Q: Right, so what did you do there, you kept working at the club again in Ochi? A: Oh no, no. That I left behind (chuckles). We have to rewind, I was long gone from there. I think before 'Prophecy' was out and before 'Sun & Moon' came out, I was gone and I was on my own. Because I was then also working in Ocho Rios managing the Keith Foote Group, a performing troupe that performed in Ocho Rios and also in the North Coast hotels environment. I performed and managed the business for him for a while, until I actually left for Canada. Q: By the way, regarding the sales of 'Prophecy', did you get compensated for this song after it hit and do you have any idea how much it could've sold at the time? A: Not a thing. No, not directly from Jack. I remember that he actually took 'Prophecy' to Chris Blackwell, I think we had a meeting with him. But Jack told me that Chris didn't like 'Prophecy' and he didn't like me, but that's what Jack told me (laughs)!

Q: Didn't like you because of...? A: I don't know. I don't know, he didn't elaborate on it. But he said that was cool, y'know, that wasn't everything. So actually the next time I really knew what was happening for 'Prophecy', somebody sent me a Black Music magazine, and 'Prophecy' was like number two in the charts, with the Jimmy Lindsay extended play. Q: Yes, the 'Easy' 12". His cover of the Commodores. A: And I still hadn't gotten any money and wasn't sure how it had reached England. But once it was banned I think Jack decided to see what he could do in terms of distribution outside Jamaica. He really believed in the song. Amazing. I mean, I can't tell you how often I have people call me... even someone else on the net has been trying to get in touch with me to do covers. And people would stop me on the street and... I mean, it's just amazing that people remember 'Prophecy'. The next thing that happened with 'Prophecy' is I went on tour, to do a poetry tour with Benjamin Zephaniah in England, and it was amazing to go somewhere and feel as though you were well-known and appreciated for something you had created but never knew it had gotten so much play. Q: (Laughs) A: Because'Prophecy' had been such a big hit in England and I never knew. And some people didn't even know who I was, or where I was.

Q: It's like almost everyone knows the song but hardly the mystical individual behind it, so to speak. A: Right, they didn't know the person, what I looked like - nothing. I guess I was amazed that Benjamin Zephaniah actually decided to have me on tour with him, I wondered what credentials that I possibly had not knowing that Benjamin knew what a huge hit it was! And then I was gonna be coming up there to do this poetry tour with him. So that was very interesting. I found out that 'Prophecy', like people were paying like £50 pounds for a copy of it, as a collectors item. Q: And 'Destiny' too. A: And I didn't even have a copy of 'Prophecy'. I found out that Island Records put it on '25 Years of the Best of Reggae Music', and because Benjamin knew about that had facilitated my having a meeting with them, I think they may have given me a £150 pounds upfront for that. Q: Wow... A: But I never got anything more than that. Q: What a shame, but that's how they stay. That tune was issued on the Tribesman label by Lloyd Coxsone as well. A: How long ago? Q: Not sure but I suppose he had a deal with Jack Ruby for a release in the late seventies, he reissued it on a 12" circa 1996. A: I would love to get a copy of it. Q: Apparently he is still releasing the song. There is a compilation titled '12 The Hard Way' where 'Prophecy' is included, did you know about this? A: No. Wow, how can I get a copy of that? Q: He put it out in the late eighties but has never stopped pressing it so you should find it on the internet. A: It's called '12 The Hard Way', Tribesman label?

Q: Right. It features people like Fred Locks, Burning Spear, Ras Midas, Well Pleased & Satisfied and Delroy Wilson among others. A: And 'Prophecy' is on that? Q: Yes, 'Prophecy' is on there too. A: OK. I know that when I was in England I did a couple of tracks with Mad Professor. Q: Right, you mean the first 'Roots Daughters' album? A: On the 'Roots Daughters' compilation there's a song called 'Fire'. And in the can - which I would love to get - is a song called 'We've Thrown True Love Away'. Q: For Ariwa. So when was that recorded? A: I think that was in about... the eighties. Q: Circa '84? A: Maybe '85-86, 'cause I took my daughter with me and I think she was at least three years old then. It was on my tour with Benjamin Zephaniah.

Q: Regarding 'Destiny', what was the inspiration for that song? A: 'Destiny' was a question to my people, our people... Q: 'Where are we going', like. A: Yeah. 'What is our destiny, where is our place in the society, when did we lose our identity, why did we lose it, why did we choose this?' And it was questions that being asked for us to consider - historically, presently, and we should question our role for the future. Q: 'Destiny' didn't have the same impact. But they didn't ban that one too, did they? A: They didn't ban that one, and I don't think that Jack that had an opportunity to really follow it up, to promote it. Q: A little strange that he didn't considering the hit you got with 'Prophecy', I mean he had something going with you there. A: I'm not sure. I don't think I really had a handle on - I don't think at that point that I was thinking that I should be managing and evolving a career.

