Category Archives: dub

Punk rock changed our lives…

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Sublime with Nowell
Busy day. Busy week. Buying a house, so I have been running around like a chicken with no head.

I do not want to neglect our great fans, so I will give you something quick and dirty.

There are some great summer tours this year. All of them making stops in sin city. Las Vegas, Nevada. The place I call home.

I wanna mention one I am most excited about.

SUBLIME WITH ROME

When frontman Bradley Nowell passed away in May 1996 of a drug overdose, I was crushed. I was so emotionally vested in this band. Let me explain with a little story what I mean.

It was the summer of 1993, and a new guy moved in to the neighborhood. He was different from the rest of the kids on our street. He was from Long Beach, California ad he was huge! A big samoan guy, with a mohawk. He was a surfer and skater. Remember, I live in Las Vegas. Surfing was alien to us, and skateboarding was just becoming something you would see kids doing. This guy loved music and played the Bass, and we instantly became friends. We sat on the bus together, spent time at each others houses, perfected our graffiti techniques, and listened to music.

This guy gave me a copy of 40 Oz. to Freedom and it was forever to be a milestone in my life. It was perfect music. Catchy, Reggae, Dub, and Punk. Yes, Yes, Yes, and Yes. From the bass drum of “Waiting For My Ruca” to the hilarious closing credits I WAS IN LOVE!


Download Sublime – Waiting For My Ruca

I used to listen to it while working late, stocking shelves at the mega mart. It was usually quiet and I didn’t see people for hours so I would start singing along with the Sublime CD in my Sony disc-man while working. Eventually a coworker would happen by and ask me, “What the fuck are you listening to?” I would tell them everything I knew about the band and then tell them “Listen…Just listen!” I assumed that they would listen to a song and go…oh fuck yea! I get it! that’s awesome. Not one person got it. In fact I got a lot of, “That sounds awful.” WHAT! I was so confused. I knew in my bones that album…that band was gonna be huge.

Fast forward a few years later and the song Date Rape begins getting some serious radio play. I might finally get the chance to see the band has they are about to tour on the heels of their then upcoming self-titled major label release. I am so excited.

Then tragedy…Brad Nowell OD’s in San Francisco, and I am shit out of luck.
Rome Ramirez
Fast-forward to today. I see that Sublime is back on tour with a new front-man. Rome.

The remaining members of the band tried out a show with this new frontman in Nevada early 2009 under the name Sublime, and liked how things worked out. Shortly there after they joined the Smokeout Festival that same year to open for Cypress Hill.

Nowell’s family released a statement that they were not too pleased about this though…

It was recently announced that Sublime bassist Eric Wilson and Sublime drummer Floyd ‘Bud’ Gaugh are ‘reuniting’ and teaming with singer and guitarist Rome Ramirez in a band they intend to call ‘Sublime.’ Prior to his untimely passing, both Bud and Eric acknowledged that Brad Nowell was the sole owner of the name Sublime. It was Brad’s expressed intention that no one use the name Sublime in any group that did not include him, and Brad even registered the trademark ‘Sublime’ under his own name.

As Brad’s heirs, and with the support of his entire family, we only want to respect his wishes and therefore have not consented to Bud and Eric calling their new project ‘Sublime.’ We have always supported Bud and Eric’s musical endeavors and their desire to continue to play Sublime’s music. We wholeheartedly supported Bud, Eric and the many talented members of the Sublime posse that formed the Long Beach Dub All-Stars, soon after Brad’s death, to honor him through their original recordings, live performances and Sublime music until they disbanded in 2001. But, out of respect for Brad’s wishes, we have always refused to endorse any group performing as ‘Sublime,’ and now with great reluctance feel compelled to take the appropriate legal action to protect Brad’s legacy.

Our hope is that Brad’s ex-bandmates will respect his wishes and find a new name to perform under, so as to enhance the ‘Sublime’ legacy without the confusion and disappointment that many fans have expressed upon seeing the announcement.

The band is now called Sublime With Rome, which is still probably going to get them sued, but whatever. They are on tour, and coming to my town. They are even touring with The Dirty Heads which has a song featuring Rome on heavy rotation on most Alt-Rock stations.


Download The Dirty Heads – Lay Me Down

I can’t wait to see them!

