https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton Mon, 20 Apr 2026 23:07:19 -0700 https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/120/singer-takes-break-from-music-to-document-ubunti-in-kitui https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/120
FRIDAY AUGUST 12 2022
published in tge Daily Business Africa


Legendary British artist Pato Banton and his wife, keyboard player Antoinette "Rootsdawtah" Hall in Nairobi in August 2022. PHOTO | POOL




By BILL ODIDI
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A legendary artist who had a string of global hit songs in the 1990s was in Kenya last week on his first ever visit to the country. The  BDLife  caught up with British singer and rapper Pato Banton at his hotel at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport just as he prepared to take a road trip to Kitui.
“I am not on a music trip right now; I am very undercover,” said the singer who is best known for his cover of the classic Baby Come Back which topped the UK charts in 1994.
Accompanied by his wife, Antoinette “Rootsdawtah” Hall and a film crew, the 60-year-old performer was in the country shooting an upcoming documentary called Ubuntu celebrating the bonds among communities across Africa.
Antoinette, who is among the creative directors of the film being shot across 12 countries in Africa, is also the keyboardist in Pato’s band. She has played for Jamaican greats like Gregory Isaacs, Beres Hammond, and Glen Washington with whom she performed in Kenya in 2005.
Pato Banton, who was born Patrick Murray in London and moved to Birmingham at the age of 8, grew up in a household that was bustling with music thanks to his stepfather, who was a DJ running a sound system.

One room in their tiny house was converted into a dancehall and, young Pato would man the entrance during the late-night sessions, which is how he acquired the nickname “Pato” from an owl that, according to Jamaican folklore, stays up all night crying “patoo patoo”.
Being among the first-generation-born of Caribbean immigrants in England presented many challenges.
“The environment was very racist; the police were racist and the judicial system was very biased and when we saw racism anywhere in the world we sympathised and understood how deep it was rooted.”
“Even though I never experienced a hot country as a child, I knew something was wrong with the English weather and I used to cry when I had to go to school in the snow saying ‘God, why I am I in this country.’”
He started DJ’ing at the age of 11, using the stage name Ranking Pato and when he auditioned for a contract with Fashion Records in London the label asked him to rap over vinyl records of different genres, from blues and jazz.
“I just improvised regardless of the style of music and when they finished, the label bosses said ‘No more Ranking Pato; now you are Pato Banton” (Banton is slang for an accomplished lyricist).
The infectious sing-along anthem Go Pato in 1992 was among the first hits to launch him into the mainstream. But the highlight of his success came with a version of Baby Come Back, originally a 1967 hit by Eddy Grant and the Equals, which became a UK number one single for four weeks in 1994.
“When the record label enquired who I wanted to do the work with, I asked if UB40 would sing the cover song because they are very good with covers, and I would then add my own lyrics.”
He had already recorded two tracks with UB40 on the album Baggariddim in 1985 including Hip Hop Lyrical Robot which was the B-side of the US No. 1 single I Got You Babe.
Pato Banton was back in the UK Top 20 later in 1995 with Bubbling Hot featuring Ranking Roger. That same year, one of the world’s best-selling pop artists, Sting sent his single The Cowboy Song to the same producer who did Baby Come Back who then asked Pato if he wanted to add some lyrics for a remix.
“Sting didn’t know anything about it, so I put some rapping on it and the producer sent it back to Sting who loved it.”
Sting, who had just finished shooting the video for the song, told the production company to re-set the scenes and edit Pato into the video for the single which hit the UK Top 40 charts.
“Sting had promised to return the favour whenever I needed to do a song with him and it just so happened that I was performing his song Spirits in A Material World so I asked him if we could we re-do that.”
Sting flew Pato and his band to Spain to record the video and then used the band to back him during a concert with Madonna and Elton John. The song was also featured on the soundtrack to the Hollywood comedy Ace Ventura 2: When Nature Calls.
Reflecting on his legacy, Pato Banton who now lives in Los Angeles tips the current generation of artists to keep their music clean and positive.
“We have a responsibility as artists to educate, to elevate and in 10 years’ time when you look back at your catalogue, you want to be proud and say ‘look, everything that I had to say, we can play today with pride’”. ]]> Mon, 15 Aug 2022 05:46:29 -0700 https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/79/420-games-invade-los-angeles-with-pato-banton https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/79