Q: How did you look on your writing at this point, even if you hit with 'Prophecy', were you comfortable with the situation as being a recording artist? A: I think that even to now if someone probably said to me... Q: Because you had stated before that you saw yourself as a 'writer' more than a singer. A: Right. But ironically even not seeing myself as a singer I just saw myself as a vocalist being the best person to say what I was writing, and I continued performing and loved performing. As a matter of fact I hope I will be able to do that, but there's this fine line of distinction of performing for the sake of performing and what seems to be mandatory to doing that, which from longevity is having a recording and making an impact in the distribution of your recording. And I never had anyone that was really had invested in putting together an album - or CD - with me, so I just continued. I had my band in Canada, Tropical Energy Experience. When I came here to the United States in like '84-85 I started just doing my poetry, because I hadn't lined up with anyone musically. And then I did the tour with Benjamin. When I returned I actually then began a relationship with Brother Clifford Moonie Pusey who presently is lead guitarist with Steel Pulse. And we started collaborating and we put together a band called Highly I. So we just produced our own CD, and I actually still feel that there's a wonderful reggae-fusion... reggae-poetry-fusion, a poetry-reggae CD in me that I would also really love to do, I think that there's space for it, and I think that there's still time for a woman to represent in that genre, genre of music.

Clifford Moonie Pusey & Faybiene

Q: But you did an album on your own too, didn't you? I believe it was a nineties poetry album. A: Um... Oh, 'A Poet's Heart'. And that's a compilation of my poetry with music, and I don't think we put any of my songs on the album. But I still have a lot of stuff in the can. And then I have another CD that we did called 'Tonic'. I've been doing a radio program here in New York for over two years with Dr. Kamau Kokayi who's a holistic practioneer, I co-produce the program with him. It's called 'Global Medicine Review' and I write a piece of poetry that depicts the topic of the modality of the week, I write it the morning of the show. And I put together a compilation of some of the poetry from the first six months of the program with music, different types of music, whether it's Native American drumming or some very beautiful orchestrated... really like New Age music, African drum music. And I really seem to have created quite a stir with the public around the poetry that's been done on the radio show. But I was telling Moonie the other day, he's my husband and he's been presently on tour with Pulse right now, I said: "I can't get this out of my blood, I really wanna still do this CD with some of these songs that I have, so I hope that when you have some time you can produce that for me". Q: What sort of 'musical backdrop' would you use for those poems, not only reggae I assume? I get the feeling you have branched out in later years, to explore your creativity elsewhere, and wanna try your poetry in different musical areas, like. A: No. Because with my band Highly I, I've used a lot of really hard rock rhythms with the songs and the poetry. Really just very burning rock music, rock reggae music. Yeah, 'cause I love the fire of rock, y'know, for some of the lyrics really demand that it has that kind of fever in it musically. But still with the reggae, and my brand of reggae music.

Benjamin Zephaniah

Q: In the seventies, in Jamaica, did you do any other recordings elsewhere that never came out? A: No. No, I wouldn't have wanted to work with anybody but Jack in Jamaica (chuckles). Q: But I'm pretty sure the offers came to you from left, right and center after 'Prophecy' hit? Apart from that Native collaboration, what about 'the general' music community? A: Um, I think that... Q: Tommy Cowan? A: No. No, but I mean... no, Tommy didn't want to produce me. He was supportive of the work I was doing. Actually at one point Junior Murvin (actually Marvin, the guitarist) had asked me - was interested in my work, and I think they were looking for material for the Wailers. But I think that's really it. And then I pretty much disappeared from there. When I came back to Jamaica I was working with as I said Joe Cooper, and that relationship musically and personally dissolved actually. So we didn't do any more work together after the late seventies, early eighties.

Highly I

Q: What about the early eighties, when you still lived in Jamaica, did you record anything during that era, the early dancehall period? A: In the early eighties? No, not really. I think I was pretty reclusive then. Actually I had my daughter in 1983, and from the times that I had her in '83 I actually moved back to the United States, in late '84. What I actually did was more to get involved with projects around vegetarian food and helping to raise money for some of the youth centers. I was really very low-key as an artist. The pieces in the 'Itations' book, the pieces were gathered by Mihlard and published in his book, so that was about it. Q: You think you lost the lust for it altogether when the eighties started and what it became later, musically, lyrically - you simply lost the desire for it and the vibe wasn't there? The public's taste had changed a lot too. A: When I came back... just a lot of things politically changed. You know, Seaga was in power. Q: That pretty much explains everything (laughs)? A: Yeah. The whole mood changed. Dermott Hussey gave my music, that I had brought home from Canada, like really glowing reviews. But there was no place to really be expressive and I didn't have a band together, and I wasn't doing any recording. I just did a lot of introspection, and that was just a period of writing for myself and really literally just surviving actually. I was kind of in a space I hadn't been in before, which kind of set the present for me to really be focused on having my daughter.

