Part 1
From school dropout to disc jockeying to finally becoming the drummer of Fiji’s first exclusive reggae bands, this is the story of John Kuimaiwasa — aka Tall John.
Known to many as a true reggae pioneer, there wasn’t a reggae hit that Tall John couldn’t play.
His love for the drums began when he laid his eyes on a drum kit in his namesake’s room back in Vatukoula many years ago.
“The first instrument I touched were the drums,” he says.
“I woke up one morning and there was a full set of instruments in the room. My namesake had just come back from playing with his band, so he kept the instruments at home for their next session.”
Tall John remembers pretty much honing his skills on any hard surface before him.
“After that encounter with the drums, I started banging on tables, chairs and pretty much anything.
“I remember we were having dinner once and I started banging on the table, but that just met my father’s instant disapproval. I was ordered to eat first.”
Originally from Lomaiviti, Tall John was born and raised in Nadi and after dropping out of high school in Year 10, he decided to spend his time working at the Mighty Sparrows nightclub in Nadi (now Deep Sea).
“I dropped out because I was going through some serious family issues, and because my friend’s family owned Mighty Sparrows in those days, I decided to work there.
“In fact, all the boys from the neighbourhood would go to work there during the school breaks.”
Tall John started off as a cleaner, mopping floors and cleaning tables, but after a few months he became the house DJ.
“My new role as DJ involved playing the house instruments. I did this often and at times when the club wasn’t jam packed, I would play along to the songs that were playing.
“I would also sing a bit too and I guess you could say this was where I developed my drumming skills.”
It was at the club that Tall John met the Exodus band members, and they roped him in to replace Manoa ‘Scatter’ Nabiri.
“I always admired the way they played and because of this I would often catch myself practising their songs.
“When their drummer didn’t make it, I believe it was because he was playing for the Nadi soccer team then, so he had to leave for camp with the team.
“I jumped in to replace him. The rest of the band members liked what I had to offer and wanted me to join the group.
“I was always doing the right breaks to their songs, and this was just from listening to them during the first three months they were playing at the club in Nadi.”
And so Tall John joined Exodus in 1985. “Never in my wildest dream did I think I would be a part of a band, especially one like Exodus,” he says.
“Despite other bands wanting to pull me, I just stuck with Exodus. That was the first band I ever joined.”
Tall John shares how the band was known for fighting among other things.
“Exodus was an awesome band, awesome in the sense that whenever there was a fight, we would always talk it out.
“This happened twice, with the same two but at different locations. Once it happened at Nadi and the other time was at King’s Nabua.
“The guy on keyboards was a bit deaf and would often push his volume all the way so he could hear himself on stage, but for the rest of the guys it would be too loud.
“So, this disagreement would trigger animated arguments amid the noise on stage. This one time they just jumped onto the dance floor and exchanged blows
. “And so, instead of us watching the crowd fighting, they were watching the band fight. Everyone would be watching them, and the rest of the band members wouldn’t move, we would just stick next to our own instruments and wait for them to finish.”
A wooden house located at 57 Robertson Road became the band’s humble abode.
“We had two Johns living under the same roof, so they decided to call me Tall John.
Tall John said they had their own source of income that paid for rent, electricity and water bills and also sent the children to school. Then came the incident that rocked the band to its foundation — the death of lead vocalist Tony Heatley.
“When Tony, whom we’d call Fiji’s Bob Marley, passed away, it just didn’t feel the same,” Tall John says.
“There was a lot of mismanagement, no one was active about where the band was heading.
“I guess this started the fallout of the band.”
Tall John says that a week after Tony’s funeral, he thought the band would split up.
“Because Tony was the band’s lead vocalist and band leader, “But his younger brother Leo ‘Basspear’ Heatley said: “Toso tale na band” and so we kept the band moving.”
- Join us next week as Tall John shares his experience in Noumea, New Caledonia with the Exodus band.
