UB40’s Ali Campbell: ‘Love Mohammed Rafi’s voice; I think he’s probably one of the greatest singers of all time’

You last visited India almost 24 years ago; what kept you away for so long?

We travel around the world all the time and don’t really take a break. Over the last decade, I’ve taken this band to 72 countries. So, we don’t get a lot of time; and we have to plan ahead. These three little gigs that we’re doing have taken enough just to organise. But I do want to come back to India next year for my world tour. I’d love to include more dates in India, try to stay for a little longer and enjoy it more. I love Indian food and Indian music, and I know a lot of Indian people! I come from an area where I grew up with Indian and Pakistani immigrants as well as West Indians and Jamaicans.

Have you followed Indian music and its many genres? If yes, what do you enjoy the most?

Well, I made the Bhangra muffin t-shirts (influenced by the raggamuffin T-shirts made fashionable by reggae fans) that flooded Balsall Heath back in the ’90s. I was aware of the Bhangra thing happening; Chak De Phatte! and all, it was a lot of fun.

Tell us about your upcoming three-city tour — from the setlist to the venues, and what are you most looking forward to?

I’m just looking forward to being back in India and getting an Indian crowd dancing. I know that Indian people love reggae music like we love Indian music; so I can’t wait.

The UK, especially Birmingham where you grew up, has a huge Indian population. Was Hindi/Bollywood music ever a part of your growing-up years?

I grew up listening to music in cafes where Indian as well as Jamaican music was on the jukebox. And later on, in the ’80s and ’90s, of course, there was a great movement for Bhangra in Birmingham. So, we had lots of good bands — Satran, The Larp, Golden Star — that came out of the Midlands playing Bhangra. So generally, I’ve been surrounded by Indian music of some source all my life.

Any particular Indian singer/musician you enjoy listening to?

I love Mohammed Rafi‘s voice. I think he’s probably one of the greatest singers of all time. Asha Bhosle, obviously too. I grew up listening to all those beautiful old Indian songs, and I even got the chance to meet Asha, who offered to come on stage with us and sing a little refrain for the song The Train is Coming for a Bollywood awards function in 1999. We even rehearsed, but she got stuck behind an elephant in the Bombay traffic on the performance day and couldn’t make it in time. Since it was a live telecast, we couldn’t wait for her.

Indian food is also equally popular in your side of the world. Any particular dish you wish to try on your visit here, and why?

Well, from memory, I remember the food that we were eating was so fantastic. I think it was the best vegetarian food I’ve ever had. We’re always excited about the food because we grew up in Birmingham on Indian food. So that’s one thing that we look forward to. We just plan on being in India and finding out more about it because we’ve never spent any downtime there. While we won’t be spending much downtime in October too, but we will be travelling to 3 different cities. If we get invited back during the world tour, then we’ll try and get out and about a bit more.

With the pandemic ebbing, live performances are back in full swing. Did you miss them in the last 2-3 years?

Yeah, massively. I mean, lockdown was really weird for us, because I’ve spent my life since I was 19 years old travelling and playing. That’s what I do. And that was the first time we were not allowed to go anywhere and play. It was a bit like a nightmare. But it’s all over with now, and we’re back, running on full power on all cylinders. We’ve been more or less around the world again since COVID — to Australia and New Zealand and other places. So, yeah, music as normal, business as normal.

Music keeps evolving. How challenging can it get for a musician to keep adapting to these changes yet maintain their signature style?

Well, people say, have you got any advice to give to young musicians coming up and all I can say is no, I’ve got no advice at all because we’re all still busy adapting to the new way of things. We come from an era where we used to sell fine. Well, first of all, it was cassettes and vinyl, and then CDs, which just doesn’t exist anymore. So we’re still trying to find out how to sell our product and busy trying to adapt.

In a similar vein, what do you think has helped you stay relevant all these years?

I think the fact that we chose reggae music as our genre. We started in 1980 and reggae music only really came about sort of 11 years before that. 1968, I think, was the first reggae record so it was definitely the youngest form of music in the world. So it’s still relatively young music even though it’s now 50 years old. It hasn’t outlived its own cool. Reggae music is still cool and totally relevant and massively influential. So, reggae’s sort of transformed everything and continues to transform itself as well. There are many different genres of reggae and they’re all worth delving into. Big love.

What does your Indian itinerary look like, beyond the concerts?

We’re very excited to be coming for this three-city concert tour. It’s really more to give India a taste of who we are and remind them of our music. And then we would like to come back in 2024 and play more shows.

How were things for you after you split from the band?

I was just doing what I wanted to do. I think it was quite emancipating for me. With UB40, there were eight members and not one person in charge. So, it was nice, actually, to have more control over what I was doing. And every album that I’ve released has been in the top five. So, I’ve done very well in my solo career. And of course, we’re playing the biggest shows in Europe and around the world at the moment. We just played at the Rotatom in Valencia and Reggae on the river in Holland, which are two of the biggest reggae festivals in Europe now. We’ve watched all these festivals grow. So, it’s a joy for us to still be doing them.

As part of the tour, initiated by ASSET, band will be playing in Delhi (October 25) at India International Convention and Expo Centre, Dwarka; Mumbai (October 27) at DOME SVP Stadium, Worli and Bengaluru (October 28) at Bhartiya Mall.

📣 For more lifestyle news, follow us on Instagram | Twitter | Facebook and don’t miss out on the latest updates!