Curly Lox raps with Dj Speng on Calico Radio.
Part 1 of the interview with Curly Lox the voice of Mutabaruka – from the Twins of Twins team.
Part 2 Curly Lox chats with Dj Speng about the current state of reggae music and his role in the industry.
Part 3 – This is the final part of the interview.
Curly Lox (Twins Of Twins) interview on Calico Radio
The interview with Curly Lox took place on Calico Radio on October 6th. The discussion lasts over forty minutes and the speak on various topics from “Stir it up” to the current state of reggae music . The speak on the influence of corporations and the changes it has brought since the time of Bob Marley.
Credit and props
They discuss giving credit whenever it is due and why so many who have prospered from their ventures have not done so . Instead have given credit to more established individuals.
Biography
TWIN OF TWINS
Twin of twins were born Patrick and Paul Gaynor. They were born at the Victoria Jubilee hospital in Kingston Jamaica to parents Myel Gaynor and Louise Lenore Thelwell . They were raised by their grandmother Miss Sue in rural Russell Heights, St. Elizabeth. They grew up under the strict guidance and discipline of their grandmother. Their mother true to her words came back for them at about age five.They grew up between Waterhouse, Grants Pen and Chisholm Ave for the most part.
While growing up in abject poverty the twins developed an avid interest in dancehall and reggae music.The music confirmed while it simultaneously took them away from from the negativity of their situation. Paul (tu lox) Gaynor by the time he was 14 years old was a full fledged fashion designer who would sew everything as long as it was made from fabric he even sewed their school uniforms at the time. The twins were inseparable as they went everywhere and did almost everything together. Patrick “Curly Lox” Gaynor from a very early age started writing songs and singing them at school while his brother Paul would knock the benches to provide the beats.
Influences
Patrick had an upbeat happy go lucky personality and was always the more out going of the twins who could very much relate to Professor Nuts his mentor who at the time was the innovator of dancehall comedy. Other inspirations were people like Bionic Steve, Gary Saddler and Garnett Rattery (unda mi nose) Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, etc. Influences on the serious side were people like Papa San, Stichie, Super Cat, Barrington Levy, Bounty Killer, Ninja man and Bob Marley, etc.
While Paul was also influenced by all the artistes named, he was more of the revolutionary type who grew up seeing all the injustice, harsh, unfair treatment issued by the ruling class against ghetto people which at the time made him gravitate towards other influences like Malcolm X, Peter Tosh, Paul Bogle, Martin Luther King and anyone who stood up for their rights. Eventually Paul would be guided by his biggest influence (Patrick Curly Lox Gaynor) who was a original ,unconventional revolutionary in agreement with the revolution but he believed in brain over brawn and that u can’t have too much of anything.
Everything must have a balance in order to be successful. Thus giving Paul the belief that u can’t be too happy or too sad. Paul also had a serious sense of humor which Patrick would call “dark comedy”. He would say things in a dark tone but u would fall flat to the ground laughing hysterically about what he just said. So Patrick and Paul definitely had the ying yang effect.
The twins’ older brother Delroy would see Patrick as more than just a kid singing for fun and tried desperately to convince him to take the craft more seriously. Delroy would follow the twins to various shows where he would try his best to convince his younger brother Patrick, who wasn’t a duo at the time and going by the moniker “professor twin”, to showcase his talent on these shows that were in that era. This was the only outlet for inner city youths wanting a break in music. Delroy was relentless in his methods of persuasion, sometimes going as far as performing on these shows knowing he did not possess the talent to do so but served only to encourage Patrick who was extremely shy, believe it or not . Delroy’s performance was most often met with disdain, reflected in merciless boos from these crowds.
In the the later years Patrick’s love for music, his unusual sense of humor and a decision to ask his brother Paul to join him as duo called Twin of Twins would bring to fruition a milestone in music and comedy. He used all his influences, past experiences and intellect to fuse hardcore dancehall and comedy to establish a different sound in music, he also created a unique and innovative blend of satire that would come about quite by accident as the twins were adept on social issues and spoke incessantly with their peers on these issues.
Patrick would often relate the stories by imitating the voices of whatever character was related to the story. However it was one of their friends (Dwayne “psycho tan bad” Christie) in 1994 who suggested the the recording of this intriguing art that would cause this phenomena that ultimately came to be known as the “Stir it up” volumes 1,2 and 3 an instant sensation that would go viral long before the term was coined.
However based on conflicts, some inner, some outer based on identity, as with all things connected to psychology, image is everything! In dancehall music the less refined or “uglier “image is more accepted or taken seriously where being perceived as hardcore is concerned and being blessed with more talent in many other areas than your average artiste ,which direction to proceed in?
The fear of Patrick’s music not being taken seriously was reflected in Paul’s opinion that Patrick should pursue only his musical talent and sideline comedy, was the omnipresent conflict. Patrick against his bitter judgement & the fact that he also wanted to be taken seriously focused exclusively on dancehall music for about a ten year period. Not that Paul didn’t believe that comedy could work but because they both felt (at the time) that he (patrick) should be taken seriously because of the messages he put in his songs, while loving and respecting the comedy. Paul felt as if the messages would be sidelined because mixing messages and comedy is like oil and water.
