Interview With The Pepper Pots

Interview by Gabe

The Pepper Pots have been making a name for themselves over the last 6 years touring far and wide and recording 2 studio albums. Hailing from Spain they have a sound that is quite unique.

Fronted by the beautiful vocals of three female singers and a band that is full of the right stuff. They have shared stage with well known artists such as Laurel Aitken, Derrick Morgan, The Pioneers, Jimmy Cliff, Dave Barker, Winston Francis, The Aggrolites, Dr. Ring Ding, The Toasters, NYSJE, The Slackers, and more.

I've had the pleasure of corresponding with the band's bass player Joan Barrientos in the last few months and he agreed to pass along some questions we had for The Pepper Pots.

How did The Pepper Pots come together? Who is in the band?

Everything started a little bit more than 6 years ago when three of us that already knew each other from previous projects decided to meet for starting a new band that became what The Pepper Pots is today. All the members come from the music world and we are almost all from Girona and its environs, as it is a small city and more or less everybody knows each other.

At the moment the band is formed by:

Adriana Prunell	Voice	Ireneu Grosset	Keyboard
Mercè Munné	Voice	Tomy Muñoz	Tenor Sax
Marina Torres	Voice	Gerard Xifra	Bariton Sax
Joan Vergés	Drum	Roger Montsant	Trompet
Joan Barrientos	Bass	Isidre Palmada	Trombone
Lluís Rodríguez	Guitar

Can you describe your music?

We like defining our music as “Old School Soul & Jamaican Music”.

The Pepper Pots sound has three basic premises: black music, sixties music and soul.

These fundamentals are present in all the songs we write and are the thread of our style. Even if it is a reggae theme, a rocksteady, a ska or a soul song, will always have this three fundamentals in mind.

We are fans of the Motown sound, especially what was done during the 60’s; Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, The Four Tops, The Marvelettes, etc… And we also a deep feeling for the Jamaican music; Alton Ellis, The Wailers, The Pioneers, Skatalites…

How do you write music together?

Well, agreeing with 11 musicians is quite difficult. Therefore we looked for a way to make it easier and basically there is one person, the bass, which manages the composition. He usually does all themes or at least all of them pass through his hands in one moment or another before being worked by the rest of the band. This way all song follows the same line and everything has more sense and coherence.

Please tell us about where you are from. Are there many ska and reggae musicians?

We’re from Girona (Catalonia), a small town at 100 Km close to Barcelona.

Catalonia and also Spain have been always countries with a ska-scene quite big. Some bands like Dr. Calypso, Amusic Skazz band, La Thorpe Brass, Malarians..., have given a lot to talk about. I suppose that it should be because there are a lot of fans of this kind of music.

Where have you traveled to perform and where do you plan to go next?

Since our second album “Shake it!” was released it has brought us to do several launching tours around Europe (France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and Austria). We’ve also played in Moscow on a single gig in this country, as well as in Finland and also in England. And at last we launch the album in Japan touring by the main cities of the country; Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Okayama & Fukuoka.

Of course we also usually play near home, all over Catalonia and also have toured Spain during the year.

Our next trip will be on March when it’s planned to come to USA. We have been invited to play in Austin at South by Southwest festival 2009, and then maybe will link a little tour that is still being managed.

Can you tell us about your next album? What will it be like?

We are preparing what will be our third album and have almost all the songs that will be included in… We are hard working with the producer from New York Binky Griptite, guitar player of Sharon Jones & Dap Kings, and Amy Winehouse…

Will be in the studio at the beginning of next year and will go to Brooklyn for the mix job.

It’s an album that goes towards Soul from the sixties, maybe due to producer maybe because we feel more comfortable playing it. More elaborate than the previous ones, with very good themes.

We are also doing a “making of” video for the fans which includes all the details about the managing and production of this new album from the first day till its release… will be so fun.

Anything else you would like to say?

Thank you very much for your interest and this interview!

And what we would like to say is that we are getting ready to come for the first time to the USA. You can follow us and get more info from our MySpace or websites.

http://www.thepepperpots.com

http://www.myspace.com/thepepperpots

http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Pepper-Pots/20309581589

http://www.eventful.com/thepepperpots

http://www.bebo.com/thepepperpots