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INTERVIEW FOR SKA NEWS 1. Story so far of Rivercidal Syndicate Records. Well, the story of Rivercidal Syndicate Records started from a scooter accident I got into. You see, I was coming home from work late one night on my scooter. I just crossed over a bridge and my back tire fell completely off the hub. If the tire would have come off any sooner I would have died off the bridge. That to me was suicidal. So, I combined the river that was running underneath and suicidal from the actual event, and that's how I came up with the name River-Cidal. This was the time when I was forming a scooter club with a bunch of other musicians from different bands. These bands include The Skeletones, The Allentons, Mobtown, King Willy, Penguin Invasion, and The Debonaires. That was in the summer of 1995. Also the same year I was asked to produce & record a band from my hometown in Riverside California, called “The Debonaires”. Tony Greene’s sister Janice asked me to help out her brothers band. So, I released their album called “ Groovin’ After Sundown” in the summer of 1998. In the spring of 1997 I was asked to produce & record a all-star band called “Empire All-Stars” witch features members from Skiptooth, The Skeletones, Mobtown, Reggae Foundation, & The Debonaires. This band was headed by Alex Solano ex- guitar member of Skiptooth. By 1999 I started the Primo Sonic Rhythms Vol.1 compilation, asking from other bands to see if they wanted to be on the compilation. These bands were really interested in it when there were no other comps out at the time. And so the Rivercidal Syndicate Records still goes on to this day. 1. Can you introduce all your productions on Rivercidal Syndicate Records (except your brand new compilation)? I have produced & recorded these
bands: 2. Your brand new production is “Primo Sonic Rhythm Vol. 1”. Can you introduce it? Well, Primo Sonic Rhythms compilation
was a vision I had when I saw other compilations being done. Plus
I wanted to help out some of these bands get known from being
unrecognized. These bands include: After Hours, Allentons, Debonaires,
Dynamics, Empire All-Stars, Irie Beats, Kingston 10, Rhythm Doctors,
See Spot, & So.Cal. Shocks of Mighty. Some of these bands
& musicians are from Los Angeles, Inland Empire, & San
Diego. Most all of these tracks are either Traditional Ska, Rock
Steady, Reggae & Dub. I wanted to stay within these kinds
styles to give the people a taste of different styles within the
comp. Also all of these bands other than the Empire All-Stars
have played numerous venues all around Southern California. 3. Have you recorded and mixed all the tracks included on “Primo Sonic Rhythms Vol.1”? I have produced & recorded these
bands for the compilation with 4. Do you have a recording studio? Is it digital or analog? Can you introduce it? The studio that I use is called Sound
Tech Studios. It’s located in Riverside, California about
65 miles east of Los Angeles. The studio is digital. Basically
we use 3 Alessis ADATS to make up 24 tracks. 5. In the studio, do you want to try to find the same sound than Jamaican musicians and producers in the sixties or do you want to produce rock steady and early reggae with the actual technologies? I think that if you want the sound, you might as well get a mixer with about 6 channels. First use 1 mic for all the drums from a distance,1 mic for the like 3 or 4 horns, 1 for bass, 1 for piano, 1 for guitar & 1 for vocals. Then record everything down on my cassette recorder to let every track bleed in to all the tracks. You see, back then they did not have really good recording gear, nor dividers. Everything was recorded with what ever they had. That is why their sound was like kind of dirty. If there was really good studios at the time we would be just hearing the bands from the past sounding at their best. I my self just recorded a band called The Vessels & they wanted the old sound. So we recorded the whole band in the studio for the rhythm tracks & let every track bleed. Then we took them out & recorded the vocals afterwards. The end result was that when it came to the solo parts, we really couldn’t turn anybody’s solo up because then the whole mix would sound louder. That is why I isolate instruments & mic them. That way when it comes to the mix down, each musician has there say how he or she wants his or her own instrument to sound like. But when it comes down to the mix down that’s when only a few of the musicians are allowed & not all. Just because there would be too many cooks in the kitchen, you know what I mean? I believe if you have these excellent musicians & each one wants to hear their own instrument in the mix, and then record it the right way. If they want the old vintage sound we can also do that, but keep in mind when it comes to the mix down, that they can’t fix what they have just done. And I’m quite sure that the other band members don’t want to record the same song again, & again, & again. They would probably burn themselves out & then drop the song. That is just my personal opinion. Don’t get me wrong, but I still do love the old sound on some of the past recordings from the 60’s & 70’s. On the digital recording? Well it’s like this, when you have a good quality recorder that can fix mistakes on some parts of the recording process (punching in & out) it really makes it a lot easier. The digital recorder can fast forward or go reverse with ease. And the tapes are less expensive. On analog recording, well you have to wait till the tape rewinds or goes forward. Not to mention the reels are expensive compared to digital tape. But the sound quality? Man, I would say go with the analog recorder. The only other bad thing about 2” 24 track recorders is the band that you record is really polished & tight. If not you will spend hours on a certain song & that can get expensive. And you might even lose a bit of fidelity after so many recordings on the same space on the tape. These are just some of the things I have noticed when I produce & record bands. With the recordings of rock steady & early reggae it’s all about the bass guitar. I believe it drives all Jamaican music. Just listen to all other recordings from the past. You will know when you hear some old tracks. 6. Can you introduce the bands featured on “Primo Sonic Rhythms Vol.1” Why sure. These are the bands on this new compilation: After Hours, Allentons, Debonaires, Dynamics, Empire All-Stars, Irie Beats, Kingston 10, Rhythm Doctors, See Spot, So. Cal Shocks of Mighty. 7. I heard that your label
