The Rootsman

The Rootsman
Birth name	John Bolloten
Origin	Bradford, England

John Bolloten, also known as The Rootsman, is a musician and DJ based in Bradford, England.

In 2000 Rootsman and The Bug set up a label called Razor X, featuring dancehall music. Aphex Twin's Rephlex Records has now released a full album of these collaborations called "Killing Sound".

Additional info: The Rootsman (John Bolloten) is a musician and DJ based in Bradford, England. His musical career began when he was living in Edinburgh, Scotland and taught himself to play guitar in 1978 at the age of 13 and formed his first punk band. After 3 concerts, he decided that being a guitarist in a band was not for him and he retired from that aspect of the music business. He moved to Bradford in 1983 and quickly immersed himself into the local reggae scene. He worked for over two years in the local Roots Record Shop, where he began to be known as "Rootsman". In 1985 he started selecting on local sound systems and the following year began to play on university radio and local pirate radio stations. This continued for a number of years until he founded his own club night "Dub Me Crazy" at the end of 1991.

A residency with the innovative Soundclash club in Leeds followed a couple of years later, and Rootsman began playing alongside leading DJs like Dr Alex Patterson from The Orb, Andrew Weatherall, Justin Robertson (Lionrock) and others. In this period, Rootsman also founded the Third Eye Music label and released the debut album from Dayjah and The Disciples, entitled "Storm Clouds" which was very popular on the roots scene. Heavy demand from local club-goers who wanted to buy the music they were hearing at Soundclash and Dub Me Crazy convinced him to release his work. Subsequently, The Rootsman's debut EP "Koyaanisqatsi" (a cult favourite of his DJ set) was released in May 1994.

Rootsman released the classic "Natural Born Thrillers EP", his first release on Third Eye Music and a successful fusion of the steppers and jungle styles. The follow-up "Authorised Versions EP" carried on this innovative tradition and served to consolidate and increase his grass-roots following. Rootsman's debut CD "In Dub We Trust" was released in July 1995 and followed on from these earlier experiments and contained dub reggae like never heard before. A myriad of diverse samples and beats all tied to a heavyweight rhythm section made this CD one of the most original to be released that year. Not only was dub mixed with the furious beats of jungle, the album also brought African, Arabian and Asian sounds into the mix. It was a truly groundbreaking collection that set a new blueprint for dub-influenced music, and Rootsman began to label his own sound as "experimental global dub fusion". "In Dub We Trust" was a big success, especially in Europe. The Rootsman's been very prolific since.

Live performances

Rootsman has played sound system clashes against Kaly Weed (Italy), Downbeat (USA) and Heartical (France). As a DJ, his main MC is D.Bo General. In May 2006, Rootsman and Eugene Hutz of Gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello performed two shows in Kiev, Ukraine.

As well as playing as a DJ all over the UK, Rootsman has also played in Tofo (Mozambique); Kiev (Ukraine - 2 times); Tel Aviv (Israel); Istanbul (Turkey); Paris (13), Marseille, Rennes, Lyon, Toulon, Orléans, Périgueux, Troyes, Montpellier, Le Mans, Morlaix and Lille (France); Rome (4), Milan (5), Bologna, Pescara, Salento, Jesi (2), Lecce (2), Naples, Grosseto, Bergamo, Grosseto, Osoppo and Bari (4) (Italy); Berlin (10), Hamburg (5), Frankfurt (5), Koln (3), Flensburg (3), Wuppertal (3), Greifswald (4), Dortmund (2), Munich (3), Stuttgart (2), Chiemsee (3), Nurnberg (2), Tübingen (3), Dresden (3), Leipzig (2), Ingolstadt, Muritz (3), Jena, Bremen, Augsburg (3), Reutlingen, Herzberg, Saarbrücken and Oberhausen (Germany); Brussels, Liege, Gierle, Kortrijk and Gent (Belgium); Warsaw (6), Poznań (6), Wrocław (4), Szczecin (2), Gdańsk, Łódź, Katowice, Kraków, Sopot, Białystok, Opole (3), Knurów, Cieszyn, Zielona Gora, Pila and Zgorzelec (2) (Poland); Lisbon (Portugal) (2); Zagreb (3) (Croatia); Tallinn (Estonia), Ljubljana (2) (Slovenia); Belgrade, Novi Sad (2), Subotica (Yugoslavia); Vienna (Austria); Amsterdam (2), Leiden, Arnhem (Netherlands); La Chaux-De-Fonds (Switzerland); Helsinki (Finland); and Prague (2) and Litomerice (Czech Republic). In April 1999, Rootsman supported Max Cavalera's tribal metal band Soulfly in Paris, in front of 2500 people.

Other projects

Rootsman has provided remixes for Soulfly (ex-Sepultura), Glen Brown, Blue, The Woodshed, Treponem Pal, Dub War, Black Star Liner, Dub Syndicate, Muslimgauze, Grounation, Celtarabia, Primitive, G2, Systemwide, Banned X, Rosapaeda, Submission, Rasboras Inc, Dubblestandart, Lion's Den Dub Shower, Banned-X, Strongpoint and Oochi.

He has also provided the soundtracks to "Surfing in Indonesia", "Kranked 3: Ride Against The Machine", "Deviant Rhythms" and "Fashion World", a French CD-Rom fashion encyclopedia.

Discography

• City Rockers EP - 1994
• Koyaanisqatsi - 1994
• In Dub We Trust - 1995
• International Language Of Dub: The Rootsman Remixed - 1995
• Natural Born Thrillers EP - 1995
• Authorised Versions - 1996
• Mother Of Nature EP - 1996
• Pass The Chalice EP - 1996
• Into the Light - 1996
• City Of Djinn (with Muslimgauze) - 1997
• Out Of The Darkness: The Rootsman Remixed - 1997
• Rebirth - 1997
• Third Eye Dimensions - 1997
• 52 Days To Timbuktu - 1998
• The Final Frontier - The Rootsman Remixed - 1998
• Union Of Souls - 1998
• We Come Rough EP - 1998
• Imitator EP - 1999
• Realms Of The Unseen - 1999
• Return To The City Of Djinn (with Muslimgauze) - 1999
• Versions Of The Unseen EP - 1999
• Old School New School (with Daddy Freddy) - 2000
• Roots Bloody Rootsman - 2001
• Al Aqsa Intifada - 2002
• New Testament - 2002
• Joy And Sorrow EP - 2003
• Showcase EP - 2003
• Walk With Jah - 2003
• Intifada, Intifada Dub b/w (with Celtarabia) Valley of the Kings, Valley of Dub - Partial Records 10" PRTL1003 2014
• Fittest of the Fittest, When the Eye Opens b/w Only Jah, Exodus (Vibronics Remix) - Partial Records 10" PRTL10007 2015

External links

• Official website
• The Rootsman discography at Discogs