Where people find pleasure in measurements and ounces

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April 20th. The day for all the stoners. People get together and smoke marijuana. Usually the festivities hit a peak at around 4:20PM. The history behind 420 is clouded in rumors and misinformation. Explanations range from the number of chemicals in a burning joint to the idea that 420 was a police code for pot possession. Whatever the origins, it’s here to stay.

The burning question should be, what will I listen to tomorrow!

For me, getting high needs a soundtrack. Tomorrow is an interesting day for new releases. Check out this list, any of these albums would be a good choice for your 420 celebration:

Cypress Hill
The Apples In Stereo
Circa Survive
Nerdy
Willie Nelson
Ozomatli

For me though, it’s going to be the Mos Dub project created by beat extraordinaire Max Tannone. Max gained some signficant fame with his Radiohead/Jay-Z mash-up project, Jaydiohead. His next project was a well received mashup of the Beastie Boys with Beastie’s instrumentals all from the Check Your Head album that was called Double Check Your Head.

Mos Dub is a project that takes some classic Reggae and Dub music remixed with some hot lyrics from Mos Def.

Mos Dub – 05 – Travellin’ Undergroundbymaxtannone

I requested an in interview with Mr. Tannone about this project, and he was happy to oblige. Check it out below:

inALLcaps: First off, I’m a big fan of both your Jaydiohead and Beastie Boys mash-up albums.

I’m also a big Mos Def fan, I find him to be very underrated as an artist. Why did you choose to make a mash up project using Mos Def vocals, and why did you decide to go reggae/dub for the beats?

Max Tannone: I too am a big Mos Def supporter, and since I made Jaydiohead, I wanted to use Mos Def in a project. His vocals often touch on political and societal issues, as does reggae and dub music. I thought it would flow nicely to put them together. The sounds of reggae are kind of like the musical form of a lot of Mos Def’s lyrics. Themes of struggle, injustice, overcoming odds, these were things I wanted to support with the music.

IAC: Did you ever get contacted by either Jay-Z, Radiohead, or the Beastie
Boys?

MT: Jay-Z twittered about Jaydiohead, which was pretty cool. I never heard anything from Radiohead.
The Beastie Boys were really supportive with Doublecheck Your Head and they thought it was cool.

IAC: How has the success of these projects changed your life/career?

MT: The biggest change is just the realization that if you put out quality mixes, people will appreciate them, even with a deluge of remixes, mashups, etc. from pretty every conceivable genre happening every day. I am still trying to turn music into a career. I’m not making money from these projects – as cliche as it sounds, I am doing it for the love and hopefully getting my name out there as a byproduct. But ultimately, I’m going to be creating, mixing, etc. because I enjoy doing it, regardless of my day job. I would call it an enjoyable challenge.

IAC: Can you give us the scoop on what will be your next project? Felt just
released the instrumentals and a capellas to the Rosie Perez album…
have you thought about making something happen with that material?

MT: To be honest, I’m not sure what I want to do next. Its hard for me to jump into something so quickly after finishing a project. If I do another remix/mashup type project, I want it to be equally if not more interesting and challenging than Mos Dub. I define a successful project as one that makes you think a little, while still being somewhat accessible to an average listener. I love hip-hop, and am always drawn to it in some way or another. We’ll see…

IAC: What software/hardware are you using for these projects? What would you
recommend to someone looking to get into the remix/mashup scene?

MT: I use FL Studio for everything. I’ve been using it for years and will continue to do so. As far as recommendations go, I would say to get any type of music making software you can, whether its FL Studio, Reason, Logic, Cubase, etc, and just start playing around. There are tons of YouTube tutorials for all of these programs – so you really can learn quite a bit by researching. I am used to FL Studio, and would choose it over any of these other programs – but that’s just because I’m used to it. Use what suits your workflow.

IAC: Tomorrow is 4/20, any plans? Do you smoke marijuana? Is it a part of your creative process?

MT: No I don’t smoke – but I do think it should be legalized. Medicinal marijuana is a step in the right direction. New Jersey has begun this process, and I hope New York follows suit. It really is amazing to me that its still this taboo thing. As far as my creative process is concerned, I like to be totally sober when working on music – I work more efficiently and am able to get the ideas out of my head and into the machine much quicker. That being said, I hope everyone reading this enjoys a relaxed and safe 4/20. Put on some Mos Dub while you’re at it!

Thanks inAllcaps readers for checking out the music, I definitely appreciate it.

Mos Dub – 06 – Shroud The Starsbymaxtannone