COLCHESTER'S premier club night dedicated to everything Reggae, Dub, Dancehall and Jungle makes a welcome return - this time at a new home.

After hosting events in various venues, nightclubs, houses, disused bus stations and more recently a stage at the Colchester Free Festival, SubCulture is hosting a much-anticipated debut show at the Colchester Arts Centre.

Taking place on May 7 from 7.30pm, with acts including UK reggae icon, General Levy, as well as Ashanti Yard and Mat Tha Hat vs. New Town Kings DJs, we caught up with Ipswich reggae vocalist YT, who will be at the arts centre with his full live outfit, The Innerheart Band.

For tickets call the arts centre box office on 01206 500900.

Where did you perform live for the first time, what was the occasion?

My first ever-live performance took place at the Ipswich Caribbean Centre in 1987. A friend of mine was a regular MC on a local sound called Ashanti Sound System. When he saw I was in the crowd he convinced me to step up to the microphone.

Who's your biggest inspiration, what got you into music?

The artist I find most inspirational is Bob Marley, as possibly the greatest songwriter of all time and quite possibly one of the most influential musicians on the planet. I also first started liking Ska and 2 Tone as a youngster in the late Seventies and started listening to The Specials. My cousin gave me two records in 1982, one was Dennis Brown ‘Halfway Up Halfway Down’ and the other was Gregory Isaacs ‘Night Nurse’ which started my record collection. I used to regularly visit a shop called Parrot Records in Ipswich where I spent hours listening to hundreds of records on their headphones.

Best gig you've played and why?

Although it’s really hard to choose one in particular, one of the definite game changing gigs for me was when I performed at Sting in Jamaica in 2004. Sting is widely seen as a talent breaking show and the audience are notoriously impatient with acts they don't find entertaining (it's a similar vibe to Live at the Apollo, but with 30,000 reggae fans/critics at an outdoor event). When I received a great reception from that particular crowd it was like both a huge stamp of approval and a massive boost for my career.

What are you hoping for in 2016?

2016 has already had an amazing start with the release of my full-length LP with Mungo’s Hi Fi entitled ‘No Water Down Ting’ and I have several other really exciting projects in progress at the moment. I am currently partway through recording an LP project with my band, The Innerheart Band, and hopefully we will release a single from the project in the early summer with a view to releasing the whole LP early next year.