Big Winter Sale 2018 – Redstar73 Records – Punk Ska Oi!
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Festa Major de Gràcia 2017
FM La Jove de Gràcia 2017: Ara i sempre resistint
https://www.facebook.com/events/255119878322236/
Festes de Gràcia al Bar Laila ’17
https://www.facebook.com/events/340314906392056/
Festa Major de Gràcia al carrer Perla 2017
https://www.facebook.com/events/136924773573064/
Festa Major Popular de Gràcia – 2017
https://www.facebook.com/events/654503161405423/
Festes Majors Llibertàries de la Vila de Gràcia 2017
https://www.facebook.com/events/1831302587198703/
Festival Raices & Cultura a Les Festes De Gracia
https://www.facebook.com/events/647440198780571/
The Slingshots + Shirley Davis = Blackcelona Rovira Experience
https://www.facebook.com/events/439180266451797/
El Polvorí [Festes de Gràcia 2017]
https://www.facebook.com/events/132238144048389/
Festes (A) Gràcia
https://www.facebook.com/events/1548729295172314/
Festigàbal 2017 (Festes de Gràcia)
https://www.facebook.com/events/1722084284486641/
Puro Traqueteo: The Rigodonians & El Sonido de Veldá
https://www.facebook.com/events/1915892482027208/
Error! Fest 2017 a les Festes de Gràcia
https://www.facebook.com/events/475198522834602/
Las Furias en La Festa Major de Gràcia (Barcelona)
https://www.facebook.com/events/1149818571790828/
Caz Gardiner & The Badasonics – Funky Soulsteady Beat! Interview
Redstar73 Blog: Please can you introduce your band. When was it started? What about your name?
Nico: The band started in 2016 with members from The Moon Invaders and The Caroloregians. Basically it’s the caroloregians riddim section and the moon invaders horns section together… The idea was to create a mix of Soul & Funk with a Jamaican feel and invite various singers to join us. I finally got in touch with Caz Gardiner (from Washington D.C.) and we decided to start the project with her. She really has the kind of voice we were looking for! The name of the band come from a contraction of ‘Badass’ and ‘Sonics’…
Redstar73 Blog: You have just released your debut EP. Tell us more about it! How is the feedback?
Nico: The first plan was to make an album but we needed a couple of tunes to present and promote the project so we recorded this EP in February and sent it to some labels, radios, etc. It’s only available on bandcamp in digital but we had some good feedbacks and some reviews and airplay here and there…
Redstar73 Blog: What are your plans for the future? I have read somewhere you have started to record an album
Nico: Yes, the recording sessions of the first album are done! We recorded 12 tunes (9 originals + 3 covers) and the mix is planned for this summer so hopefully it should be release before the end of the year… We took our time to record it the way we want and we also invite some friends to join us in the studio like Larry Mc Donald (percussion) and the Hardison brothers (moon invaders) for the backing vocals…
Redstar73 Blog: Any chance to see the project live in Europe?
Nico: Definitely! We are booking shows for 2018 to promote the album… Nothing is confirmed yet but the first dates will be announced after the summer.
Redstar73 Blog: Whats happening at the Pum Pum studio at the moment?
Nico: Different things actually… I’m recording a bunch of garage & r’n’r bands these days but I still have some ska & reggae projects coming like the albums I did for Grover Records recently (Rude Rich & the Highnotes, Arthur Kay, Winston Francis) and also the bands I play with like David Hillyard & the Rocksteady 7 and the Reggae Workers of The World with Vic Ruggiero and Jesse Wagner who recorded their 2nd album last year and that I will mix right after the Badasonics album.
Redstar73 Blog: Give us your Top5 Ska & Reggae songs.
Nico: Not really a Top5 but more a selection of 5 Top ska & reggae tunes with organ (among others)!
Winston Wright – Moon Invader
The Cyclones – My Sweet Lord
The Upsetters – Family Man
The Skatalites – Killer Diller
Byron Lee – Ska-Dee-Wah
Nico: Redstar73 Blog: Last words!
Nico: Thanks a lot for your support, really hope you will enjoy our album!
…and follow us on Facebook for the latest news…
Contact:
https://badasonics.bandcamp.com
http://www.badasonics.com
https://www.facebook.com/badasonics
Almighty Uprisers – Systematically Screwed Interview
Redstar73 Blog: Please can you introduce your band. When was it started? What about your name?
Almighty Uprisers: Started in 2015, the name sounded the best from a list of half a dozen most bands create before settling on a name. There’s the political notions and the drive to “rise up” that we all posses but few do anything about, unfortunately.
