ROCKANDROLL: Maxi Priest Says Big Up To Montauk

By Ashley O'Connell

Photo by Jenna Mackin Sole East is known for its outdoor grass -carpeted dining room, its beautiful landscaping, plush rooms and Hamptons vibe. You've got your venue, your scenery, your taste. And your sound? Not to be questioned. Who better to serenade Hamptons guests on a summery, beach vacation then Maxi Priest? Hamptonites might focus a little too much on what Lily Pulitzer shorts combo they are going to wear sometimes, but even the most highbrow can let loose, let their hair down, and let their body swing, as they did this month to Priest's original reggae beats. Maxi Priest has been jamming to his own reggae beat since the early 1980s. He grew up in the UK, and to this day he still claims it as home base. Maxi also lays claim to Jamaica and the USA, and calls himself a "Worldian, a man of the world. So, everywhere is my home." Priest has several albums and had an American Billboard #1 hit in 1990, "Close To Me." Guess he was glad to make his trek across the pond to the good ol' US of A. Ah, performances. Life is a stage, so Shakespeare said (or maybe it was that drunken guy at Sloppy Tuna the other night that I'm paraphrasing?). Methinks that the best part of performing would be strutting upstage, feeling the waves of fans cheering themselves into a throat lozenge frenzy, and inflating my ego to the size of my usual chipotle burrito. Maxi, however, is a bit more grounded. His favorite part of performing? "Listening and watching everybody sing along to a song that I wrote that came from a blank piece of paper, is my highest of highs, in appreciation for my performance." You might think that one fan is pretty much the same as the next, which is the same as the hundredth. Not true, according to Priest. When asked about his favorite country to perform in, he responds with Japan. Why? "Because I've watched how the audience changed over the years, in the way they were taught how to appreciate a performance. From the first time I went to Japan in a 4,000 capacity concert hall, you could hear a pin drop before you came out on stage, and after every song they would clap. But now they are just as rowdy as everybody else, in appreciation for good performances." There ya go Japan, we knew you'd get into that reggae groove! Maxi definitely has a who's who list of names when it comes to the artists that inspire him. His list -- which started with artists he listened to when he was little -- includes the likes of Dennis Brown, Bob Marley, Sting, Motown, The Beatles. The list, like the beat, goes on. Nothing beats collaborating with your hero, which Maxi indeed did when he and Dennis Brown produced a song together. Believe it or not, even reggae musicians get stressed. Priest's greatest release? Playing football (soccer to any Super Bowl fanatic), and spending time with his family, whom he calls his "Groundation." Totally digging his vocabulary, and his love of family. Sleep is another way he relieves the stress of touring. Currently, Priest is working on a book called See Jamaica Through My Eyes, as well as more music. To his Montauk fans who showed him love recently, he says, "Big up!"

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