Let the drum rolls begin
Phillip Supersad playing a tune on a ceramic drum Sporting the aura of a dreadlocked ascetic of India transcending from the Himalayas ... just that this particular art ascetic descended from the hills of Manchester, clad in denim, engrossed in the drums, Phillip Supersad’s fingers rhythmically hit a tune. The ceramist, teacher and drummer is living several creative traits. Surrounded by his tools of trade, Supersad manufactures drums and ceramics in his studio, nestled in a bylane of Fletcher’s Land in downtown Kingston. “The Jamaica School of Arts was in this compound,” he said. A crumbling great house surrounded by ramshackle structures and a rusting wrought-iron staircase standing testimony to its former glory. Supersad is a self-taught drum maker, “The materials that I use are 100 per cent recyclable,” he informed. “I use palette board, which is white and yellow pine used for packing; it is recyclable material. I get goat skin from the butcher or abattoirs....