Stryka D was born and raised in Liverpool UK. As a teenager his appreciation of music broadened after discovering Toxteth Community Radio, a pirate station that specialised in Soul, RnB, Funk, Jazz, Dub, Reggae and electronic dance music during the mid to late 80s. Around this time a friend introduced him to veteran reggae singer Roy Cousins (The Royals) who ran Cousins Cove record shop.

It was frequent visits to this shop that helped nurture his appreciation of reggae and dub music, and after attending London’s Notting Hill Carnival and seeing the mighty Jah Shaka in sesssion at the Dub Club in London in the late 80s, he was enlightened to the sound system culture of black Britain and would travel near and far to hear the music. During the mid to late nineties he DJ’d at the Zanzibar Club in Liverpool.

Shortly after migrating to Melbourne in 2001, and being inspired by the heavyweights of the UK sound system scene, Stryka felt it was necessary to design and plan the construction of Melbourne’s first reggae/dub sound. In 2002 the Heartical Hi Fi project was born, with a vision to introduce an international style sound system culture to present the music the way it was made to be played – on a custom built high powered sound machine.

Heartical Hi Fi made waves within the Australian music community – being the first of its kind to be based in Victoria, dedicated to the music, it took the scene to a new level while forwarding the music in its traditional medium. The crew who play under Heartical Hi Fi Outernational have since become internationally recognised as one of Australia’s premier dub and reggae outfits.

Holding a residency at Dub Club Melbourne’s Basement Sessions since 2007 they have collaborated and presented live shows with international artists such as Earl 16 Mungo’s Hi Fi, Mad Professor, Chris Jay Jahtari and have promoted many local acts.

They have also featured at the Australian World Music Expo, High Vibes Festival, Rainbow Serpent Festival, Strawberry Fields Festival, Wobble, BBA’s Bass Jump and Lost In Bass, 3PBS’s 100, 200 and 300% Dub, and also their own annual outdoor community ‘Reggae Dance’ since 2009.

Stryda D is also involved with Melbourne based community radio station PBSFM 106.7, where he continues to present ‘Break the Chain’.

More info:
Heartical Hi Fi on Facebook

Big up to Stryka D for this Top Ten favorite tunes for March 2012.

1. Iration Steppas meets Tena Stelin – Jah Is The Real Deal, dub
2. Johnny Clarke meets Dougie Conscious – Sinners, dub
3. Dixie Peach – Roots Man Warrior, dub
4. Charlie P and Dubateers – Backstabbers, dub
5. Barry Issac – Hooligan, dub
6. Bobby Ellis – Tension, dub
7. Robert Lee – Too Much War, dub
8. The Royals – Pick Up The Pieces
9. Jimmy And The Inspirations – Ain’t No Love
10. King Tubby Meets Rockers – Baby I Love You, dub