collaborated withreggae artistsLee "Scratch" Perry,Sly and Robbie,Pato Banton,Jah Shaka andHorace Andy, as well as artists outside the realm of traditional reggae and dub, such asSade,Massive Attack,the Orb,Gaudi, the Brazilian DJMarcelinho da Lua,Grace Jones, andPerry Farrell.
Fraser became known as Mad Professor as a boy due to his fascination with electronics. He emigrated fromGuyana to London at the age of 13 and later began his music career as a service technician.[citation needed] He gradually collected recording and mixing equipment, and in 1979 opened his ownfour-track recording studio, Ariwa Sounds, in the living room of his home inThornton Heath.[2]
Fraser began recordinglovers rock bands and vocalists for his own label (including the debut recording byDeborahe Glasgow) and recorded his first album after moving the studio to a new location inPeckham in 1982, equipped with an eight-track setup, later expanding to sixteen.[2] Fraser'sDub Me Crazy series of albums won the support ofJohn Peel, who regularly aired tracks from the albums.[2] Although early releases were not big sellers among reggae buyers, the mid-1980s saw this change with releases from Sandra Cross (Country Life), Johnny Clarke, Peter Culture, Pato Banton, andMacka B (Sign of the Times).[2] Fraser moved again, this time toSouth Norwood, where he set up what was the largest black-owned studio complex in the UK and recorded lovers rock tracks by Cross, John McLean, andKofi, and attracted Jamaican artists includingBob Andy and Faybiene Miranda.[2] He teamed up with Lee "Scratch" Perry for the first time in 1983 for the recording of the albumMystic Warrior (1989).[3]
Mad Professor has created 12 instalments of theDub Me Crazy series and 5 albums under theBlack Liberation Dub banner. The following is a partial discography of his original releases including collaborations with other artists and remixes.
Since the 1990s he has remixed tracks bySade,the Orb,The KLF,Beastie Boys,Jamiroquai,Rancid,Depeche Mode,Perry Farrell and Japanese pop singerAyumi Hamasaki. In 1995 he producedNo Protection, anelectronic dub version ofMassive Attack's second album,Protection. He has also created a version of I&I for New Zealand reggae bandKatchafire, three versions for New Zealand electronic groupSalmonella Dub and twelve remixes for Japanese musicianAyumi Hamasaki.
A second remix album with Massive Attack is slated for release in 2018
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