will have a new name soon (Sonic Empire), is this true? 8. What do you think about ska in 2001 in the states and the rest of the world? Well ska went into different directions
over the past 20 years. 9. What do you think about the end of labels like Moon Ska USA and the split up of many bands like Hepcat, Pilfers etc. It’s really quite a shame that
labels like Moon and others have to close shop. I have no idea
if it’s because of the sudden rise of the commercial “ska
is in & ska is out” you know the 15 minuets of fame,
or because some labels trusting other bands to keep going &
they figured out that it’s not what they want to do with
their life. On Hepcat I watched that band start way back when they use to do 2 tone covers. This was like in the late 80’s. They are old friends from way back. But I know that they want to settle down with their families & catch up with them. I was sad when I heard the news of their break up. But then I thought, they should be proud of what accomplishments they had done. I would be. I still pat myself on the back sometimes because I know I have made someone happy on that dance floor when they want to hear their favorite band or bands play. On the Pilfers, I have never heard their sound. Sorry. I was just too busy helping out other bands out here & never got a chance to hear them. Sorry guys. Send me a demo, please.. Just kidding. 10. Do you play in a ska band? If yes, can you introduce it? Sorry man, I don’t play in a ska band. I do play keyboards & record my own songs, but I’m just too modest about my recordings. I will only record my own songs & keep them to myself. I just think that my sound would not be very good to show someone else. But I do have a lot of ideas though to write music. In fact I wrote a song for The Skeletones back in 1994. But then again it wasn’t what I had in mind when I let them use it. I wanted to make my song more rock steady, they turned it into third wave. I was a little upset but it’s alright. I think I might have someone else re-record it to the way I want it. But that would be some day. Also maybe 1 day I will have other musicians do my songs when I get a chance to get them together to rehearse it & then record it. 11. Do you have distribution in the states? Well, I just hooked up with SMASH Distribution last week. I also was working a deal with Hepcat Records & Distribution, but I’m not sure if the deals on or off. I will see if Mordam will pick up my comp as well as others. For the time being I’m just doing mail order. I think it’s better this way, because a fan can get this CD right at their doorstep & not even leave the comfort of their home. To me it’s like kind of personal. When I would buy Cd’s from record stores I would always wonder if the record labels were even nice to deal with. With me, I’m just like your new friend. And to show respect to people who buy the Cd 12. Do you have distribution in Europe? At the moment no but I do have my
Cd’s with other mail order companies. 1 is called Redhead
Man in France, & 1 in Germany called Copasetic Mail-order.
I am hoping to get more distributors around the world. Have them
contact me, via email at: PRIMOSONIC@aol.com 13. Is it hard for a label like yours now in the states to have promotion, distribution etc…? Well, no because of the Internet.
People are always hitting my site & want to purchase Cd’s.
I’m sure with your website you get the same amount of hits
everyday. As for the promotion it gets hectic. You have got to
keep up with the promotions campaign. For myself who does everything
alone, It’s hard to balance out all the things I have to
do. Work at a warehouse 40hours a week, do shows, tour, go to
rehearsals, produce & record, mix & master, create new
album covers, On the distribution? Well, I think some distributors don’t want to take a chance on the new compilations. Because they need to sell your product & if it doesn’t get bought because there isn’t that many fans into it, your like left with a lot boxes full of Cd’s. That is a big concern. There was a time about 5 or 8 years ago when the traditional scene was thriving, but as time changes & people are starting to settle down & not going to shows anymore, you take a big chance. But if your album is good then people will talk about it & then they will buy it. If you have some controversy that will make your album sell, make it public. Well this isn’t controversy but the studio where Brian works at use to be the old Motown studios. It’s quite a site to be working there. Just imagine all the superstars that were there recording hits after hits. Wow what a great job he landed on. Well, also the front cover of the compilation is the mixing board there at Signet Soundeluxe. 14. What are your plans for the future about your label (future productions) etc..? I just started working on Primo Sonic
Rhythms Vol. 2. Hopefully I will have that out soon as I can.
