These are busy times for Mafia & Fluxy. Their VP compilation Feelin' De Vibes is currently receiving rave reviews in the States, and singles on their own Mafia & Fluxy label are briskly vying with each other for places on the UK reggae charts, with new singer Sandra Melody's "No Scrubs" presently holding down that coveted no. 1 slot.

    Another of their proteges, the dee-jay Troublesome, isn't too far behind either, since his "No Little Scrubs" is moving up the listings fast, and in the wake of his debut hit "Huckleberry", has already enshrined his position as one of British reggae's most promising newcomers.

    Both were there at Mafia & Fluxy's Tottenham studio when we visited recently. So too was Glamma Kid, who began his recording career under the Heywood brothers' direction before striking out on his own. If there's any bad feeling as the result of his defection from their camp it certainly wasn't in evidence this particular evening. Good vibes abounded in their cramped recording room, although with Gussie P at the mixing board, a generous portion of bonhomie was only to be expected.

    After playing on countless reggae hits over the past 10 years and more, Mafia & Fluxy are still very much in demand by producers from around the world, although they're now increasingly selective regarding their outside commitments. Whilst in America they limit themselves to playing for either Lloyd "Spiderman" Campbell - who oversaw that current deal with VP - or Willie Lindo, whose Heavy Beat Studio in Miami will be hosting their talents again in the very near future. For Jamaica read labels such as Stone Love, Digital B, Star Trail, Penthouse, King Jammys and Buju's Gargamel, whilst veterans like Niney the Observer and especially Bunny "Striker" Lee are always likely to get a session or two out of their most ardent students. It was Striker who supplied them with those a cappellas by Slim Smith, Johnny Clarke, Joe Higgs, Cornell Campbell and Linval Thompson that Mafia & Fluxy reworked to such brilliant effect on those recent albums Roots and Culture Vol. 1 and Lovers Vol. 1, and which sold out faster than the distributors could supply them. Further instalments in both series are promised soon, as are albums by two other notable Mafia & Fluxy discoveries - namely Steve Santana and the under-rated Robbie Valentine. In the meantime our local heroes are still basking in the success generated by their albums with Max Romeo, Mykal Rose and Gregory Isaacs, the latter two also being accompanied by matching dub sets.

    As if this wasn't enough, it's been Mafia & Fluxy fuelling much of our own British reggae input, their rhythms for the likes of Saxon, Stingray, Charm, Fu Manchu, Sound Box, Ariwa, Rads and Uptempo having spawned so many hits, and contributed greatly towards making our home-grown reggae so popular with overseas audiences. It's therefore no wonder that they're held in such high regard within the UK industry, and now feel a weight of increasing expectancy upon their shoulders as a result.

    "A lot of people in the reggae business over here are looking towards us to provide something that will uplift our scene, and take it forwards," admits Mafia. "So we're still experimenting in different directions, but we don't want to take it too far. We still have to have those reggae basslines playing, even though we may change up the sound of them sometimes. And we love that authentic, live reggae vibe, as well as creating new things. But yes, we're still searching for something that will lift our reggae productions more." Hence that famous "warped" bass sound of his, and the recent crop of tunes with Sandra and Troublesome, which seek to present British reggae in a more contemporary setting.

    "We've been concentrating hard on the artists you see here, and we've kind of drawn the line at that really, because otherwise we can't focus on each project properly," explains Fluxy. "We've had to ease off renting out our studio facilities as well, but everybody wants the sound, so we're having to make it more exclusive now."

    "Cassettes and CDs are flooding in from artists wanting to record for us," says Mafia, pointing to a stack of them on the mantelpiece, "and people are phoning every minute. It's got to be like Studio One or Jammys round here! But we want to put more thought into what we're doing. We've been working hard on Troublesome's album (which is almost completed), and want to concentrate on what's there already, rather taking on anything else. Otherwise the artists here end up suffering and won't get enough studio time, so we've had to draw the line and give them at least a day a week."

    {Sandra Melody interview to be posted later}

    Fluxy says that they have seven tracks completed with Sandra Melody so far, and that he and Mafia were understandably delighted when her first tune went straight to No.1.

    "But she can sound like Tanya Stephens, Lauryn Hill … she can sound like everyone, and people are going crazy for her. But there's room for her, 'cause there ain't no-one like her over here. She's so versatile. She sings and dee-jays, and there's no competition for her really."

    "These artists that we're working with, they understand what's happening, and they're serious about their careers, so we're putting time and effort into them," adds Mafia. "And they listen to us. They deliver what we want. I mean every time they come into the studio, they just get more confident."

    Apart from the names already mentioned, he says to watch out for Marie Claire, whose debut tune "Choices" is included on their Feeling De Vibes compilation. He also hints at the possibility of their artists hitting the road at some point in the future - not just by performing PAs, but touring as part of a Mafia & Fluxy showcase.

    "We're building up to that, but if people are coming out to see a Mafia & Fluxy package, we have to make sure that there's plenty for them to see, because we don't play out too regular. I mean these occasional shows we do with Johnny Clarke on the continent are something else again, and that's fun time really. Sometimes we're in the studio and feel like we just want to bash some instruments, so we just go out in Europe somewhere and do something, just like we used to do years ago! And we make sure that we can create all our own music on stage, because even in the studio, we've been playing some of our stuff live. I mean when Fluxy programs the drums, he'll often put in live parts, and I'll play my bass or some piano live."

    "We've been in certain studios and they're shocked that we can play live," says Fluxy. "We say to them, 'Just let the tape run, and we'll show you what we mean', and they say 'What? You're going to play like that for four minutes?' It's as if it's become a long forgotten art or something."

    Apart from their infrequent gigs with Johnny Clarke and Max Romeo, they've also been playing a few European dates with Aswad man Brinsley Forde, whose forthcoming album features considerable input from Mafia & Fluxy, and is scheduled to be a mix of commercial and roots styles. Then again, these guys can play anything from deep roots to hardcore dancehall and all stations in-between, and after backing so many reggae stars in their formative years as The Instigators, playing live holds no fears for them whatsoever. Nor should it be forgotten that Mafia is an excellent vocalist in his own right, as his latest duet with Sylvia Tella - "Better Than Lies" - demonstrates. It's been a while since the last solo Leroy Mafia album, but he now assures us that another's on the way.

    "Yeah, I'll be back soon. We've just been trying to get these Troublesome and Sandra Melody albums finished off first, but hopefully they can leave some space for me! Sometimes when we're playing something for them I think to myself, 'Bwoy, I wouldn't mind a slice of that riddim there.' I've got a bit lazy on the writing side really, so I must get back into writing more. I'll be back. Famous last words."