British DJ David Rodigan has lost track of the number of times he has performed in Bermuda.

“I absolutely love the vibes,” the reggae and dancehall DJ said. “It is so relaxed and chilled. It is idyllic in so many ways with all that magnificent scenery and history. I love the cultural mix and especially Bermuda’s deep love of authentic reggae music. It chimes in with me and that’s why I love being a DJ there.”

He was here as recently as last summer, and will be here again on Saturday to feature in The British Invasion concert with artists such as SoulJah1 and Young Gunz.

“I always look forward to coming so I will be drawing some unique dub plates and new killer cuts out of my box, especially for the diehard fans and old school reggae heads,” he said.

He said Bermudian fans are “mad keen” for the music – a bonus for him.

“I am still surprised at how much people love what I do ,” he said. “Bermuda has a very deep love of reggae music and that came through last year when I played there.”

His first show in Bermuda was at Horseshoe Bay, Southampton in 1995. Thousands of reggae fans came out to hear him play Bob Marley’s song Natural Mystic.

“That was one of the most memorable moments of my career,” he said.

He does not look like a stereotypical reggae dancehall DJ. Once, on a flight to New York a fellow passenger guessed he was a dentist.

“People are often astonished when I tell them what I do,” Mr Rodigan told The Royal Gazette. “I hardly look the part. My first show on Horseshoe Bay was a perfect example of how some people perceive me. I was actually down on the beach early that night just walking around on my own, dressed in a blazer and chinos. This rumour began circulating that I was the new chief of police.”

He still laughs about that.

He first experienced Jamaican music at Sloopy’s, a nightclub in the town of Margate in Kent, England.

“It was 1967 and I was 16 and the only records on the jukebox were all Jamaican, none of which I had heard before,” he said. “I was hooked. I played at school discos and then at college parties.”

After leaving school, he spent a year studying economics before switching to drama, appearing in films such as The Office Party (1976) and the Doctor Who serial, and The Trial of a Time Lord (1986). He never lost his love for music however, often selling records while he pursued acting.

He obtained a job on Radio London in 1978 to alternate with Tony Williams on the Reggae Rockers programme.

“I did my first gig in a club, and cleared the floor after half an hour,” he said. “It was an unmitigated disaster. I played too many new songs that nobody knew.”

A year later, he was offered a permanent slot at Capital Radio to present Roots Rockers, which ran for 11 years. He left in 1990, to start a new show for London radio station Kiss FM. There he hosted the Sunday-night slot from 11pm till midnight. He resigned in 2012 when his time slot was moved to midnight, calling it the continued marginalisation of reggae.

He has established sound systems such as Killamanjaro, Stone Love, Barry and Bass Odyssey. Over the years, he has clashed with everyone from Rory of Stone Love to Tony Matterhorn. In 2012, in New York, he won the World Clash, an annual reggae sound system contest started by World Promotion in 1993.

He called these clashes his biggest career challenges.

“They are a big deal and very demanding,” he said. “They are like musical chess games. Once you get into it, it does gather its own speed and momentum and can become rather exciting.”

Since 1990, he has spent a great deal of time travelling the United Kingdom, and the world. On Saturday, he performed on stage before UB40 with Ali Campbell at a concert in Newcastle upon Tyne in England.

Directly after Covid-19, he was nervous about touring long distances, but said he is now over that.

However, he said the reggae scene lately has not been as exciting as it once was.

“There is new music being made in Jamaica, but much of it I cannot relate to as it is very aggressive and vacuous in its content with the glorification of gang culture and scamming,” he said. “It is not nice.”

He also dislikes DJs screaming over the top of songs and not letting the songs play for more than thirty seconds.

“It does my head in and spoils the vibes,” Mr Rodigan said. “It has done so much damage to the music on an international scale. Let the music breathe, please.”

• The British Invasion, organised by Envy Productions, will be held at the National Sports Centre under the big tent on August 31 from 9.30pm to 2.30am. Tickets are $75 each, available at Choices Menswear at 27 Queen Street in Hamilton, Freshmen in the Heron Bay Plaza on Middle Road in Southampton and at bdatix.bm