One Ton – Heavy Bass Player, Producer, Label Owner, Artist.
One Ton became known in the 1990s as bassist and producer of the Reggae band Ganglords (Kingston Confidental, 1992 / Burnin up 1996). The Ganglords & Frankie Paul enter the Jamaican charts in 1996 with “Thanks & Praises”.
In 1998, he founded the label One Ton, after his nickname as ‘heavy’ bass player. Five years later, One Ton rocked the dancehalls of Europe with the self-produced riddim ‘Bonx it pon me’.
Also in 2003, he discovered the singer Phenomden, with whom he has been working ever since (Fang ah, 2003 / PHENOM MELODY Style Generator, 2007 / Gangdalang, 2008 / Eiland, 2011 / Streunendi Hünd, 2021 / Franco Nero, 2023).
After years in the background, One Ton releases ‘Top Gun Berset’ in December 2023, on which he appears as a solo artist for the first time. One Ton produces the song and creates the artwork. Above all, he writes the song about the Swiss minister for health and culture, Alain Berset, who took a flight in a small plane over the French border, getting grounded by the French Air Force. At the same time, ‘Top Gun Berset’ is also about our desire to escape everyday life and the longing for limitless freedom: ‘Top Gun Berset, flying across the border’.
The song is created as a cross-border collaboration on the Zurich-Geneva-Kingston line: ‘Top Gun Berset’ is produced by Zurich-based Philipp Schnyder alias One Ton in collaboration with Mathias Liengme, the operator of the Geneva reggae label Fruits Records. You can hear the singer Elija Tamou from Zurich, the Geneva band The 18th Parallel and the legendary Jamaican bassist Robbie Shakespeare (Sly & Robbie).
Credits «Top Gun Berset»:
Top Gun Berset – Elija Tamou, The 18th Parallel, One Ton
Vocal: Elija Tamou
Music: The 18th Parallel (with Robbie Shakespeare)
Artistic direction: One Ton
Produced by One Ton & Mathias Liengme
Executive producer: Philipp Schnyder for One Ton
Mixed by Gregory Morris at Tads Studio, Kingston
Mastered by Dan Suter at Echochamber
Made in Zurich – Geneva – Kingston
Composition::
Idea, lyrics, song melody: Philipp Schnyder
Music: The 18th Parallel
THE 18TH PARALLEL
Drums: Antonin Chatelain
Bass: Robbie Shakespeare
Piano, organ, moog, DX7, percussion, synare: Mathias Liengme
Rhythm guitars: Léo Marin
Riddim recorded at Bridge Studio, Geneva, by Mathias Liengme
Additional recordings at One Pop studio, Kingston
Riddim composed by Mathias Liengme and Antonin Chatelain
Riddim produced by Mathias Liengme
Vocals recorded at Elija Tamou’s by Silas Kutschmann
