Interview with Red Soul Community

Who are Red Soul Community?How did you form? How long have you been together?

RSC: Red Soul Community are JM Labase Martínez , Carlos Dingo and I, Isabel García. We first met almost nine years ago thanks to our ska-punk roots. Labase came from a band called La Vietnamita and Carlos and I, from Kerida Pulga. Then, we decided to start a new project based exclusively on ska music and called Los Dingos. It was our occupation on the following five years ´till the moment we felt the strong call of the reggae music and that´s how we decided to form Red Soul Community. Finally we found Javi Frías (drums) and Fede Castro (guitar) and the rest is history.


What would you say are your strongest influences musically?

RSC: We grew up listening to The Specials, Madness, The Beat,The Toasters and many others.. ,and like them, we are strongly influenced by the Jamaican classics like Toots and the Maytals, Jackie Mitto, Dave Barker, Derrick Morgan, Prince Buster, Desmond Decker, Ken Boothe, The Ethiopians, The Paragons, and Mr Symarip. However, from the very beginning we knew the attitude we wanted for Red Soul Community was that of the punk rock bands like Ramones, Sex Pistols, The Clash or Rancid.
We also listen as much as we can of the reggae and ska scene nowadays, The Aggrolites, Tim Armstrong´s Poet Life, The Moon Invaders And Caroloregians, Deal´s Gone Bad, The Slackers, David Hillyard, West Bound Train, King Kannons, Hepcat, Briatore, Chris Murray, Go Jimmy Go,etc.


You guys just put out a new album, can you tell us a little about it?

RSC: "Pump Reggae" is a four songs album which is the result of many months of hard work. For a long time we were obsessed with the idea of feeling proud of our compositions, locked at home, listening to a lot of music and playing till we got a bunch of really good songs. Then, we simply chose four:"Lost in the Ocean", recovered from the first demo but recorded again for the occasion, the semi-instrumental "Hey Hey Uh!"
The essential "Place" and "Red Soul Community", the favorite of the audience.
For all that, we worked with the label Liquidator Music, a great supporter of the ska and reggae music scene here. And after the release , came the tour, which has given us the chance to see how our music works, to get to know a lot of special people and to share the stage with other bands. Bands like Dandy Fever, The Transilvanians, Flight 404, Kinky Coo Coo´s , The Ratazanas, Upsttemians or The Aggrolites.
And best of all in the process of creating an album, is that good news seems not to end here.

What is pump reggae, is it similar to the term Dirty Reggae?

RSC: he term "pump reggae" was born almost at the same time as the band itself. We´ve always conceived music and especially reggae, as the strength we need to face everyday life. It doesn't matter how hard things can be if you can look around and feel special simply because you got reggae music. It is like the "pump that pumps" the necessary air you need to feel alive.

Later, we used that name for one of our first demo songs, but it was Toni Face, from our label Liquidator Music who suggested us the term for the first album and as we felt really identified by it, and we accepted.
Apart from that, pump reggae is our particular invitation for everybody to move their ass, they will live just once!!

Can you tell us about where you are from? What is the ska and reggae music scene like in Granada, Spain?

RSC: Granada is, without a doubt, the most inspiring city of the world and also a musical source. Everybody here has a band or two or even three, or four. But unfortunately ska and reggae music is not a referent as it is in the east coast of the country (Valencia, Castellón..), or in the north east (Barcelona). In general, the reggae scene here is more related to sound systems.

The good news is that since the scene is so small, its supporters get really involved with it, and so, in the last years we have seen some attempts to introduce reggae music in Andalucía. Like the All reggae to the People festival, organized by our bass player Labase Martínez. Or the help from The Reggae Warrior Crew, a group of people who work to and for the reggae music, who has supported us from the beginning (when Red Soul was only an idea) and who has made possible many things.


For those who have not heard you live, can you describe what a Red Soul Community gig is like? How does the crowd respond in your hometown?

RSC: For us, playing live is one of the most exciting experiences in life, we wanna enjoy every second we spend on the stage and fix it in our minds. The key is what you feel, because what you feel is what you express and what you express is what you communicate. A Red Soul Community gig is direct, sincere, authentic, real, raw..as we think music should be.
In relation to what the audience gets from our show you can see it in our video Pump Reggae Tour 2007

On the Pump Reggae Tour, are there any funny stories you wanna talk about? Any stand out moments?