1st ANNUAL 420 GAMES INVADE LOS ANGELES March 26th – RUN WITH UFC FIGHTER KYLE KINGSBURY & NFL PRO-BOWLER KYLE TURLEY, REGGAE SUPERSTAR PATO BANTON TO HEADLINE. Fitness and Activism Converge To Destigmatize Cannabis Use by Responsible Adults ( Watch the short video on the 420 Games  from Elite Daily News)
 
SANTA MONICA, Calif. Feb. 19, 2016 /Weed Wire/ — Created to destigmatize cannabis and the people who use it,  The 420 Games  athletic event has experienced great success in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park for the past two years. This March, The 420 Games will debut in Los Angeles, the first leg of a four-state, six-city tour. Participants are “Going the Extra Mile for Cannabis” in this 4.20 mile race that is longer than a typical 5k.   The course takes runners from the Santa Monica Pier to Venice Beach and finishes back at the pier.  Tickets can be purchased at 420Games.org .
In the last 18 months, The 420 Games has acquired nearly 60,000 Facebook fans and features an event series that continues to expand. Recently featured in  Newsweek  magazine, The 420 Games has announced multiple events in California, Colorado, Seattle and Oregon. The event series will feature marathons, mountain bike races, and stand-up paddleboard competitions, amongst other contests.  Future locales include San Francisco, Boulder, Denver, Portland and Seattle.
“Our attendance has doubled from the first event to the second, we expect thousands of people to come run or walk for cannabis respect on March 26th in LA. There is a passion and vibe of camaraderie at these events that is very inspiring to see.” –   Jim McAlpine, event organizer and founder of  SnowBomb .
420 Games’ McAlpine has been active in several causes. At the recent AIDS Walk in San Francisco, McAlpine led Team Cannabis to 19th place in overall fundraising for the event with over $13,000 raised.  Team Cannabis brought in more money than teams from Google and Facebook; McAlpine himself was the top fundraiser for his own team.
The 420 Games are presented by WeedMaps and sponsored by OpenVape,  SnowBomb.com , Lagunitas Brewing Company, Harborside Health Center, and Eaze.
What: The 420 Games
When: Saturday March 26, 2016, 9AM – 3PM
Where: Santa Monica Pier, Santa Monica, CA 90401
Some highlights of the games include:
Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) celebrity  Kyle “Kingsbu” Kingsbury  will be in attendance and running the race.  Event promoters are challenging runners to “beat Kyle outside the ring”. Anyone who that crosses the finish line before Kyle will gain free entry into 420 Games events for one year.

Steve DeAngelo , a nationally recognized pioneer in the cannabis reform movement and Executive Director of the nation’s model cannabis dispensary,  Harborside Health Center , will give the keynote address.
Post-race, all competitors will be treated to two hours of beer tasting from event sponsor  Lagunitas Brewing Company of Petaluma, CA.
A two-hour concert of positive vibes from international Reggae superstar  Pato Banton !
Former  NFL Pro Bowler Kyle Turley  and The Kyle Turley Band will open for Pato Banton.

Prizes: Start-up cannabis delivery service  Eaze will give $500 in medical marijuana credits to the first place winner, $250 for second place and $100 for third place.
“The 420 Games were created to emphasize that highly functional people, even professional athletes, use cannabis and are hardly the lazy stoners the world has portrayed.  Fostering a new, positive mindset about those who use cannabis is going to be absolutely critical for the legalization of marijuana.” – Jim McAlpine, event organizer and founder of  SnowBomb , a source for ski & snowboard lifestyle and culture.
About The 420 Games Philosophy:
The 420 Games does not advocate that everyone should use cannabis. We are focused on teaching those who choose to do so how to be healthy and responsible. We are also focused on education and prevention for those who should not use cannabis – most importantly, minors. We do not endorse the illegal or irresponsible use of cannabis. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit  420Games.org .
PRESS CONTACTS
Gaynell Rogers
gaynell@bloomcannabisgroup.com
415.298.1114
Jim McAlpine
jim@420Games.org
530-906-1263

]]> Thu, 18 May 2017 12:46:57 -0700 https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/78/weed-news-pato-banton-performing-seattle-420-games https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/78
Let The Seattle 420 Games Commence!

