BelDUB Studio Visits: Joyful Tears Studio (Wingene, BE)
Go back 19 July, 2023
Jarne Thorrez aka Sir Tao has been a musical brother for years. He’s one of those few people in Belgium with a vast knowledge of reggae music in many different aspects of the given; someone with whom I love to hold musical reasonings that can last for hours; someone you contact when you’re looking for a tune that you heard at a dance or in a sound tape. It was thus obvious to make Jarne’s Joyful Tears Studio the first of many to get featured in this new series: the BelDUB Studio Visits. No cameraman this time, just Jarne and me reasoning about his works and having a good time.
DT: Who is Sir Tao?
JT: Since I started this studio, I don’t feel the need to promote myself as an artist, as Sir Tao anymore. I started out making digital reggae/dub music, but got tired of that relatively quickly and fell in love with roots reggae. Now, I want to bring roots vibes in a respectful way to the past; as a musician, as a producer and as a wannabe mixing engineer [laughs].
DT: How did you first get in touch with reggae and how did your musical journey go?
JT: Friends first took me to a dance when I was about 16 (2014-ish). In contrast to the more commercial parties, I was impressed by the vibe of a sound system playing in a small, dark venue; of people just listening to and enjoying music and not really caring about anything more than that. That year’s Summer, those same friends took me to Dour Festival, where I ended up spending the whole five days in the Dub Corner. It was at that moment that I decided to stick to this vibe and genre.
I started making music when I was about 12 years old, using my computer to mainly create old school hip-hop beats. Without really realizing what how reggae or dub music was created, I started fooling around with some productions in those genres as well. About two or three years later, I met Natty Dread from Sjamanic Soundsystem and I sent him (and a few other soundmen that I knew) some of those productions to receive some feedback. I was also collecting records and Natty invited me to play a set on their sound in De Vetten Os in Brugge. After that night, I joined the Sjamanic crew as a selector and operator.
After doing that for about three or four years, I lost the motivation to organize and play at dances, because oftentimes, the selection switches to harder digital dub and steppers quite quickly. I felt less and less related to that and wanted to invest as much time as possible in learning to play instruments. So I quit Sjamanic Soundsystem, but we’re still very good friends.
DT: When and how did the current Joyful Tears Studio come about?
JT: About two years ago, during the Covid pandemic, my girlfriend and I decided to look for a house together and I really wanted to have a separate room to set up a studio. During the different projects throughout my life, I’ve always been looking for a name that I could really stick to. I wanted to have a name that’s related to my own name, so that I wouldn’t have to change it over time.
This room has changed me musically in a positive way that makes me very happy still, because I’m finally starting to realize the things that I’ve wanted to do for ages. One late night, I had been jamming for hours and then listened a King Tubby album on my new studio gear and monitors. Tubby’s mixes sounded so different in this studio, so amazingly good, that I shed a tear of happiness. That’s when the name Joyful Tears came about.
For the past two years, I have been heavily investing in gear, but I’ve also been collecting as much instruments as possible, even a guitar that I found at the dump, so I can get closer to the sound that I’m looking for.
DT: Your studio is a one man army. What instruments are you playing yourself?
JT: I’m currently studying drums, so that’s my main instrument. It’s been an instrument that I’ve wanted to play since I was a kid. Next to that, I can play enough bass, rhythm guitar and keys to build a basic riddim, but I’m not feeling that fluent just yet when playing those instruments.
DT: What is your studio vision?
JT: My vision is to make crazy music. If you listen to original reggae recordings from back in the days, you can hear that all musicians are really good in what they do. There ‘s a certain feel in that music that can only be developed by years of practice. So my sole purpose is that when I die one day, I‘ll be able to say that I’ve made some really good sounding music. It doesn’t matter how long it takes or whether my music gets released or not, I just want it to be good and respectful towards those that did it before me. Not some kind of drained or commercialized version of the music that they once made. My music has to be pure.
DT: Which Jamaican studios or musicians influence you the most?
JT: I think every established Jamaican studio deserves its place in history. Everything mixed in the King Tubby Studio by Tubby and his assistants has a sound that I really love. Same goes for Lee Perry Black Ark Studio. I also love The Revolutionaries as a studio band. Everything happening in Jamaica in the mid-70s really inspires me.
DT: What about Belgian studios or producers?
JT: Kingston Echo and the Spellbreakers band. Listening to their new album makes me a proud Belgian in the sense that Belgian reggae can be top-level. Same goes for Puraman of Pura Vida and his Lost Ark Studio.
Follow the Joyful Tears Studio on Instagram to stay up-to-date about Sir Tao’s musical works: https://www.instagram.com/joyfultears_studio/