RSC: In one of our ways back to Granada, we were going crazy in the van because of the traffic(we had spent more than 3 hours in only 50 kilometres!!!)So we decided to stop for a while in a bar. More than one hour after, we realized we had forgotten the video camera at the bar and we had to come back there to recover it. In total, we spent 14 hours to get to Granada, but thanks to that, we could do the Pump Reggae Tour video

During the tour we played in many cities in which we had never played before and we didn't know how our music was going to be received. In that sense, it has been amazing to see the people singing our songs during the show, especially when we played "Red Soul Community". We have met allot of really special people who have made us feel like at home. For example, we had driven through the whole country to play in A Coruña (Galiza), and when we arrived there, we found the police had closed the place where we were going to play that night. But the people from there, together with Dandy Fever, the other band who was going to share the stage with us, worked very hard(and fast!)to find another place and the necessary material to get to do the concert and I can say, that it was one of the best shows of the tour.

What we have learned is that all those bands and the people who support the scene, work very hard and defend the music they love as much as they can, up and off the stage.


Do you plan to tour again soon?


RSC: Yes, our plans about touring will bring us to Germany and Belgium in the second half of the next March, with Go Jimmy Go.
But before that, we are really proud to say that we will play on the Rude Cat Festival on March the 15th, in Girona (Catalunya), with The Slackers, Go Jimmy Go, Doreen Shaffer, Ken Boothe, Moon Invaders and other bands. We hope to see you all there!!!!


Anything else in the works for the future?

RSC: Of course, we never stop. In fact, from the end of the Pump Reggae Tour, we have been working on some new songs for a future album. All those experiences in the last year have been a very good inspiration that we are going to use wisely.

From more info see:
www.redsoulcommunity.com
www.liquidatormusic.com

Interview with Boss Van Trigt of The Upsessions

The Upsessions are one of those bands that seem to come out of nowhere and hit you like freight train. They hit that reggae sound with such an infectious groove that you can't help but move your feet. In their short time together, they have already made a name for themselves. With an album out on Moon Ska World and a tight group of top notch musicians, they are definitely a force to be reckoned with.

We had some questions for them, and their singer/guitarist Boss Van Trigt was good enough to sit down and answer them.

1. So tell us, who make up The Upsessions and where do you come from?

It was Giel, our trombone player, who had the first idea. he was playing in a Dutch ska-punk band called 'the Hardheid'. He was having a good time with them,
but had the deep wish to form a ' skinhead reggae' band. I knew about his idea, 'cause he told me, but I was busy playing with the top Dutch ska act 'Rude Rich and the Highnotes'. Giel kept on calling me and asking me to start up a ' skinhead reggae' band with him, and his enthusiastic ideas made me decide to collaborate.
He searched for the right musicians, I started to write new songs. In a week, everything was set up. Giel brought the right musicians: Ron was exactly the drummer we were searching for. He just had it, played the right beats and was really one of the best reggae drummers around. Stijn shared our obsessions for dirty organ sounds and he came in.
With Bart, a great solo/picking guitar player and Peter as the bassman ( electric and double bass!!) the puzzle was complete. The first song we played was ' Jackie Miller Down'
and after that song, we all knew that we had just started a great thing.
We all come from around Amsterdam, except for Giel, he lives in Rotterdam, so he has to make a long train ride for every rehearsal.

2. It looks like theres allot of great Ska and Reggae coming out of Holland. What do you think it is about this small country that produces such great music?

It's true. Holland is way too small for all those ska bands, that's why a lot of them drive to Germany, where the scene is bigger. If we would only play in Holland, we would just play 10 shows a year. But I think Holland has got a great ska history, with acts that are known all over Europe, like Mr.Review, Mark Foggo, Rude rich and the Highnotes and the Beatbusters. I really don't know why it's just Holland that produces so many ska bands, while the scene is so small.


3. How would you describe your music?

I would describe it as ' Skinhead reggae' or ' early reggae'. That's the main thing, but we play some ska, soul, funk, rocksteady and reggae too.


4. What would you say are some of the strongest musical influences for The Upsessions?

We all love the old Jamaican acts like Derrick Morgan, Prince Buster, Desmond Dekker, Jackie Mittoo, Bob Marley, Laurel Aitken, Winston Wright, The Pioneers, and .The Ethiopians. And we share a big passion for Lee Perry. We love all his organ work, 'cause it's so bad. You got to have a lot of courage to bring out organ stuff like that.
But next to that, we all love soul ( James Brown, Marvin Gaye and so on), old funk ( the Funk Brothers), trad. ska ( Skatalites), calypso and so on.


