A Quote by Dominic Balli
As crazy as it sounds, I really think that God just put the reggae thing in me. I can point to a few things in my life that pushed me in that direction.
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I was diagnosed dyslexic, but I should point out I don't think it majorly impacted on me. I don't feel that I overcame great odds. If anything it just pushed me in a certain direction that wasn't academia or maths or science.
My wife really pushed me in that direction, to write my own songs and start singing, so I think having the whole family thing is such a huge thing.
I think people just feel me. Whenever they listen to the music, it's just coming out. I think you can hear what I put into it. A lot of it is God. You can use stuff to where you want it. Like I pray to God, and I asked for direction early on, and he gave me so much. It's like rappers and soul singers is taking to me. That's both sides of me.
Pretty much every issue that we've put out, there have been at least one or two things that really surprised me. It sounds like bullshit, but most of the stories that we've run had that effect on me. We get thousands and thousands of submissions and I don't think we've published a story yet - very few, anyway - where there wasn't something like what Mona Simpson described, where a first sentence or a first page didn't just really command attention.
I would love to have a more earnest prayer life! In my life, prayer is the single most difficult discipline. I love God and there's something in me that would rather do things for God than talk to God. I'm not by nature a mystical, devotional person. I like to do things. And so it's a challenge for me to have a faithful prayer life, but I know God loves me and He's not mad at me. He just wishes I would slow down and turn things over to Him. And that's what I think you achieve through prayer.
So in that way, fame has become a weirder thing to go after, but the thing about me is I've never been after fame. That sounds cliché, but it's true. I think fame sounds uncomfortable to me, but being able to like write this book and make my living doing very exciting, creative stuff sounds really amazing. It has been really amazing.
My mom was a rapper and she really shaped me as a woman, and the music that she was letting me listen to as a child really pushed me in the direction that I'm going in right now.
One of my obsession is animals. I'm into dog rescues. It drives me crazy when people go to pet stores and buy dogs. There are so many dogs that need a good home. And this sounds crazy, but I really believe they know what is happening and are appreciative, and I just think they make for the best pets.
I think what really people want is just a few things done really, really well. And if you think about ever day of your life, the things you really appreciate aren't the complicated things. They're the simple things that work just the way you expect them to.
The food thing is crazy to me. In this town the beer thing is also crazy to me. Frankly even with Brightest Young Things, it's such a celebration of [beer and food], all this stuff. I don't think it's bad or evil, but there's something out of bounds. It's like, "A bar opened!" Who cares? Think about that.
For me, I just never put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. I know that music and acting now are things that I want to do for the rest of my life. But, if suddenly that was to stop, I'd actually be okay. It's not the be all, end all of my life. I know who I am, outside of this, and I think that's a really big thing to have.
I remember clearly that when I was little it was explained to me [that] the way that babies were made was that God put the baby into some lady's stomach, right? And, at some point, I learned how it really happened, and really that was the beginning of the end of my belief in God. Up until that point, it had always been a really weird act of intervention on God's part.
The really cool thing about reggae music is that I can get away with saying spiritual things as a reggae influenced artist that I couldn't get away with saying as a rock artist. Reggae has such spiritual roots and people almost expect to hear spiritual things.
Some men enjoy the constant strife Of days with work and worry rife, But that is not my dream of life: I think such men are crazy. For me, a life with worries few, A job of nothing much to do, Just pelf enough to see me through: I fear that I am lazy.
I think that all of the deep, intense things, a lot of different abuse, and all kinds of crazy stuff - I think it made me really strong and it made me learn how to appreciate every day, appreciate people in my life, so it's just another good example of sometimes bad things make us appreciate the beautiful every day.
I really, specifically, love acting, and I think it's a really cool thing to be really indulgent and follow that. I have a lot of ambitions in life, but for the next few years, I just want to be an actor. That's a lucky opportunity, and that drives me to want to be good at that.
