Swatch International Vows To Build On ‘Passa Passa’ Success

Most Jamaicans recognize Swatch International as the sound system that fuelled the ‘Passa Passa’ era of dancehall, during which the famous street dance took the world by storm, generated new street slang, entertained thousands of tourists, and spawned copycat events all over the world.

Despite all that success, Swatch International is not done. “We intend to continue to push the ‘Passa Passa’ brand internationally,” O’neil Miles, the founder of Swatch International, said.

“Anytime you say the word, ‘Passa Passa’, it conjures up a feeling, a feeling of community and enjoyment that was born out of the community of Tivoli Gardens. The weekly Passa Passa event grew to be one of the biggest street dances in Jamaica.”

The event also sparked a period of relative peace in West Kingston as once fractious communities ceased hostilities because of the ‘Passa Passa’ phenomenon.

“The event was a major tourist attraction for Jamaica itself. It pulled people from near and far even across international borders, it brought peace and love to the wider Kingston community as the people embraced those from outside the community as one,” Miles explained.

He added that the ‘Passa Passa’ mission statement is and will still remain: “uniting people through music”.

Over the years, Swatch has cultivated a huge underground cult following for its unique style of customizing its dubplates and integrating them in the regular juggling, thus generating a high, euphoric ‘vibes’ in the party.

“Swatch has received various awards from the music industry in recent years varying from best juggling sound to the best quality sound,” he reminisced.

Swatch International, the real Passa Passa sound, was established in 1991 by the bright mind of young O’Neil Miles, whose love for music went back from the days he used to attend Jamaica College. Miles grew up in St. Catherine but moved with his family, led by his father George Miles, to set up a shop at 47 Spanish Town Road, Kingston in the vicinity of Tivoli Gardens. Years later, that shop has evolved into Miles Enterprise which takes the form of a drug store and variety shop.

While at Jamaica College, Miles dreamed of having a sound system of his own. He started collecting records in the mid-80s and got his first turntable in 1988 as a gift from his father, who used to operate a sound system called Love Shack. From its base at 47 Spanish Town Road, young Miles built up on his father’s record collections and equipment. He gave a lot of thought to naming the sound.

Swatch International made its first public appearance in May 1991 when it was contracted to play at a birthday party across the road from its HQ in Tivoli Gardens. Showcasing a Sanyo 400 and Peavey 700 amplifier, two turntables, a Gemini mixer, and an old tape deck, the event was a howling success.

With a crew comprising O’Neil ‘Ragga Neil’ Miles, Nicholas “Nico Skill” Smith and Hugh “Cupid” Aurthurs, Swatch began to play at events all across the West Kingston area, then after moving out to the rest of Kingston and St. Andrew.

In a short time, from the late 90s to the year 2000, Swatch International became one of the top-ranked sounds coming out of Kingston, Jamaica. This was due to the hard work put in by Miles and his team of selectors, which grew in numbers with the addition of Carl “Maestro” Shelly and Richard “Little Richie” Campbell.

Swatch began receiving many requests to play at top events on the local dancehall calendar, playing alongside top sounds such as Stone Love, Metro Media, Rebel T, Jam Rock, Renaissance, Coppershot, and Bass Odyssey. They took the business to another level when they started to play overseas as well.

The introduction of the street dance Passa Passa, established by Miles in March 2003, also increased the popularity of the sound. As Passa Passa got bigger and bigger, Swatch International benefited tremendously by playing as the resident sound. People from all around, both locally and overseas, got to witness the team’s true potential.

The phenomenon spread internationally with the lucrative sale of Passa Passa’s DVDs and CDs, elevating Swatch’s status on the world stage and generating overseas bookings.

“They (foreigners) liked our versatility, high energy and excitement that we display when we are playing,” Miles said.

The Swatch International family has evolved over the years, with many of its original selectors moving on to other endeavors. The company now revolves around a team of sixteen.

The team includes the maintenance crew, technician, several selectors, and Miles himself. The crew currently includes O’neil “Ragga Neil” Miles, Oniel “Boy Boy” Trought, Ashmaine “Alex Frass” Henry, Walter “Ice Box” Blackwood, Richard “Little Richie” Campbell, Leonardo “Bj” Nelson, Kenneth “Alonza Hawk” Campbell, Sheldon “Ice Wata” Evans, Delroy “ Barge” Burnette, and Richard “Shortman” Anderson.

The Swatch International Sound has three complete sound systems, and the team can play at least three events for one night.

“We are covering the 14 parishes of Jamaica. We play frequently right across the United States, the UK (United Kingdom), Japan, Canada and most of the Caribbean islands,” Miles said.

Miles said that they have huge fans in far-off places like Japan where “they just get crazy when we are playing”.

“We are getting overseas dates now more regularly, in Canada for example, sometimes we go there two times in one month. We have a Japan tour coming up and we will also be touring Europe later this year,” Miles said.

O’Neil Miles and his dynamic team’s hard work makes Swatch International’s future and continued success possible.

“Things are going well for the sound in general. Right now the caliber of new selectors added to the regular ones has given us a versatile team. The young selectors are getting more mature and have started to travel to the Caribbean islands. They (young selectors) will start to travel to the US later this year,” Miles said.