5. How long did you guys work on the album New Heavyweight Champion? And how has it been received so far?

I think from the start 'till the end it was something like 6 or 7 months. As we are all working guys, we all just had the weekends to record stuff, we had no shows. Besides that we recorded it by ourselves, not in a studio. We had an 8 track tape recorder and some very cheap gear, and a lot of gear died during our recordings
so it was fun, but also difficult to do. It's been received very well, we had good reviews from Holland, Germany, the UK and France. One review said all our songs could have been from a Duke Reid sampler. To read things like that, is great.


6. How did you get hooked up with Moon Ska World?

In the old, traditional way; We just send them a demo-CD, then we received a letter, that they wanted to offer us a record deal. To be on Moon Ska CD is fantastic, when we were young, we used to buy Moon CDs. It really is a highlight in our career


7.It looks like you've been quite busy spreading your sound. Are there any places where you really enjoy performing, and why?

Well, in my time with Rude Rich, we used to do a lot of international shows, and I loved it. That's why I started thinking internationally immediately. As said before, the scene in Holland is great, but small. You gotta move to Germany or France now and then to play at big festivals. The best place to perform until now was the Potsdammer Ska festival in Germany. It's a two day ska festival in Potsdam, near Berlin. It's strange to see all these people singing our lyrics exactly. Memories like that are fantastic!


8. Are there any bands from Holland we should look out for?

I saw you found the J-stars already, big friends of ours, great up tempo ska band. Also we got Juicebox, the best Dutch soul/popcorn band. Outside Holland we all love the Big from the UK and the Moon invaders from Belgium


9.What's next for The Upsessions?

It's the recording thing we all love to do. We got so many songs to record, many bad organ versions to make. We all got a big obsession for very bad organ tunes. Tunes that make people think why they were ever recorded, hahahaha, we love that. We just don't wanna take it all too serious. Also we want to make a complete rocksteady album, with just lovers tunes on it, as well as a complete organ album, and maybe a ska EP. Enough plans for the future, hope we can find the time for all this.
And we got some big festivals we'd like to play all over Europe.

For more on The Upsessions, please visit these sites:
Upsessions website
The Upsessions on Myspace
Moon Ska World

Banana!

That's a clip of the Aggrolites performing the classic song, "Banana" (with modified lyrics of course) for the television show, "Yo Gabba Gabba!" If you folks haven't been watching this show, then you have NO SOUL! Just kidding. But seriously, watch it.

I kinda wish that the Aggrolites would play this song more often live! I still remember hearing it for the first time in a small ass venue on a cold December night in 2003...it was my first time seeing the Aggrolites, and it was the moment that made me fall in love with this band!

"The Ramblers" won't leave you rambling just dancing

Deals Gone Bad "The Rambler" (Jump Up Records)



I anticipated the release of this album from the band for what seems like years. And the album lives up to every expectation I had going in. The band helped to establish Jump Up Records as a viable ska label as third wave ska floated from popularity to obscruity in the 90's. Thanks to bands like DGB Jump Up is still around and still putting out great albums that deserve to be heard. Deals Gone Bad always played a mix of Jamaican ska/reggae with elements of soul, rock, and jazz. Their live show is probably where the band has always shined with their scorching originals about Pirates with covers from bands such as Judge Dread, Derrick Morgan, and Ken Boothe. With singer Mike Park the band released 3 albums on Jump Up Records. Mike left the band a few years ago (now he plays in Lord Mike's Dirty Calypsonians - Check Them Out!) and was replaced by Todd Hembrook who belts out his vocals like Sam Cooke and Otis Reddng. This album is a non stop pleaser with the first tune "Messin' Around" Todd's vocals stand out as this agonizing soul that has loved and suffered. Mike Corcoran on drums transitions from a foot stomping soul beat to a smooth rocksteady rhythm. "Movin' On" begins with a Pet Sounds sort of organ intro supplied by Karl Gustafon. This song is very reminiscent of Todd's old soul reggae band Heavy Step.



