RA EX.243: Adrian Sherwood

Adrian Sherwood's love affair with reggae began as a teenager in High Wycombe. He started DJing in his early teens and then threw himself into the music industry—by the time he was 20 he had run a record shop, set up a distribution company and run multiple record labels. In the 1980s he forged a name for himself as a producer, putting his own distinctive, uncluttered stamp on all kinds of music, from reggae to industrial to jazz. The number of projects he's leant his name to is staggering. He's made psychedelic Afro-dub with Africa Head Charge, remixed Depeche Mode, hit the studio with Lee 'Scratch' Perry, dabbled in experimental hip-hop with Tackhead and overseen reggae collectives like Singers & Players. He burst out of the blocks in 2015, releasing a collaborative album with Pinch and starting a new compilation series called At The Controls. He stopped by our London office this month to discuss the highs and lows of his four-decade career