Redstar73 Blog: What are your plans for the future?
Almighty Uprisers: Write new material, Record and tour/play live
Redstar73 Blog: How is the scene in your area?
Almighty Uprisers: It’s survives and it’s thrives. Like most scenes it fluctuates as bands form and bands move on or disband. There’s a distinct lack of ska/reggae bands but definitely the scene and interest to support it. Like most scenes everyone looks out for each other, despite what type of genre you play. it’s like a family.
Redstar73 Blog: How important is for you the DIY idea and politics?
Almighty Uprisers: DIY is a tremendously important to us and is the backbone of what drives the band. There’s very little help from outside sources and unless you’re incredibly lucky, it’s what you do that determines your success, nothing is handed to you on a plate. Politics influence everyone and everything around us whether you like it or not. Everyone has a voice, why not use it.
Redstar73 Blog: Give us your Top5 Punk, Reggae & Ska songs.
Almighty Uprisers: I think it would be sweet to end up with a list of not run of the mill/well known tracks here as opposed to anarchy in U.K. – sex pistols etc so it makes for an interesting read. Obviously it’s impossible (or at least we find) to have an ultimate favourite song in any genre so a cool list of tracks people may not have heard will be better for the reader. Here’s three from me as a starter:
Sparra/Vocals/Rhythm Guitar
Ska: Dry Acid – The Upsetters
Reggae: Jah Jah Give Us Life To Live – Wailing Souls
Punk: Tube Disasters – flux of pink indians.
Scott/Lead Guitar/Backing vocals
Ska: Hooligans – Wailers.
Reggae: Come into my parlour – Bleachers.
Punk: Big a little a – Crass
Andy/Drums
Ska: soon you’ll be gone – blues busters
Reggae: talking blues – bob Marley and the wailers
Punk: cheat – the clash
Nathan/Keys
Ska – toots and the maytals, 54-46 whats my number.
Reggae – Bob Marley – iron lion zion
Punk – iggy pop – The passenger
Bill/Bass
Ska: Skatalites “Sakaravan”.
Reggae: Culture “Natty Never Get Weary”
Punk: Subhumans “Animal”
Redstar73 Blog: Last words!
Almighty Uprisers: Plug the facebook/social.
Look out for us.
Destroy Fascism and Unite.
https://www.facebook.com/almightyuprisers
Mango Wood – People Rocksteady Interview
Redstar73 Blog: Please can you introduce your band. When was it started? What about your name?
Mango Wood: Mango Wood is an early reggae & rocksteady band from Madrid. The band started by the late 2015 as an acoustic project but ended up as band when we added different members and realized we had to move to a full band. We became a band in 2016 when we added the keyboard and a second guitar.
We still work and sometimes perform in acoustic set but the main focus is as a band. Now we even have a DJ set to keep on sharing music and partying till the sun rises.
The name of the band is a tribute to the mento and calypso groups that used lots of fruits and vegetables to sing about sexual related topics.
Redstar73 Blog: You guys released quite some singles and videos last year. What is the idea behind it?
Mango Wood: We love the Jamaican way of releasing singles instead of albums, the 7 inch is a format we believe in and enjoy. The idea behind videos is that whether we like it or not, we live in a world that its music is fueled by audiovisuals. So if you want to reach to a larger public, you have to include a video with the song.
Behind Mango Wood there are also people that collaborate with the audiovisuals like the Jürschik Sisters (Helvia & Julia), Mance Lopez and many more that help us develop and enhance the project
Redstar73 Blog: What are your plans for the future?
Mango Wood: We just published a 7″ with Respect Records and we are working on making a second one. We just published the B Side video and soon we will publish the A Side video of the Respect Records 7″.
We have also recorded several songs at our own studio “Imported Grooves” and they are due to mix & master. The idea is to try to find more record labels (inside and ouside of spain) that are interested in editing in a 7″ format. And we are working at the moment with the videos of those new songs so everything will be in schedule.
Summer is coming and spain has a lot of festivals that we intend to play and spread our music at.
Redstar73 Blog: How is the scene in Madrid?
Mango Wood: The scene in Madrid is complicated. There are lots of bands, sound systems and and parties, but sometimes it’s hard to reach the public. The economic crisis hit hard in spain and for some years the early reggae, ska & rocksteady shows were affected. This meant that bands from Madrid had to play for little money. Also bands from abroad stopped coming to Madrid as people didn’t have enough money to pay for the entrance, drinks and so on. But now we can see there is light at the tunnel and we are rising up from our ashes.