What I like most about this album is the music covers all styles of Jamaican music with ska, reggae, rocksteady and has a healthy dose of other musical delights. "Cry For Me" has Todd channeling his inner Motown and even somewhat resembles the feel of a certain Van Morrison tune. "One More Day" is a love ballad of sorts, the horn players add the perfect melody that floats and grooves in the pockets. Deals Gone Bad prove they are at the top of their game with "Things Are Gonna Get Better", which demonstrates the bands' ability to jump from style to style. A more rootsy reggae sound is present in "Rough & Ready" which the band quickly grooves to. Aaron Hammes wrote the song "Good Old Days" that sort of harks back the past without being sentimental, just realistic. "City City" is a catchy ode to Chicago… "The second city, beats the first / Keep New York, forget LA, Chicago is my curse." "Take Time" and "The Cost" are two more reggae grooves number that keep the energy on the disc sky high. The album ends with a Western (fitting in theme with the album art) acoustic number that is just spooky sounding "I was Wrong." This will be on the top of the list for this year's best releases. And if you get a chance do not deny yourself an opportunity to see this group live on stage. Doing what they do best giving the fans all their blood, sweat, and tears and ripping from song to song. Lets hope they never stop.

I got a fever and the only cure is more aggro!

Aggrolites "Reggae Hit LA" (hellcat records)


What can you say about the Aggrolites? They have literally set themselves apart by being the most exciting modern reggae band since they released their first album "Dirty Reggae.” The band formed out of a group of studio musicians that already had roots in the west coast reggae scene (check out the Rhythm Doctors and Seespot). 4 years later the band seems destined to be the hardest working/touring reggae outfit in the world. 2 weeks ago Tim Armstrong's solo album was released with the Aggrolites backing Tim on every tune. And now the band's 3rd release "Reggae Hit LA" is their second album on Hellcat Records. Hellcat reached out to ska scene towards the end of the 90's by signing disenfranchised ska bands with higher goals including King Django, the Slackers, and the Pietasters. Hellcat took those bands to newer levels and the Aggrolites are possessed to reach the same and possibly larger audiences.

The band admitted to writing most of this album on the road through their various tours of the US/Europe. But this album is hardly meant to be taken lightly. This album marks the return of original Aggro drummer Korey Horn, who is without a doubt one of the tightest reggae drummers out there. The albums hits you with a surprise from the get-go. The first track "Work It" seems like a Toots/funky reggae number (that could even be on their last album) with a synthesized keyboard melody. "Faster Bullet" proves how much Jesse Wagner has grown as a singer/songwriter. Also a point to mention are the vocal harmonies done throughout this song that really fills in the gaps and make the sound more complete (this is an important and often ignored facet of recording a good album). The Aggrolites start things right with these tracks and "You Got 5" brings back the skinhead reggae, Upsetter style the band is known for.

"Reconcile" sees the band experimenting with 70's styled reggae effects (ie Michigan and Smiley "Rub A Dub Style") just like in the opening track. And I say these tunes took a few times to listen to but they fit right in and work thanks to the keyboard wizardry that is known as Roger Rivas. And as one of those dorky people with a big record collection that know way too much about music made decades before I was born. People in our scene appreciate when a band like the Aggrolites not only respects the music but actually knows their roots. The band's title track is a soul stomping organ groove with group vocals and Jesse channeling his inner Otis Redding, Wilson Picket, and James Brown. The band slows the tempo down on the ballad "Lets Pack Our Bags" but the band retains their signature sound even during different time signatures which is a rather difficult endeavor. On the instrumental tracks like "Left Red", "Rhythm & Light", "Hip To It", and "Baldhead Rooster" the Aggrolites demonstrate why people should appreciate bands that mixed reggae, soul, and funk. Bands like the Hippy Boys, the Upsetters, Symarip, and the Mohawks paved the way for this sound.

The catchiest and my favorite track is "Free Time" which shows off the tight rhythm section-- Korey on drums, J Bonner on Bass, and Jesse playing rhythm guitar are skilled players at the top of their game. Brian Dixon on lead guitar not only adds to the musical madness but his work behind the board has showed how the band has made a transition from lo fi Dirty Reggae to the new crisp sounds of the day. And when you see the band perform live these players are the rock solid reggae foundation that cannot be broken. The band's ode to gambling "Lucky Streak" is another tune that demonstrates the band's ability to find a groove and is simply a fun song in the same vain as "Pop the Trunk." To close out the album the band included their soccer sing-a-long "We Came To Score" that will hopefully be heard in arenas far and wide. As a reviewer its hard to critique a band as skilled as the Aggrolites. What can they do wrong? The first two albums a band makes often test the waters. They play off their influences and hopefully a band finds their sound. Well the Aggrolites found their sound and it’s the only sound I want to hear. This is quite possibly the best and most important album of 2007.