PAN PEOPLE

Delphina James, whose homage to Kraftwerk is a new entry in the RRPG, tells lan Shirley about arranging electronic music for steel bands and her new project, playing the music of modern composer Ludovico Einaudi

- lan Shirley

lan Shirley, Editor Emeritus of the Rare Record Price Guide, answers your questions

As a kid, I was a Marvel comics fan and, by association, a devotee of Stan Lee, co-creator of characters including Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four. In the 70s, Lee was described as Marvel Comics' Editor Emeritus: an honorary title for a former editor. This is the position I find myself in with the Rare Record Price Guide and a real honour. Better still, the 2024 edition lists a rare record on my label OM Swagger Music. It's the red vinyl edition of the Ebony Steel Band LP Pan Machine, released in 2019 (OMSLP 001) which covered the music of Kraftwerk. This was a pressing of 100 for Rough Trade which sold out so quickly - copies now change hands for £40. 

With that in mind, I thought it would be a suitable juncture to interview Delphina James, the arranger of that album, who turned the electronic music of Kraftwerk into a pan-tastic LP. Delphina was also happy to discuss her new album, which arranges the work of contemporary classical composer Ludovico Einaudi for a steel pan trio.

When did you first begin to play steel pan?

When I was five, I went to Notting Hill Carnival with my mum and grandma. My mum went off to party and my grandma made me sit down. I saw the steel pan players and thought it was amazing. Me and my mum and sister moved around a bit in Harrow but this guy called Dennis was the pan teacher for the area so whatever school I was at, he was the pan teacher. All through school I was playing pan. He then told me there was a Harrow band of people from different schools. I got into that when he was retiring and they brought in a new arranger who was from the Ebony Steel Band. So from 1998 onwards I was with the Ebony Steel Band.

How did you learn to arrange music?