Among the more current slangs in the street is "To the world". One could not ask for a more authentic interpretation for that popular Jamaican street talk than that which was given by the founder, lead vocalist and guitarist for the Swedish reggae band Urban Tribe, Adam Atterby.

Atterby...roots reggae has always been the thing closest to my heart

"We feel that Jamaica is the gateway to the rest of the world when it comes to reggae," Atterby admitted. "So that's why we're here and also to obviously soak up all the other impressions; if this is the home of the music then it is a great thrill just to be here and experience it first-hand," he told Splash.

This reggae tribe of singers and players of instruments from Stockholmi s setting the pace for another global musical success from Sweden, in the tradition of the group called Abba. "We were brought here by a guy named Howard Hendricks, and Akubulan his manager, because they have been fans since 2005, when I sent them a copy of the first album. And they thought the time was right for us to try to make a market here in Jamaica. So we're currently discussing a management contract with them," Atterby explained.

Five of the 12-member group are presently in the island performing, recording, researching and familiarising themselves with the Jamaican reggae culture. In the first three days of their arrival, they did as many shows, from a schedule of seven such engagements. Those gigs on which they have already appeared included the Independence Day show in Santa Cruz and the St Bess Jerk Festival.

"We are going to be producing a few rhythms, one with Half Pint with Sly and Robbie and another one also produced by Sly and Robbie," the lead vocalist also revealed.

"The band is 12 people . seven of us are left at home. The five of us who are travelling now are the vocalists.... So we perform with rhythm tracks this time around," added Atterby who spoke longingly for the day when the full aggregation will perform on one of the island's major reggae festivals.

Speaking about Bob's Bar, the most notable releases of Urban Tribe, he explained that the band started when he and his wife Charlotte went to Thailand for their honeymoon and there was this little reggae bar there at the beach that they fell in love with called Bob's Bar and then he decided to write a song about the bar.

"I decided to write a song for the bar, that's actually how the band got started. So I wrote this song and write the whole album. And when the tsunami hit in 2004, the bar was destroyed. So part of the proceeds from the sale of the first album went to getting it (the bar) back on its feet. That's the story of how the band actually got started. So hence, Bob's Bar."

Who's the enemy?

The the title of Urban Tribe's second album asks the question : Who's the Enemy, to which the leader of the band offered the following explanation. "On the cover you have two puppets fighting each other, but it's one hand controlling both of them. I think for every conflict, every war in the world, there is always somebody wanting it to happen. Somebody making money off it, and this is the real enemy that's not seen. Somebody who wants us to hate each other. Somebody who wants us to distrust each other. I'm not stating who the enemy is, I'm just trying to raise the question."

According to Atterby, there is no story behind the name of the band's most recent set titled Roots. "There's no real story about the name, there's not a song called Roots on the album. "We just thought that it was a fitting title. Actually, the album was going to be called Natural, which is one of the songs on the album. It turns out that our Swedish label already had an album called Natural in their catalogue. And we thought that it (the title Roots) was fitting because that is the type of music that we do. Roots music definitely, strictly reggae," explained the Swedish musician who like so many of his compatriots, musically and otherwise, discovered reggae through the music of the most famous Jamaican ever.

"When I was about 10 years old I got my first Bob Marley and the Wailers' album, the Live album. And when I was about 12, I got to see him live once in Stockholm. So I've been involved in music ever since professionally, and working with every imaginable type of music. But, roots reggae has always been the thing closest to my heart. And something that I really wanted to work with.

In addition to the wife-and-husband pair Adam and Charlotte Atterby, the other members of Urban Tribe, who are all background vocalists are Linda Ronnback, Bamma B, the toaster in the band and Christian Lindstorm, the brother of Charlotte.

Absent are the musicians in the band, Mikael Atterby (brother of Adam) who plays the guitars, Anders Kappelin( bass player), Marcus Kallstrom (drummer), Sven Wikstorm (keyboards), Peter Svad (percussion), Tobbe Eliasson (saxophone) and trombonist, Martin Palsson.

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