If we have to sumarized how the scene is, we have to say that it´s healthy in the musical aspect, lots of oldies bands like Upsttemians, Crepitans, Hypocondriacs, Steady Rockers… ska bands like Begoña Bang-Matu, Skalone, Majaicans, Hammond York, Fhin Brau, Sally Brown and many more. But it´s an underground movement, sometimes we feel we see the same faces at all the parties.
Redstar73 Blog: Give us your Top5 Reggae, Rocksteady & Ska songs.
Mango Wood:
Rudy Mills – Jon Jones
Kingstonians – Sufferer
Ethiopians – Mek you Go on So
Jack Sparrow – Ice Water
Toots & The Maytals – Funky Kingston
Redstar73 Blog: Last words!
Mango Wood: Stay tuned because Mango Wood never stops, more is coming in 2017!
Contact:
https://www.facebook.com/mangowoodmusic
https://mangowood.bandcamp.com
Top 5 Galore: Kevin / Do the Dog Music
1. The Specials – Do Nothing (one of the first 7″ singles I ever bought. I have always loved the tune & the lyrics are just as relevant today as they were back in the early 1980’s)
2. The Hotknives – Don’t Go Away (so, so catchy & a chorus that sticks in your head forever. I first discovered this band at the first London International Ska Festival at the Brixton Fridge in 1988 & have loved them ever since)
3. The Busters – Busterlor (my favourite ska band ever. Ever since I first heard their debut album on Unicorn Records I have been hooked on The Busters. So many great songs over a 30 year career, but this is my favourite. I love it’s simple catchy rhythm & storytelling vocal)
4. Fishbone – Ma & Pa (super, super catchy straight up ska brilliance. I like the way it matched up a uplifting upbeat rhythm with a sad lyric. The lyrics for this song actually inspired me to write The Bakesys’ song Anmated Violence)
5. The Interrupters – Phantom City (best new band to emerge from the USA in recent times. Punky edged 2 tone brilliance from California)
The Specials – Live in 1979 and 1980
Thanks to the youtube users FruitierThanThou, London’s Burning and Audio Ammunition for uploading the videos
The Specials – Live at the Moonlight Club May 1979
The Specials – Colchester 12 December 1979
The Specials – The Paris Theatre London 15 December 1979
The Specials – Tokyo 20 July 1980
Top 5 Galore – Waggle Dance Studios
Five choice picks in a vinyl mix from Waggle Dance Studios home of Eeyun Delroy Purkins and The Co-operators rhythm section.
Here are the first five records in the stack next to my turntable so truly picked at random, I wrote a little about each one, be sure to check them out as you read all about.
1: Roland Alphonso – Sai Pan
I think that this tune was originally released in 1966 a raging ska instrumental featuring Roland Alphonso’s distinctive tenor sax sound over an up-tempo shuffle. Many of my generation view ‘heaviness’ as the foundation of a good soundsystem tune and feel that weight is defined by a four to the floor drum beat and a two note bassline, don’t get me wrong I see and feel the appeal of that but this tune is truly foundation music and for me is a real heavyweight killer. The musicality of its instrumentation speaks volumes about the discipline present on the island at that moment in time and the movement of the rhythm would get anybody dancing.
2: Ethiopians – Everything Crash
I was given this record many years ago by an old friend of mine Martin the Mod an infamous soul and ska DJ from Manchester. Released in 1968 it is conscious classic talking of how ‘fireman strike, watermen strike, telephone company too’, it paints a vivid picture of an island halted in its tracks by social upheaval and protest.
1968 was a year of protest the world over with the famous events of Paris 68 taking up much of the limelight Jamaica’s ‘Rodney Riots’ that happened in October of the same year are often forgotten. The civil disturbances occurred when Walter Rodney an avid advocate of socialism and black power activism was dismissed from his position at the University of the West Indies. He was dedicated to raising the consciousness of the Jamaican poor and a critic of the middle classes of the Caribbean and his dismissal resulted in large protests in Kingston.
3: Glenn and Dave – Wake up to Reality
Produced by Sonia Pottinger one of the first female producers in Jamaica it is a plea to the people of JA for co-operation declaring ‘we ought to wake up to reality’ a message as relevant in 1968 as it is in 2017. It is a timeless classic underpinned by Count Ossie’s Nyabinghi heartbeat recently reissued as a limited run of 600 7” 45s. Pick it up before its too late!