Please be patient, there is a lot of work that goes behind on
these projects. I have also started to record a really good band
called Full Spectrum, & I’m hoping to release their
15. How fans can buy your releases? Do you have a website? Can you introduce it? Well if the fans want to go to my website they can find other cd’s that I have for sale as well. All they have to do is write me a letter & let me know what they want. I ‘m willing to chat with them or send them a mail order catalog. Have them go to this site (again) www.rivercidalrecords.com 16. If you have any things to say? First I want to thank you, Jean-Pierre for doing this interview with me. And thank you SKA NEWS !!!!! It has been a pleasure doing this interview with you. I also want to thank ALL THE FANS out there who supports these bands & the ones I have either helped or will help. If it weren’t for the fans, there wouldn’t be a scene nor music. Thank you all!!! Much respect.
New Ska ClassicsYour bands name: The Debonaires You are based in:
Riverside, CA The band began in: Riverside Ca. 1996 Members /
which instruments: Your influences / idols: How did it happen that you (who did it?) decided to start the band and playing this style? Mano and Dave started it when everyone was in high school. They got interested in the traditional scene and were very inspired by Hepcat, Ocean 11, and Dynamic Pressure. Phone calls were made, practice times scheduled. It was more oriented around the subcultures back then, but if you could play an instrument (No matter how well), you were in. And how did you find the members to fill up the band missing instruments? There are so many local bands in the Inland Empire and Riverside that is hasn’t been too difficult to locate musicians. Our drummer is in the hip hop group Esoteric7, the bass player is in local rock group Eithranopia, keyboardist is in Empire Allstars, and our singer played for The Skeletones; Many musicians from around here end up starting their own projects or joining up with others. How’s the relation between cover-songs and self-written? We have covered so many Skatalites
tunes that our own ska began to reflect the Skatalites musical
style. The same effect occured when trying to learn Desmond Dekker,
Jimmy Cliff, or Are there sub cultural band members like skins, punks, mods, ... ? When the band was younger, half of us would be wearing Fred Perry’s on stage, the other half wearing three button suits. So, at one point, the band was a mixture of skins and rude boys. Now we have the knowledge of the subcultures, but put all of our time, money, and energy into the music. How the relation of the single members to ska-/reggae-music? Are they fans, lovers, collectors or musicians? The core of the band has a passionate
love for traditional ska and late 60’s & early 70’s
reggae. How many gigs have you played, yet and where have you been allready? Close to 300. LA/Hollywood (Whiskey-a-go-go, Troubadour), Inland Empire, San Diego, Portland, San Francisco, Fresno, and recently in Sacramento and San Luis Obispo, CA. People / bands you joined / supported
? How many people are joining your gigs and what style are they? More and more, gaining a variety of people. Not just the typical traditional ska crowd you would see at a Southern CA Steay Beat show, but a following of friends, fans, college crowds; all creating a party atmosphere. We played at a punk show in SLO in December (We didn expect the punk rock crowd to dig the music) but the dancing reaction was good. How about your experiences with this fabulous third wave and the time after? We respected all bands, third wave or not, but fast punk/ska is not us and never was us. The mainstream interpretation of ska is that fast, happy-go-lucky punk/skank sound that over saturated the music market in the mid-90’s. The worst effect it had on us and the other LA traditional bands was that it classified us into that genre. That may be one of the reasons why the traditional ska scene kept moving deeper and deeper into reggae within the past couple of years, to escape the mainstream, MTV-style affiliation. Why have you decided to play / keep on playing the old style when there was the chance to become popular with the modern sound? We were already aware of the popular
fast sound to begin with, but thought that maybe reviving the
old style might be modern, in itself. Besides, becoming popular
was not a motivating factor. It was fun to just listen to a Skatalites
album and try to play it exactly as it sounded on the recording.
There is a whole other level of popularity within the traditional
ska scene that if you achieved it, as did Hepcat or Ocean 11,
you gained respect and appreciation for bringing back the old
sounds of ska. I don t think we see another wave. The traditional scene still remains, but you can hardly call it ska; Most bands are playing rock steady. If you go to a Los Angeles show, say the Whiskey or Troubadour, on a friday, saturday night... you might not see as many suits or pork pies as you would have 7 years ago, but you see a few traditional skinheads, 60 ‘s attire and such. The Slackers mentioned that this is what happened on the east coast, as well. Not as many people dressing up rude fashion, but still into the bands. If a good band comes our way, they might pack a venue, so the rock steady/reggae still draws. If you agree to this theory, will this last the new millennium? Sure. How do you think about the future of music and it s styles? There’s so many different types of music and subcultures now that it s hard to predict. All I can say is that music is a hard life. The future musician is also a businessman. You gotta do everything yourself, the future is pure independence. Any ideas about your future ? Keep on working with Rivercidal Sydicate
to try to make something happen. I forgot but I would like to let
the world know !!
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