RUFF CUTT
The Players Of Instruments
The Ruff Cutt Group was created in 1980 to meet the musical needs of the large population of singers, musicians and producers in the North West London area. The founding fathers were Carlton ‘Bubblers’ Ogilvie, Kenton ‘Fish’ Brown, Tony ‘Crucial’ Phillips, Dianne White, Anthony Thomas and Desmond Coke. The decision to start up their operation - The Ruff Cutt Rehearsal Room & Studio - stemmed from a total lack of any music facility for the youths in the district. Its humble beginnings were in an unused store-room on the Stonebridge council estate. Despite  this, Ruff Cutt soon became the place for young artistes and musicians in the Harlesden and Willesden areas to rehearse and record. Bands like Creation Rebel, Freedom Fighters, Family Band and vocal group The Administrators were based there. It was from the musicians who used the facility that a nucleus was formed and from that core, The Undivided Roots Band emerged in 1984.
The Undivided Roots morphed into the Ruff Cutt Band and the equilibrium was finally balanced with everything coming under one banner. The Ruff Cutt Band now concentrated on backing other artists, whether it was touring celebrities like Shabba Ranks, Freddie McGregor, Marcia Griffiths, The Mighty Diamonds or newcomers like the artists they were cultivating at their studio. The scene was set - the band now consisted of a quintet of musicians whose only aim was to play top quality Reggae music. Carlton ‘Bubblers’ Ogilvie, Kenton ‘Fish’ Brown, Trevor Fagan, Anthony ‘Bongo Dashie’ Thomas and Tony ‘Ruff Cutt’ Phillips proved time and time again that they could rise to the occasion. The name Ruff Cutt fast became synonymous with first class Reggae music and they are, undoubtedly, the UK’s top Backing Band.
MAFIA & FLUXY
The UK's Rhythm Twins
London’s Heywood Brothers, Leroy ‘Mafia’ & Dave ‘Fluxy’ continue to form the bastion of Reggae music production in the UK as well as on a global scale. They have not stopped giving it to us for nearly three decades! How did it all begin? Mafia explains: “It all started when I was 15, I loved Reggae music. It was the time of the big Sound Systems and I just had to be around the music. I must have shown promise then as my mother bought me a guitar for five pounds which I got off a school friend”. Straight away, he formed a band with school mates  Christopher Matthias and Errol Rowe. Inspired by prolific producer Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee, Mafia was confident telling friends that he was going to be a big producer one day! Needless to say, they all laughed. But Dingle (his older brother) encouraged the band to practice and they did whenever they could.
Fluxy (his younger brother) loved playing on the turntables of his uncle Ivan’s Wizard HiFi Sound System. And, when Chris (their drummer) got called away to play for a commercial Band, Mafia told Fluxy that he’d have to learn the drumming ting! And for a while, Fluxy’s home made kit of a stereo speaker box for a snare drum, a bicycle lamp for a hi-hat and an odd shape microphone for a kick drum held the beat for them - DIY enthusiasts eat your heart out..!! The Mafia & Fluxy Music Academy is now a very credible one. So, within this limited space, it would be a tad difficult to list all the artists they have worked with but here’s just a few names that you might be familiar with: Luciano, Anthony B, Maxi Priest, Kofi, Sylvia Tella, Sugar Minott, Gregory Isaacs, John Holt, Winston Reedy, Jimmy Riley, George Nooks, Don Campbell, Richie Davis, Brinsley Forde, Carroll Thompson, Paulette Tajah, Nerious Joseph and so many more…
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