4: Maxie and Niney- Bearded Men Feast
Jumping forward in time to 1972 this number features Max Romeo talking about the police and soldier putting pressure on Jamaica’s Rastafarian population. Being an adherent of Rastafari was historically not something that came without consequences on an island where the first prime minister of independent Jamaica actively portrayed Rasta’s followers in to villains demonising all involved. It could easily be said that Alexander Bustamante brought his round up plea right out of a wild west picture, demanding he wanted dreads brought in ‘Dead or Alive’ after ‘bearded men’ allegedly set fire to a gas station. It is said that the men lead by Rudolph Franklyn were aiming to settle their grievances with the land owner after they were evicted from property they had been squatting in Coral Gardens. Although Rastafari presents a philosophy of peace and love Bustamante’s declaration that all Rastas were a threat lead to what can only be described as a a death sentence to all followers of the faith. The brutality that followed resulted in eight deaths by government forces and an additional two police fatalities and in the years to come it advanced the progressive repression of Jamaica’s Rasta population.
Maxie and Niney’s Bearded Men Feast is a defiant statement against this mentality proudly declaring how ‘they never run, they never run, when police men come’ but sadly saying how ‘they affe run when soldier man come’.
5: Little Roy – Tribal War
Now famous for voicing Prince Fatty’s production ‘Battle in Seattle’ a compilation of Nirvana covers in a reggae style Little Roy’s influence as a foundation artist could easily be missed by younger fans of Jamaican music.
This classic tracked in 73 and released in 74 was recorded in Lee Perry’s legendary Black Ark studio and it features the likes of Dennis Brown on bass and Rockers anti hero Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace on Drums. The vocal is a plea for peace between Jamaica’s rival gangs recorded first take with the intention of it being a rough guide but its quality shone through and it was kept. Little Roy released ‘Tribal War’ on his own Tafari label and sold thousands by hand walking to Kingston’s North Parade with stacks of vinyl distributing it himself to the record vendors. It received little airplay keeping out of the charts although it was one of the hits of the day alongside Junior Byles ‘Curly Locks’.
The Mighty Fishers – Newsteady EP interview
Redstar73 Blog: Please could you introduce the band.
The Mighty Fishers: The Mighty Fishers was formed in 2011 and during this relatively short time we have already changed a lot.
Only CéAnne (vocals) and Peter (rhythm guitar) remained from the original crew. Also, musically we formed and evolved, if you compare our first and last releases. The foundation of the band was to play traditional, old school music but since we are different personally, the music is also something else.
In this five years we played in many countries all across Europe which is amazing considering that we started from nothing. We love our fans a lot, as they give us the energy to keep ourselves together and to prove them on every gig that it worth to polish their dancing shoes!
Redstar73 Blog: You have released a new EP called ‘Newsteady’. Please tell us more about it.
The Mighty Fishers: Yes, finally we released our awaited EP! We haven’t released anything in a while, it’s been a long road but we made new songs and it may be a new area for the band, therefore we named the baby ’Newsteady’.
The EP contains 5 brand new tracks, mostly about the world we live in. The original plan was to record an LP but many things changed around us lately, we had to change members and so forth, so we ended up with only a handful of songs actually recorded in the studio. The whole process was different with this EP, we spent more time in the studio figuring out how we can make it sound modern but still keep a perk of the
old taste.
Redstar73 Blog: What other releases have you done so far?
The Mighty Fishers: We have released three EPs so far: ’High Four’ (2011), a little collection of rocksteady classics, covers of songs we like, ’Where are you?’ (2012), the very first originals and ’Newsteady EP’ (2016). We have also released an LP (on CD and vinyl) titled ’Soul Garden’ back in 2014.
Redstar73 Blog: What are your plans for the future?
The Mighty Fishers: We definitely would love to record a new whole LP in the taste of ‘Newsteady’. Also, it would be nice to go on long-long tours to all the cities and towns the world has and introduce our music to everyone!
Redstar73 Blog: Give us your Top5 Ska songs.
The Mighty Fishers:
The Mighty Vikings – Love me forever,
Otis Gayle – I’ll be around,
Pat Kelly – How long will it take,
Jennifer Lara – A change is gonna come and last but not least Hypnotic eyes by Keith and Tex. (by CéAnne)
Redstar73 Blog: And the highlights of the Mighty Fishers story so far?
The Mighty Fishers: So many things already in such a short time! All of our releases of course, it’s always the last one which matters the most… and our gigs all across Europe: Germany, France, Italy, Belgium and many more… all were amazing and unique, giving us unforgettable memories and the reassuring feeling that we can give to our audience.
Redstar73 Blog: Last words!
The Mighty Fishers: The chorus of our new song ‘Respect Yourself’: ‘RESPECT YOURSELF, DON’T WAIT, TAKE YOUR TIME!’
