Tell us who you are and what organization you represent
My name is Dion Steward, DJ name Big D. I’m from Jah Lokko Soundsystem, Unit star Soundsystem and also part owner of Bristol Dub Club
How long have you been doing all that?
Oftt, Soundsystem from 1976. So, a few years haha
How long have you lived in Bristol?
All my life.
What is your involvement with Bristol Carnival and why is it so important?
I’m on the Soundsystem committee for Carnival. It’s important because obviously it’s our Jamaican culture, African culture and for me personally it’s just people enjoying themselves, all walks of life, you know what I mean? Just them seeing what our culture is about.
How has Bristol carnival changed over the years?
Well, it’s changed in size, that’s one thing. I’d say it’s more multicultural. You could say back in the day it was mainly a black ting but now it’s actually multicultural. That’s the main thing really as well as the size, it’s more than tripled/quadrupled in size.
What do you love most about Bristol?
That’s a hard one… Well say it this way, when I leave Bristol, I wanna come back home. I do go to other places but Bristol is just, Home.
What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen whilst walking around Bristol?
Back in the 90s there used to be a boat down here called the Lockheal and we used to run a Soundsystem in there every Thursday. We’ve seen people actually jump from the boat and swim to the other side so I would say that was one of the craziest tings I’ve seen because I was frightened that if they were drunk they wouldn’t make it!
How did they make it out the other side?!
I dunno if there were steps or ladders or something so yeah that was crazy
Have you been walking more since lockdown?
Yes, especially because I got my dogs, I’ve been walking a lot more. Where I live (Easton), there’s a lot of woods and greenery so I just walk around there really.