Miguel a.k.a Miggy420 Marijuana Events


Hear ye’, hear ye,’ The FourTwenty Games are about to come to Seattle again and possibly a city near you. The 420 Games is here to break the stigma that cannabis consumers are lazy couch potatoes, but it’s also a good time for the one that thinks about going to the gym but doesn’t.
Things like The 420 Games are the new civil protest, by going to events like this you are telling the rest of the country “Yes, I smoke cannabis, no I’m not the stereotype and don’t appreciate your ignorant judgment.”
Last year I was fortunate enough to attend the games, an athletic themed event, where everyone walked away a winner. It was an event where athletes and half-letes mingled.
The Games start with a warm-up of yoga and warming up competitions. It was the county fair for fit and those willing to try. My warm-up consisted of hotboxing a car with the friends. When we were done, we then proceeded to the grounds.
There was a yoga taking place, which reminded me how my body couldn’t bend and mini-games that involved strength and speed which seemed like fun to me, but we arrived late and weren’t sure what to do first, but there was enough to see and not be bored.
Before the 4.2-mile race, team hotbox decided it was going to walk 4.2 miles on a sunny day in Seattle’s Magnuson Park. A walk with friends while occasionally sparking up in the woods, that’s what cannabis is all about.
We got passed several times and even passed people ourselves, we were not the only ones out for a casual 420 stroll.
At the end of our walking race, we were greeted by well-wishers from the games with participatory medals. The medallions were heavy, and I gotta say “bad ass,” it was a nice memento since I felt accomplished after my 4.2-mile walk with friends, from there, more games of strength and speed took place.
All of this was fun for me, but the icing on the cake was the beer garden sponsored by Lagunitas Brewery Company and a concert by Pato Banton.If last year’s event proved anything, it’s that this years will be worth attending. If you enjoy fitness, the great outdoors, meeting professional athletes who don’t shun cannabis and good music, food, and beer than I highly recommend getting your tickets for this year’s Four Twenty Games.
If last year’s event proved anything, it’s that this year’s will be worth attending. If you enjoy fitness, the great outdoors, good music, good food, good beer and a chance to win some cash through means of friendly competition than I highly recommend getting your tickets for this year’s Four Twenty Games.


]]> Thu, 18 May 2017 12:43:48 -0700 https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/77/tokin-with-the-infamous-pato-banton https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/77


Tokin’ With the Infamous: Pato Banton



Between 4/20 and Earth Day, it was a beautiful, busy spring weekend. That’s why it was so dope that reggae superstar Pato Banton took time between gigs to perform at a small celebration to mark four years of one of his fans being seizure free thanks to cannabis. After an intimate set and spending time with friends and family, Pato and I stepped away for a quick conversation that I am stoked to share with Vegas Cannabis readers. Just so you all know, Pato really is the kind soul you hear about.