The Mighty Fishers contact:
https://www.facebook.com/mightyfishers/
http://themightyfishers.com/
https://mightyfishers.bandcamp.com/
Buy the Soul Garden CD here:
http://redstar73.com/tienda/the-mighty-fishers-soul-garden-cd-p-3527.html
Bluekilla – Ska Is Our Business Interview
Redstar73 Blog: You started back in 1985. Anyone left from the original line up? How was the Ska scene back in 1985? Any other bands playing Ska in that time?
Amedeo: There are still two members left from the original five piece suit. Our drummer Fiebig and our bassman Guido. Chris (lead guitar), a third original member left the band in 2003.
There was no Ska scene in 1985. Bluekilla startet playing gigs later, around 1986 or something. I can’t remember any Ska concert around that time. All bands had split up or where in a start up process. The last Ska concert I remember in the early/mid eighties was THE UNTOUCHABLES from the States, and it was a lousy presentation of a test-tube band trying to imitate some notorious british bands. In those days the SKATALITES’ “Return of the Big Guns” couldn’t get anybody moving on the dancefloor. JUDGE DREAD’s 1985 album “Not Guilty” was a terrible misstep into bad taste disco. 1985 was a musical wasteland, Ska was dead until its rebirth in 1989.
Redstar73 Blog: What were the highlihgts? To mine mind are coming your tours in ex-Jugoslawia and Australia. Could you tell us more about both tours.
Amedeo: From the point of playing a gig the most remarkable highlights have always been our CD release parties and jubilee events in our hometown Munich. Of course we had countless gigs abroad that we still remember today. Those tours you mentioned have rather been milestones in the evolution of the band. 1997 in Yugoslavia, we realized that we can rely on eath other in even difficult and dangerous situations. Australia on the other side was just a massive effort with 11 shows in 18 days only on Thursdays and weekends. It was like a big trip in a Carlos Castagneda book. At the end we had to realize that one of us slid away from our conglomerate.
Redstar73 Blog: You always make a statement against fascism. How importartant is this for you? Did you ever had any problems at shows?
Amedeo: It is the most important thing in out lives, to make statements against fascism in all situations of our lives. On stage and on our records, we have the chance to make a statement which is heard by other people. That’s why we never stop doing so. In the 1990s there were a lot of problems with neofascists in Germany and we had to deal with all that crap on some of our gigs. Some people thought Ska is the perfect playground for their sick ideology. in the 2000s thing got better but right now we must wittnes the return of nationalism and rascism in all shapes all over Europe. It never stops being essential to make yourself clear how you think about these matters.
Redstar73 Blog: You have played some shows in France and England this summer. How was the experience?
Amedeo: Extremely cool! We never where a band that was invited to play on festivals a lot. If you have no booking agency, it is hard to get a foot into that door. Festivals mostly work out their line up with a single booking agency, which wants to have as much bands as possible engaged. If a festival wants a big gun, they have to take the waterpistols as well.
Therfore wewere extremely pleased by the enthusiasm of those people in Toulouse and in England, who brought us to their countries. On the other hand it wouldn’t have been possible without the help of a german organisation, helping us to cover some of the travel costs. WE’ll see how many times we can repeat trips like that.
Redstar73 Blog: I really like your Dub stuff like ‘River Style’ from the album ‘Ska is our business’. Why don’t you do a full Dub album?
Amedeo: I have put down all the dub cuts on all of our albums and of course I always had in mind to do a BLUEKILLA IN DUB album with either all the dubs we released and also some unreleased ones or doing a dub version of our BACK TO SKATALONIA album. I even have worked on such a version album but at the end you need someone to release this stuff and I never found someone who was interested. If I meet a dub infected Ska head in my life who wants to take that risk, there’ll be a Dr. Deadlock in Dub LP.
Redstar73 Blog: Any chance of a new album? Any other plans for the future?
Amedeo: Not at the moment. Everything is possible though.
Redstar73 Blog: Give us your Top5 Skasongs.
Amedeo: Besides my favourite Bluekilla songs? No particular order and ever changing:
Nightboat to Cairo (Madness)
Gangsters (The Specials)
Split Personality (Toots Hibbert & The Skatalites)
Big Six (Judge Dread)
Da kommt der Wahnsinn (Lila Sterila)
Redstar73 Blog: Where do you think ska is heading?
Amedeo: Where Rockabilly and other small and “unimportant” genres of the 60s 70s 80s youth culture is heading. As a vegetable in a warm and cosy niche.
Redstar73 Blog: Last words!
Amedeo: Think global but don’t forget to support your local Ska scene and breweries.
https://www.facebook.com/bluekillaofficial/
http://www.bluekilla.de/
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