Dermott Hussey

Q: Where did you settle between '79 and '83 in Jamaica? A: In Kingston, Meadowbrook. Q: Where is that again? A: Red Hills. Q: OK. Red Hills Road, the old club strip. A: Yeah, Red Hills Road. Q: Your music and repertoire pretty much reflected that period, a fruit of that era in Jamaica. And no matter how timeless it appears to be nowadays, with few exceptions there was no real time and space for that form of reggae in the eighties it seemed? A: Not in Jamaica. Everybody was changing their clothing along with their attitude. America was now sort of the big bone everybody wanted to chew on, in quotation of all these American goods along with American culture. And I think Jamaican culture was really kind of being put on the back-burner, in what I say was an American-Jamaican culture. Q: The late seventies was the end of that whole era, where optimism and a strong will to change society around, it gave way to violence and greed. But of course, Jamaica was no different from the rest of the world in that regard. A: Yeah. It was the ultimate of what I thought was nationalism and autonomy and a spiritual, cultural movement. Q: A time where the ego ruled over the collective spirit, I guess that's where the eighties headed at. A: Yes, that as a whole. And I don't think that things have ever returned to the former. I was back once, actually twice. But the last time I was there I think was about 1995 or '94, and I was back to Ocho Rios and I almost didn't recognise it. I mean, I had lived there and Ochi was a village, literally. There was not one hotel on the sea's front except for Turtle Towers. Anyone and everyone could go there to the beach at any time and had a major exclusivity. And people were (inaudible) like there was no tomorrow, it was horrible. I couldn't wait to get out of Ocho Rios.

Faybiene Miranda (Photo: David Corio) www.davidcorio.com

Faybiene Miranda (Photo: David Corio) www.davidcorio.com

Q: A very touristic place these days, exploited, but still... you have to survive. A: Oh yes. Surviving on this, surviving on that. Q: What's ahead for you now, the album project with your husband you said? A: That's what I would like to do. I wouldn't mind - actually I've been trying to talk with David about maybe producing something with me. Q: David Hinds. A: Yes. My husband has known David for many, many years. And when we met each other it was another one of those indications that I didn't have a clue that 'Prophecy' had made such an impact. And when we met, and we were introducing ourselves to each other, and he said: "I'm David Hinds", and I said: "Yes, I know". And I said: "I'm Faybiene Miranda", and he said: "Yes, I know". And I was like: "How do you know me?", and he was like: "'Prophecy'". And I was like: "How do you know about 'Prophecy'?", y'know (chuckles). And he let me know what a huge hit that was and how it had really influenced him, and how much they all loved the tune from Birmingham days. And we had just become friends from that time, that we actually had met each other back in maybe about '84-85. I'm actually his daughters Godmother at this point, and I introduced my husband to the group, 'cause my husband is African-American. He has Jamaican heritage but - he's an absolutely phenomenal guitarist, and he's really steeped in a lot of rock music. But he used to say:"If I would play with any reggae group, which group do you think I should play with?", 'cause he really wanted to do more reggae music, and I thought 'definitely Steel Pulse'. And he's been with them now for about 14 years. One of their CD's, on 'Vex', I actually wrote the poem on the inside of the booklet. David actually encouraged me to do a re-cover of 'Prophecy'. So, I mean, I would like to work with David, 'cause to me he still represents one of those... one of the vanguards of the conscious music's authors of that era. He's still going real strong.

Foundation

Earth Messengers

Q: Did you follow what Jack was doing in Jamaica after you left? He was back on the scene there for a while with a link once again to Island Records and produced groups like Foundation, Link'n'Chain, Earth Messengers and singers like Donovan. Did you check for that at all in the late eighties? A: I didn't know that. Q: He brought those forward through Island between '87 and '89, some if not all were local Ochi acts. I believe some of them was around even in the mid seventies. But that came to an abrupt end when he passed away in '89. A: I didn't know, Peter. To tell you the truth, as I was saying, in those years I was a single mother keeping it all together. Q: Yeah, with all what it takes. A: And just beginning to sort of re-emerge in terms of my own creativity, and I actually managed to re-direct a lot of my creativity with a very strong community here, an organisation that I'm really one of the foundation members of, called Ifetayo. So I write and produce original works of conscious poetry, affimations for children from the ages of like two to twenty-one. And I work with public schools also as an independent artist in residence, bringing poetry with music to the children in a literacy programme. So in those years when a lot of that was happening, it was happening without me. I was really focusing on raising this young sister, my daughter, and also helping to raise what I call my 'agent warrior generation'. Q: I recall seeing a picture of you and Augustus Pablo together at a launching party for somebody's album - I believe it was at SOB's, in a US publication some fifteen years ago and wondering "what is she up to?" A: Right (chuckles). Yes, I'm here in New York City doing the work, done shows with Muta here in New York at SOB's. Done shows with and actually opened up for Steel Pulse with my group. I was on an event where Richie Havens was actually one of the performers, I've done shows with the Last Poets and with a group called Family Stand, with an amazing sister by the name of Sandra St. Victor - you can check her out. Sandra has actually wanted to do some work and I've opened up for her whenever she's had a performance somewhere.

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Article: Peter I (Please do not reproduce without permission)