Home » Tokin’ With the Infamous: Pato Banton









By Hopper the Chronisseur







Between 4/20 and Earth Day, it was a beautiful, busy spring weekend. That’s why it was so dope that reggae superstar Pato Banton took time between gigs to perform at a small celebration to mark four years of one of his fans being seizure free thanks to cannabis. After an intimate set and spending time with friends and family, Pato and I stepped away for a quick conversation that I am stoked to share with Vegas Cannabis readers. Just so you all know, Pato really is the kind soul you hear about. He really does treat his fans like family. He uses his talent, not only to reach people, but to actually reach out to them.
Hopper: Thanks so much for talking with me for Vegas Cannabis Magazine. I usually call this column “Tokin’ With The Infamous”, but I think I’ll have to call it Tokin’ With The Famous, or better yet, Tokin’ With A Legend. You have been doing this for decades!
Pato: Yeah, man. I’ve been doing it for over thirty years now, probably more like thirty-seven years.
Hopper: You tour non-stop. How do you keep that pace?
Pato: Well, we set our own pace.
Hopper: You and your wife Antoinette, right? You guys are the dynamic duo!
Pato: Yes, we are a dynamic duo. We work together on numerous projects. We have our own booking agency, our own record label, our own video production company, we have our own travel agency, and we have our own spiritual ministry as well.
Hopper: That’s awesome! You play stadiums, huge festivals, shows around the world, and you just played in a person’s living room! Your commitment to fans is incredible. I’ve never met an artist that’s so down. You perform weddings, baptisms, house parties. You care about your fans in a way I haven’t seen.
Pato: Yes, my fans asked me to come to their home today. They explained what it was going to be and I was like, “I would love to come do that for you guys.” They really turned this house party into a festival. Good people, good vibes, vendors in the back garden. Everything was so great.
Hopper: It was a beautiful night. What role does cannabis play in your life, your music, your spirituality?
Pato: For me, the herb has always been an inspiration. As far as its effects on me personally, anytime I partake of this plant, which is not very regularly, but when I do it is very consciously and with respect, and I always have a deep, reflective moment. I don’t just smoke socially or partake of herb socially. When I do it, I do it for a deeper meditation and contemplation. As far as socially, I have always promoted legalization and decriminalization, because I think it’s a crime to criminalize an herb.
Hopper: Amen to that!
Pato: Yes, we have been promoting it around the world for years. It’s a blessing to see that slowly but surely, the planet is opening up to the real gift of this plant.
Hopper: It’s God’s plant, made by the Almighty Creator for healing.
Pato: Yes, yes. That’s right!
Hopper: What do you prefer when it comes to consuming cannabis?
Pato: My preference is edibles. I don’t smoke too much anymore because of my throat. As far as eating it, I get a better high. So, edibles for me.
Hopper: You recently made a new video for your classic “I Do Not Sniff The Coke”. I was so stoked to see that, what made you decide to do it?
Pato: When I started my own video production, I decided it was time to create my legacy and do it my way, on my own time, and my own terms. Usually, making a video is so much money, and you need someone to help finance it, or it’s more relevant to do when you have a single coming out. Being a video producer now, it was a blessing to be able to do that.
Hopper: Again, you treat your fans better than any artist I’ve been around, and I’ve been doing this since ’89.
Pato: I have three F’s in my approach as an artist. My first one is Fans. I meet the majority of people in my life because of their love for my music. So when I meet most of my fans, I tell them as soon as we meet and get to know each other, we’ve started a Friendship. And when I get to know my fans a little bit better, they become my Family. A lot of the people I saw tonight, I know them as Family. It’s a beautiful thing. I never try to hide from my fans, I always reach out and am available to them. Most of my fans have my cell phone number.
Hopper: That’s what’s so amazing. You even invite people into your own home.
Pato: Yes, we do. We have potlucks at our home and we just promote it on social media, and everyone comes to our home and enjoys a nice evening.
Hopper: What do you have coming up? You just dropped an album, right?
Pato: We just dropped two albums. The first album was a month ago called “The Words of Rastafari” which is a box set of me narrating the speeches of Haile Selassie over some Bob Marley riddims and some other old time classic reggae riddims. It’s a beautiful, beautiful project. It’s available on cdbaby and iTunes. Last week I just released an album called “Love Is The Greatest” which is my full-length recorded album with artists from Brazil, Africa, America, and the UK.
Hopper: That’s awesome, I’m gonna grab both of those. Do you have any shout outs before we finish this and get back to the celebration?
Pato: I want to give a shout out to all the people in the medical field who are exploring this beautiful plant, all of the professionals who are promoting the herb, and people who are fighting legislation so that it is accepted federally. I want to give a shout out to all the herbalists who’ve been on the frontline for years, all the scientists, and the unrecognized who fight to legalize marijuana. I just want to say thank you to all of the reggae fraternity, for always promoting marijuana. A big respect to Damien Marley as well, for the progressive moves he is making in establishing ganja farms in different parts. Also a big shout out to Mendo Dope up north, I love you guys. A big shout out to my wife, Antoinette, who is always pushing me to do better and be better.


]]> Tue, 16 May 2017 17:35:16 -0700 https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/76/culture-magazine-chats-with-pato-banton-passion-purpose https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/76












Pato Banton has a four-decade public presence that has increasingly transcended music to convey a singularly positive and often spiritual message.







CULTURE chatted with the affable Banton about his music, message and long relationship with cannabis.










Pato Banton is a famed reggae musician, profound community leader and cannabis advocate