However it was Tiffany the mother of Patrick’s child Zion (who was two years old at the time) who would convince him that he was more than just your average run of the mill artiste and that he should focus on his amazing sense of humor that made them a household name all those years ago and also that she takes him seriously and love the natural , effortless way he blended humor with message and that’s what attracted her to him so it I will attract people . That advice confirmed that what he was doing all those years ago was what his true calling was .
With that encouragement came volume 4 in 2004 with imitations of Mutabaruka and Adams, etc. Instantly the twins were phenomenal stars and have not looked back since. Patrick’s dream of successfully fusing message and social consciousness became a reality and gave rise to the creation of a whole new genre which he called “gangster comedy” ultimately cementing them in the annals of history as the authentic unchanged voice of the common man.
Patrick has written songs for the likes of Elephant Man, Beenie Man, etc. He was not just a writer but a Grammy nominated one as he wrote tracks for Bounty Killer’s Grammy nominated album entitled “Ghetto Dictionary”. Patrick has written more than three dozen songs for bounty killer including his two soul / reggae ballads “it’s ok “, ” say you’re leaving ” and songs like “warlord nuh business “,”little dread Bwoy” among others. With Paul in toe as co writer and his usual incomparable creative input to some of the songs.
However their road to success was not without peril as the twins were marked for death based on their strong conviction for truth and speaking up for the downtrodden also because of their unconventional rise to prominence in a controlled political dancehall arena that was slowly being dominated by the upper class who ironically berated this ghetto culture before Shabba made it marketable. The twins for the most part would be misunderstood and the establishment at every turn would try to keep it that way , but the twins would not be deterred and remained steadfast on their mission to entertain and enlighten their fans who are most times oblivious to what they go through to remain consistent.
Their CDs are the most anticipated material in dancehall and comedy history and has become and integral part of both comedy and dancehall.
The twins would go on to innovate in both dancehall and comedy bringing especially the value of education to heights it’s never before witnessed in dancehall or comedy. In 2006 the twins were invited to the prestigious Harvard University to lecture on religion and politics and Marcus Garvey’s impact on the modern world an Jamaican Economics. However this like all of their monumental achievements would be overlooked and treated like a non factor. Although not endorsed by the establishment, the twins are loved and adored by millions of fans .The twins despite their potential to make millions for any serious investor, remains on their own while the establishment endorses the people who are knock off, generic wanna be twin of twins .
Patrick’s son Zion died in 2007 at the age of 6 which was a devastating blow to the twins , however Patrick internalized his pain and did like he always does, turned it into musical motivation and soldiered on for Zion by penning a tribute for him entitled “only god knows” he also turned Zion’s original bedroom into a private recording studio aptly called “Zion room recording studio ” dedicated to the preservation of zion’s memory and the twin of twins legacy.
Also patrick upped the anti and added “author” to his resume by writing his autobiography a book entitled ” The road to Zion “Another area where he innovated but the people who had commercial backing would listen twin of twins interviews and steal these and other ideas like, their intention to do animation for their material and sometime beat them to the punch. Based on the amazing talent and creativity of the work , the twins faced plagiarism daily EVERY artiste at some point would steal material or concepts from the twins this was common place but their pet peeve is that no one ever gave them credit for their overwhelming contribution to a craft that the twins single handedly held together with their wittiness and social commentary .
Realizing that most of their setbacks was as a direct result of an overwhelming lack of resources, Patrick also established Madvert multimedia of which he is the and creative director and ceo and Paul as Vice President this company’s first project was a first of its kind ,16 minute short film/ music video for the song ” up wid Di money “which saw the twins putting on the director’s hat alongside swat productions .
The video was released to overwhelming reception and reviews as this video garnered over 13,000 views in 24 hrs .
The twins have traveled extensively throughout their career. They’ve been to places like the England , Canada , USA , Europe , South America , the Caribbean , places like Turks and Caicos, Trinidad, Grenada, Antigua , Cayman Islands, St. Maarten. Most of these places multiple times to overwhelmingly great responses of love and admiration .
Their recent tour of Africa had them in Nigeria , Senegal , and the last stop was in Gambia West Africa where they sold out stadiums and huge venues .
Although never officially or commercially endorsed or awarded in Jamaica or recognized for their immense contribution the twins to this day remains the most prolific , unnatural force to to be reckoned within the underground as they are one of the most sought after acts and remain consistent with their hit albums one after the other albums that are to this day one of if not the most anticipated material in jamaica the diaspora and worldwide .
In April 2013 they released their 10th installment of their stir it up volumes (“locked up a yaad”) which has grossed hundreds of thousands of hits on you tube and is one of the most talked about , on all social net works this album was the precursor to highly controversial hit singles like ” up wid Di money” and “tessanne “the twins are now set to release their long waited “Karachi show” entitled “Ching pow , Far East yardies ” and their stir it up volume eleven .
Booking info:
(613)501-2458
(876)424-3922
(876)864-8890
(876)799-3113
TwinofTwins@gmail.com