When he was in high school, a fellow student carried a drum into the classroom and Phillip Supersad was hooked. "Every time he brought it to school it was like magic in my hands," Supersad said.

It was not until the end of high school that he bought a drum of his own, one he describes as a "tourist drum" with the skin tacked down. It did not matter. "It was great. I could stop playing my mother's pot and pan," Supersad said.

There was, however, a time when he stopped drumming, "because it did not seem to be doing anything for me financially. But you need something in your life, to have some repose, and this is it for me."

The 'repose' has been fertile; Supersad has a studio at 11 North Street (separate from his ceramics studio) with drums in various stages of construction or repair. Plus, there are a few in his van. And in the pictures he looked through while The Sunday Gleaner was in his studio, there was a drum with dual chambers, the lower one with a carving of a head.

In the drum studio the focus is on making the dundun, songbong and kinkini drums, as well as the jembe and Niyabinghi drums. Repairs are done to many types and Supersad says "Drumming has a heck of a following in Jamaica. The economic viability, we need to look at that. It's a culture you don't want to die out and this is my part."

And that means keeping the actual drums alive, Supersad saying that many have fallen into disrepair. However, when it is repaired "all of a sudden the drum have a new life and can fulfil the purpose for which it was intended".

ceramic drum

He has fused his interests, as "I have created a ceramic drum, which is a treasure of mine." He describes the sound it gives as "subtle, so gentle, so seductive".

Through his drumming, Supersad has been involved with the Cari-Folk Singers, The Jamaica Folk Singers is now doing a stint with Nexxus, has worked with Stella Maris and done "countless recordings".

He has also given drumming lectures and asks "what do I know about drumming?" But, Supersad says, when he starts speaking, two hours go by very quickly.

Just as how he prefers using Jamaican clay in his ceramics, Supersad points out that the cow skin used for the drum also comes from Jamaica. And there are those who demand "How you no eat meat and you use the skin?"

"As long as somebody else going to eat it, cow meat will always be there," Supersad said.

Supersad is combining his interests, as he is now trying to make a stringed instrument based on the drum, which is held somewhat like a banjo. In addition, he says "I recently made a flute from clay. I played it and it sounded good to me. But when I gave it to a real flute player, I could not believe when I heard him play. It was magical."

Supersad refers to the biblical story of the talents and says "I find myself with some skills and I want to use them. One has sat with me for 30 years (ceramics). One has grown and left and returned (drumming)," he said.

And now there are others he wants to develop, including more music and writing poetry.

- Mel Cooke