by Paul Rogers | November 3, 2016



Reggae star Pato Banton was in the midst of his biggest-ever tour—a global trek for Peter Gabriel’s WOMAD organization in 2000—when he learned that two of his sons had been injured in a drive-by shooting in his native England. He immediately put his burgeoning career on hold to go hunt-down the perpetrator. Gunman found, he then turned his outrage and sorrow into the impetus for award-winning community and educational initiatives which would consume the next six years of his life.
Reading like some gritty screenplay, this extended episode epitomizes a man whose four-decade public presence has increasingly transcended music to convey a singularly positive and often spiritual message. Emerging from a working-class community in Britain’s second-largest city, Birmingham, in the 1970s, Banton is now based in Southern California, from where he continues to tour extensively while simultaneously serving as a mentor (and sometimes minister) to fans worldwide.
Banton was almost born into a world of reggae sound systems, with his Jamaican DJ stepfather hosting illegal house parties in his childhood home at which the pre-teen served as a lookout, doorman and ultimately, performer. Born Patrick Murray, Banton’s nocturnal musical escapades earned him the nickname “Patoo,” a Jamaican word for owl (“Banton,” meaning formidable lyricist, was added by music producers later).
By his late teens, “Ranking Pato” had been declared his hometown’s number one MC seven years in a row and was touring Europe with a local reggae band. But it was his performance on The Beat’s 1982 album Special Beat Service that put him on the mainstream map. Appearances on UB40’s 1985 Baggariddim and Little Baggariddim releases confirmed Banton as a major toasting talent and imminent solo force.
Banton’s debut solo album, ‘85s Mad Professor Captures Pato Banton , is still regarded as a genre classic. A string of hits including “Absolute Perfection” and “Handsworth Riot” followed. By the mid 1990s he was topping charts internationally with a cover of Eddy Grant’s “Baby Come Back” (featuring Ali and Robin Campbell of UB40) and collaborations with Sting (a remix of “This Cowboy Song” and a remake of the Police’s “Spirits in a Material World”).
Throughout, Banton has been an outspoken promoter of cannabis (referencing how he “smoke up the ganja” on his second single “Allo Tosh,” and that he “only smoke the sensimilla” on 1987 classic “Don’t Sniff Coke”).
A famously charismatic, inclusive live performer known for evocative storytelling and comic vocal characterizations, Banton threw himself into philanthropic work after his sons’ shooting, founding community projects, becoming a qualified music teacher, and setting up his own School of Musical Arts and Technology in Birmingham. He has earned numerous accolades for his musical and humanitarian accomplishments, including the BBC’s prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award.
Upon returning to music-making a decade ago, Banton embarked upon a mission to spread positivity, spirituality and universal love. He has two new albums slated for release in February and will be touring in the U.S., U.K., Africa and Asia next year. He just re-recorded “Baby Come Back” with Ali Campbell for a new UB40 release.
CULTURE chatted with the affable Banton about his music, message, and long relationship with cannabis.
Starting out in Birmingham in the 1970s, would you ever have pictured yourself still having a thriving career and living in sunny Southern California nearly four decades later?
I would not! I had a lot of doubts about my future, but music was always my hobby . . . So it’s really just been an evolution of fun and just a continuation of my love of music and never really felt like an “official” career.
Can you paint a picture of the sound system scene from which you emerged?
We’d have our sound system in [a living room] with our music box with all the records in it and a speaker box that took up half the room! And we’d be playing music just really for our friends in a dark room and just going on the microphone and chanting lyrics, ‘til eventually it emerged for us to be in nightclubs doing the same thing.
 
