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I grew up on reggae music, and I stuck to reggae music and it took me around the world, so I have a great deal that I owe the founders of reggae in Jamaica, like Bob Marley etc. I had a great opportunity to have a number one hit with UB40 who also are a reggae band, which has affected me that I am actually quite well known now in England and my community and I can contribute something back.
After having a number one in the UK and many other parts of the world, especially South America, I had the opportunity to work with Sting. My last album got a Grammy nomination, I played Sydney Opera House, Australia, played in Soweto, South Africa, I've really felt at a certain stage, probably in the year 2000, that a lot of my ambitions and desires were fulfilled. And I thought to myself, maybe it's time now for me to put something back in the community I grew up in.
I started up first setting up a recording studio that was accessible to the community, which led to me starting a community organisation called Musical Connections, which has now got 20 different centers who provide a music technology service, and we have set up computers in all these centers.
Music really covers all borders, it doesn't matter where you are from, everybody is into some form of music whether it is classical, rock, dance, garage, reggae, you name it. And I think that even if people don't want to pursue it as a career, even as a hobby, music is very, very enjoyable, you know, and people like to dance, people like a release.
When I see notorious kids, kids who are notorious on the streets, well known by police, constantly in trouble, and when we bring them in and give them something that they are interested in and something that they can actually see the rewards from their efforts, it really does make a change, and people start to refocus the energies that they were using in a negative way, into a positive way, and for me, that's always a bonus.
If you believe in something, then you should give it your wholehearted effort and sometimes sacrifice certain things in the short run for what your dream is in the long run. And if at a certain point you start to realise that maybe you're not the right kind of person for the role that you are trying to get into then you should maybe think of a compromise.
Once you have decided what it is you want to do, then there is different routes, you can get training in that route, you can link up maybe at a local rehearsal room, go down there and see if there's any guys willing to help you out, willing to get you involved. Go to a local gig, you know I mean there's always bands playing locally, or you can go to a music store and ask the guy 'How do I start working on an instrument?' You know, you can always buy an instrument and buy a manual for the instrument.
[Pato singing . invisible showers, yeah, rain down and touch us each day ...] my true love of music was that it was an avenue really of expression, you know, I was a writer, you know, I still am a writer, I loved writing, and I think if I didn't become a vocalist, I would have become a poet, or written books, but I always had a deep love for writing.
Doing my teacher training, level one, level two, my counselling skills, working in the community, working with disaffected youths, working with gang members who are not sure whether they want to continue down the road of crime and violence or get stuck into making their future brighter, that is right now hard core challenges for me, and I love that.
Fame can be used in a positive or negative way. Some people use fame to party every night of the week to get noticed, get into alcohol and drug abuse and end up wrecking their lives and the community does not benefit from their success. I think fame can be used in a very positive way if a person is focused, has a love for what they do and wants to give something back. That is when fame can be used and power can be used to really enhance the life of other people [finishes with Pato singing].
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