Have you kept in touch with the people in the movie?
Most of them are dead. Half were murdered. Dirty Harry, for instance, was killed in New York. He went to jail for two years, probably for drugs or a fight. I’m not sure, I didn’t ask. Six months after he got out of jail someone killed him. The same with Natty Garfield. In contrast, a friend I’d written off as dead is in fact alive. We spoke on the phone recently. I ask all the time, “Is this guy still alive, is that guy dead?” Most of them are no longer in Jamaica.
Did you make many friends?
I was there for so many years, I had to make friends, to open up all my cards. I did not have many, but I wanted everyone to know who I was. There was a time when people from Jamaica would come to our house in New York every day. We lived near Brooklyn, where Jamaicans also lived, but whoever came to town for a gig would also drop by.
Did they respect what you were doing?
Everyone thinks I’ve made a lot of money. Well, not everyone, but it is difficult to make people believe that I didn’t make a cent.
If someone were to hear the title today, they would think that it is not a film about Jamaicans.
The term Rockers was very popular during reggae’s heyday. There was this new, very sophisticated sound with new drumming systems. Sly Dunbar introduced his own rhythm in a way. Harder. It was a word you’d hear a lot then: “Rock steady, rockers.” The producer chose the title. The artwork is mine, as is the poster. I did it all myself because there was no one else to do it.
Who wrote the script?
I did.
Were you smoking a ton of weed at the time?
Of course.
And how was the Jamaican weed?
Awful. Even worse than New York’s.