What does a typical week in the life of Pato Banton look like these days?
Getting the band together . . . hitting the road; doing shows [and] doing interviews while I’m travelling. Writing lyrics. And I’m on my computer every chance I can get—I’m reaching out to new promoters, booking shows for months ahead, because I do my own bookings, I shoot my own videos, I record my own songs in my own recording studio. So it’s really non-stop.
You seem to tour constantly. Is that the best part of the job?
I get great pleasure out of meeting people—meeting my fans; meeting other artists in the industry; seeing new places. And one of my main motivations is to make people feel better, so I get a chance to meet my fans, talk to them, uplift their spirits—while I’m performing and in person.
So I’m not just trying to build a fanbase—I’m actually building a spiritual family as well as I travel, and to me that’s the ultimate goal.
Your live shows are unusually participatory experiences. What is your approach to concert performance?
It’s not about me just going on stage and doing a rehearsed show—it’s about saying ‘how can I get this entire crowd of people . . . involved in this experience, connected to each other, and get everybody feeling good.’
We never have a set list . . . So it’s really a personal experience for the crowd and no two nights are the same.
How has your sense of humor helped you spread your message?
I think the sense of humor is very important, especially considering that most of my lyrics are pretty serious . . . [It] allows people to let go of the stress and drama, enjoy the moment, but also reflect on subjects that are meaningful.
From your earliest days recording with Ranking Roger and UB40 to your later hits with Sting and recent work with Mystic Roots, collaboration appears crucial to your creativity. Why is that?
It’s friendship when I bond in the studio with another artist . . . And then creating something new, to me, is just very, very inspiring. You touch their audience with your style and then touch your audience with their style.
I can do albums by myself, but it’s just much more fun when you go into a situation where someone who has a totally different style to you; a totally different approach to writing to you.
Your career straddles the old music business, dominated by major labels and radio play, and the new era of downloads and social media. What have been the pros and cons of these two contrasting landscapes?
The pros with a major label really are that you have a team . . . working on every single avenue of your career, because of their investment into you. The cons of a major label are that they only give you less than 10 percent of everything you earn.
With downloading, the new era that we’re living in now, there’s no real control of your music . . . But the sales that you do make, you make 100 percent of your own sales. And so for me, as a live touring artist, I sell most of my CDs on the road . . . And, once I release my music digitally now, I own it 100 percent, rather than a record label owning my music.
In May, you held your 4th annual Spiritual Gathering in L.A. Just what is Pato Banton’s Spiritual Gathering?
A lot of people who are not in religion or in churches are looking for some kind of community . . . We give participants a 30-minute slot to give a presentation to everybody. And these presentations can be on prayer or a spiritual subject or a global subject that has a serious meaning to everybody. And then, in between each speaker, we have people who can sing or play instruments play some music.
After your sons were shot back in Birmingham in 2000, you successfully set out to find the gunman. Tell me that story and about how it impacted your life.
I was blown away . . . I thought to myself ‘wow, here I am doing so much for underprivileged and troubled communities around the world [with WOMAD] and I haven’t had a chance to do anything for my own community’. That really bothered me.
I went back home; I found out who shot my kids and it was actually a friend of mine—his son was trying to kill somebody else and my two sons got in the way . . . But, about six months later this kid went and shot somebody else and was caught and ended up getting a life sentence.
I took my recording studio that I had at home and set it up in my community center locally and then started inviting all the kids off the streets. That became such a hit that local authorities . . . asked me to set up the same program in 16 other communities . . . Then that became such a huge hit that the local college invited me to set up a music department.
Tell me about your personal history with cannabis and how it has impacted your life and music.
Growing up in a Caribbean community in England, cannabis, marijuana was just a part of our culture . . . I started smoking myself about the age of 14, 15, but very casually.
One thing I enjoyed about my experience with marijuana is that it always made me think deeply . . . my thought becomes profound; my reflections become deeper and my perspective becomes deeper.
In reggae music [and] the Rasta community . . . they see marijuana as a sacrament. So it’s done with reverence—we smoke with reverence and respect for the plant.
What are your opinions about both the medicinal and recreational value of cannabis for society as a whole?
Both approaches . . . are very, very important for society. Y’know, society needs a different option than alcohol, that’s for sure.
[Cannabis] should be legalized and decriminalized and fully accessible—not just to an industry, but also to the individual in their own backyard.
The medicinal uses of marijuana and cannabis are so obvious now and so globally recognized now that it is insanity not to allow it to be explored and understood at increasingly deeper levels.
For you, how does cannabis enhance spirituality?
When I was younger and when I smoked it, it made me think . Thinking is necessary for any kind of progress and profound thinking; deep thinking is necessary for us to go even further in our own personal and social development. So I think that, when I started my spiritual journey, marijuana helped me to become more thoughtful and more self-aware.
I hardly smoke anymore; very rarely—I’m more into edibles now . . . but I will say that, when I do eat it, I still have awesome experiences of deeper meditation and deeper thinking.
What are your thoughts on current cannabis legislation in the U.S. and how do you foresee this changing?
I feel like the legislation across the U.S. is muddled, confused, and between the federal state and the independent states there needs to be harmony.
I think it’s changing and I do see some progress, because this can only go on while a minority of the states have got [cannabis] legislation . . . Once the majority of states slew towards legalization, the federal government will have to back off.
Outside of making music, what are the great passions in your life?
I do ministry [but] I don’t belong to a church; I don’t belong to any religion.
If you want to have the most, you’ve got to give , and so I decided that I wanted to be a minister . . . I’m always serving my fans. I’m performing weddings; I’m christening people; we have spiritual gatherings [and] study groups at my home.
Apart from that, I enjoy shooting videos . . . my own videos and I do videos for other people.
Your last album was Destination Paradise in 2008. What’s on the horizon for you, musically?
I’m working on two albums right now and one of them is basically done . . . It’s called Love is the Greatest and it’s coming from all different aspects of love. And then I’ve got another album that I’m working on called BrotherFriend which is more of a heavy album dealing with world issues.
I have a third album as well that I’m working on which is called The Words of Rastafari , which is a three-CD album where I am narrating the words of Haile Selassie over some Bob Marley rhythms.


]]> Tue, 16 May 2017 17:07:56 -0700 https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/74/pato-banton-spreads-message-of-love https://tunetrax.com/pato-banton/blogs/74
By Bill Locey, Special to The Star
Finding someone as upbeat as reggae star Pato Banton is as rare as someone dying of old age on "Game of Thrones." Banton is so relentlessly pleasant, he could make a statue of Dick Cheney smile — well, smirk maybe. A frequent visitor to the 805 for nearly three decades, Banton will bring his songs of uplift, joy and hope to Discovery Ventura Thursday, Jan. 12.
Banton, reggae’s Mr. Happy, seems to emanate good vibrations and when and if his live shows are ever interrupted, it’s not because of a fight or the arrival of the cops, but rather ... a wedding? Always a spiritual guy, Banton shows have been known to end with a prayer circle between fans and rock star.
The son of a Jamaican DJ, Banton was born Patrick Murray in England and still hasn’t lost his accent. Through talent, persistence and a number of fortuitous breaks, Banton has recorded over 20 albums, performs all over the world and has finally relocated to SoCal.
A recurring theme for Banton since his earliest days is his dislike for drugs, especially man-made chemicals. On the other hand, mind benders that occur naturally — like the pernicious weed — now legal in many states including this one, have made Banton happier than Cheech & Chong and Jeff Spicoli.
Banton is happy to be anywhere as suggested by this recent interview — done nice because we did it twice.
Hello.
Pato, this is Bill Locey with the Ventura County Star — how are you?
Very good, my brother.
I have some disturbing but mostly embarrassing news — my tape player didn’t work so our interview didn’t come out at all. I was just going to start transcribing our conversation but it’s not there. So I’m ashamed to ask — is it possible to do it again today at some point?
Yes, it is. I’m just about to jump into the car and I’m going to drive for about an hour, so I’ll call you when I get in the car and we can do it then.
OK, thank you, sir, for saving me.
(about an hour later) Hello.
Pato, nice to talk to you again — what’s the latest in your world?
The latest from Pato Banton is I am currently planning a tour. So far, we’ve got England, Africa, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Thailand and Brazil.
Have you been to those places before?
Yes, in early 2016, so we’re planning to return in 2017.
So you went to Africa — Ghana, I believe? So what’s happening in Ghana? We don’t get much news from there.
Yeah, I went to Ghana originally just to host a spiritual gathering because I’m involved in a lot of spiritual activity now. So I went over to a spiritual gathering but when they heard I was coming they asked if I could do a concert ... I also invited a lot of African artists who also performed at the event. I recorded with two of the African artists and did a music video with one of them, too, so it was really busy but fantastic.




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You’ve always been a spiritual guy, so tell me about your latest activities in that realm.
Well, you know that reggae music has always been my inspiration to start my spiritual journey and as I’ve grown and kept searching I found a book called the Urantia Book which really blew my mind. It really made me understand that I don’t have to be a part of an institution, you know, or religion, to have a relationship with God and I can enjoy my spiritual liberty and be a spiritual person without belonging to something.
That sounds like Martin Luther 500 years ago when he split from the Catholic Church by telling people they could find God on their own just by reading the Bible.
That’s right. The Urantia Book is now read in most parts of the world and all over Africa, too. So really, it was a Urantia gathering that I went to host in Ghana but we invited all religions to discuss spiritual liberty and it was really exciting because we had Rastafarians, Christians, Muslims and agnostics. It was really fun and everyone enjoyed the freedom of sharing with each other.
OK, then what?
So a lot of my fans have asked me to marry them but I couldn’t do it until I got my ordination. So I got my ordination and now I’m a legally ordained minister and I perform baptisms, christenings and marriages. So for my fans as I travel across America, sometimes at my shows I’ll stop the show and do a wedding, or before the show, I’ll be outside marrying some of the fans.
Outstanding. So with peace, love and understanding — obviously the winning ticket — why isn’t that message winning? Or is it?
I think it’s winning, you know? I really think it’s winning. I think it’s not winning in the media because the media promotes negativity. That’s how they earn their living. When you look outside of the media, there is so much positivity going on. There are so many people out there helping the homeless, helping children who are being abused, helping battered wives — there are so many people out there promoting a new spiritual age where we can step away from all the religious dogma and accept each other as brothers and sisters. Some people see little specks of hope in a black clouded world, but I see small specks of darkness in a very bright future, you know? I’m very optimistic and very positive and I believe that this is God’s universe and if this is God’s universe, then ultimately good will always overcome evil.


Pato Banton returns to Ventura Jan. 12.  (Photo: CONTRIBUTED PHOTO)


Well, that’s why everybody loves you. So evidently, there are reggae fans everywhere. Are reggae fans the same everywhere?
Reggae is everywhere. Everywhere I’ve been, there is reggae. Reggae fans are different in different places. In Asia, the reggae fans are more laid back and subdued. I’ve been told that in China they’re very subdued.
So they don’t go nuts in Korea like they do in Brazil?
No, they’re more laid back. They have a good time but in Brazil and Southern California — those are two of the places where they really express themselves. They give you great, loud feedback.
So the Koreans are having fun, but you’re not really sure, unlike here, where there can be no doubt?
No doubt about it.
So reggae — bigger, smaller, staying the same?
Reggae music is growing but it’s growing in a different way. There was a time when reggae music was evaluated by the level of success of the Jamaican artists, but that is no longer true. Reggae music has now become the property of every culture in the world; in America, we have reggae bands — white reggae bands — that are bigger than the bands from Jamaica.
Just like up here in the 805 with bands like Rebelution and Iration…
And Slightly Stoopid — so yeah, there are a lot of bands now that are really huge. In South America there are bands that now play reggae as a mainstream act, so reggae music has definitely grown and it has evolved into a new form of expression.
It’s fairly amazing how such a small island — Jamaica — can have such a large impact…
Yeah, it’s really because of Bob Marley mainly. Bob Marley has become a household name and his picture can be found in many places — in barber shops, everywhere. Anywhere you might go, Bob Marley is really a part of the culture there.
Did you ever get to see him play?
No, I did not — he passed on just before I got a chance to meet him, but I toured with his wife, the I-Threes and the Wailers band, and I toured with Ziggy and Stephen Marley. I traveled with nearly everybody in the family.
So you’re finally in California — what’s happening in Lake Elsinore?
It’s a nice quiet and peaceful place for me to kick back and get my creativity on, but I’m ready to branch out across Lake Elsinore and this region so that I can get to meet more people and get to understand what the music scene is like out here, you know, and get involved.
So what was your big break or have you had it yet?
I’ve had numerous breaks at different times. One big break was working with the English Beat. Another big break was working with UB40. Another big break was having the opportunity to do two duets with Sting and two music videos with Sting, so I’ve had a lot of big opportunities. Another big break was when I was nominated for a Grammy for an album I recorded in my own home, "My Life Is A Miracle." Not long ago I was put into the British Music Hall of Fame, and I also got a lifetime achievement award from the BBC, you know? Another big break was when Peter Gabriel asked me to headline a world tour and during that tour we also did outreach to different communities on the tour. So all of these things have been really awesome experiences, and my life has been full of big breaks and I’m still active on my musical journey and I’m still enjoying it.
Yeah, and now the pernicious weed is legal in California…
Exactly. (sings) Legalize it! I’ve been singing about this for so long but there was a time when I used to get demonized.
That’s right — back in the ‘90s, you were singing the same song.
Yeah, I used to get a lot of fight from the media when I sang, "I do not sniff the coke — I only smoke sensimilla," but now it’s become legal and people get it at last.
What’s the strangest gig you’ve ever played?
One of the strangest gigs I’ve ever played was in a small town in Texas, where I actually booked the tour. It was a 50-state tour and I was just happy to get gigs any place I could find them. It was kind of a rough and ready tour, and this small town I went to — they had never heard of Bob Marley, most of them, and they couldn’t even pronounce "reggae." So it was an ice cream shop, you know, and we only played to a handful of people, but they loved it and we enjoyed doing it. We’ve played in some very strange places but we always create new fans and then there are always bigger opportunities the next time we come to town.
So what’s the next step?
The future right now is very full. I have a new album called "Love Is The Greatest," which is a love-themed album based on different aspects of love — brotherly love, sisterly love, the love of God, the love of a couple and there’s also the first song I’ve ever written about the love for my mother. There’s all kinds of love — one love, universal love — that album’s coming out in February. Also, I just completed a three-CD box set where I read the words of Haile Selassie over the music of Bob Marley that I’ve recreated in a more laid back, jazzy style. The album is amazing and I’m inspired every time I listen to it. That one’s coming out on Bob Marley’s birthday on February the 6th.
Perfect timing and I’m inspired every time I talk to you — and lucky me — I got to talk to you twice in one week.
All right.
Don’t quit your night job.
I won’t. Thank you, my brother, have a great day.
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