The Sound Of Ska Interview (France) with Brad Pate of After Hours

First of all, I'd like to thank you for your interest in my project.I really appreciate it!

STORY OF THE GROUP (AFTER HOURS), SINCE THE BEGINNING UP TO THE PRESENT DAY.

I guess it starts with See Spot. Brian Dixon plays rhythm guitar and I play keyboard for the Los Angeles ska band, See Spot. I was one of the founding members of this band back in 1990 and Brian joined in 1996. We are still playing today, but in 1998, it appeared that See Spot was going to be breaking up. Brian and I did not want to stop making music, so we decided to continue to write songs and make our own album. We had met several terrific musicians over the years and we thought we'd try to get as many of our favorite musicians as we could from the Southern California ska scene to play our songs. We called them up, and they were interested in recording. So that's how it started.

2. WHAT ARE THE MEMBERS? DISCOGRAPHY?

The only people on every track are:
Brian Dixon (SeeSpot, Checkmate, Rhythm Doctors/guitar)
Brian Wallace (Mobtown/tenor sax, flute)
myself, Brad Pate (See Spot, Mobtown/piano, organ, vocals).
There are several guest musicians, however
Joey Altruda (Jump With Joey/bass, guitar)
Eitan Avineri (Allentons/trumpet)
Mike Boito (Jump With Joey/piano)
Elliot Caine (Jump With Joey/trumpet)
Wally Caro (Mobtown/guitar)
Chili Charles (percussion)
Oliver Charles (Ocean 11/drums, percussion),
Alex Desert (Hepcat/vocals)
Chuck Farrar (SeeSpot/vocals)
David Fuentes (Hepcat/bass)
Greg Lee (Hepcat/vocals)
Willie McNeil (Jump With Joey/drums)
Malik Moore (Mobtown, Ocean 11, Irie Beats/vocals)
Chris Murray (vocals)
Aaron Owens (Hepcat/guitar)
Brandon Owens (Showens/bass)
Paul Pate (Dynamics/barritone sax)
Dave Ralicke (Jump With Joey/trombone, barritone sax)
Kincaid Smith (Hepcat/vocals)
Chris Stoefen (Allentons/trombone)
David Urquidi (Yeska/tenor sax)
Kevin Williams (Bonedaddies/vocals)

Discography:

We have one 7" split single w/ the Dynamics:
Track: "Indecision (Dub No 1.)" (available from After Hours or the Dynamics)
We are on two compilations so far:
Album: "Workin' Third Shift: Midnight Radio Vol. 2" (Jump Start Records)
Track: "Go Figure"
Album: "Primo Sonic Rhythms Vol. 1" (Rivercidal Syndicate Records)
Track: "Blue Over You"

3. ORIGIN OF BAND'S NAME?

We both had everyday jobs so we did all of the recording on late evenings and weekends.
Thus the name, After Hours. We also had a song that I had written for See Spot called
"After Hours", so the name has a connection with what we missed the most... playing with See Spot.

4. AFTER HOURS IS AN ALL-STARS BAND. ALL THE MUSICIANS PARTICULLY PLAY WITH OTHER BANDS. HOW DO YOU SETTLE WITH THE FACT FOR THE REPETITIONS, GIGS, AND RECORDINGS?

Well, After Hours was always going to be a studio project first, then a live act... if we
could get enough people together. We played one show, but it was too hard to find enough people to rehearse and get a set together. So we went back to just being a studio project. I wrote and arranged most of the songs, Brian Dixon did the mixing, and Brian Wallace took charge of the horns. It worked very well!

5. ARE YOU PLAYING ONLY ROCK STEADY? NO REGGAE; SKA? DO YOU PLAY A LOT OF COVERS?

No, we play lots of ska, reggae, and rocksteady... some skinhead reggae type songs, too. We have a different group of musicians on every track, so each song sounds different. I really like that part of it.
We have about four covers that we recorded:
"Night and Day" (Cole Porter) - we recorded this in a lounge/reggae style
"Almost Like Being In Love" (Lerner/Loewe) - we did this swing ska
"'Round Midnight" (T. Monk) - we did this instrumental reggae
"Once In A While" - this song was from the "Rocky Horror Show". We were supposed to be on a compilation called "the Reggae Horror Picture Show", but it was never released. So we decided we would put this one out when we release our album.

6. YOU PLAY MORE SUNG TRACKS THAN INSTRUMENTALS? WHAT ARE THE SUBJECTS OF YOUR SONGS?

We have about 13 vocal songs and 7 instrumentals. Most of the songs are about love and
relationships... always a good subject. I have one reggae song that deals with living out
your time on earth and getting closer to death, though. But you might not realize it by
listening to it.

7. HOW MANY TRACKS FOR AFTER HOURS? SOON YOUR FIRST ALBUM? HAVE YOU GOT SOME LABEL'S PROPOSITIONS?

We have about 20 tracks that are mixed. We picked the best 15 and mastered an album, but we have not decided how to release it yet. There is not as much interest in ska as there was when we first started recording. We will probably release it ourselves.

8. WHAT IS THE FREQUENCY OF YOUR GIGS? ARE YOU PLAYING ONLY IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA?

We don't play shows since After Hours is strictly a studio project. We did play one show
back in 1999 to promote our 7" record. It was pretty tough to get everyone together for
that. I guess it was a pretty good show.

9. COULD YOU GIVE US SOME NEWS OF THE BAND SINCE THE BEGINNING OF THIS NEW YEAR 2002 (CONCERNING GIGS, RECORDINGS, NEW TRACKS, GIGS)?

Brian Dixon and I are going to be working hard to get our 1st After Hours album out soon! I have started writing songs for another After Hours album and I want to get more musicians to appear on this one... not just from Los Angeles but from all over the world (if possible).

10. DID THE COMPILATION "PRIMO SONIC RHYTHMS VOL. 1", BRING YOU SOMETHING, COULD YOU EXPLAIN?

Bernie Garcia who put together this compilation is a really, really nice guy and I have
always gotten along with him. When he asked me if I would like to submit a track, I was
glad to do so. He is one of the guys that you are happy to see have success. Plus, it was
a good way for more people to hear us. We only had a couple of tracks out there and this
would open up a few more ears.

11. HOW IS THE TRADITIONAL SCENE IN LOS ANGELES (MANY GIGS)? IS THERE AN UNITY BETWEEN THE BANDS?

Ska has become less popular financially in Los Angeles over the past year or two. But there are still a lot of loyal fans of the music that will come and support the bands that have staid together. The bands are very united! We all would like to see each other do well. On any given show night, you could see a member from any of the local bands playing with another band. We have become somewhat of a family out here and we love to play music with each other.

12. YOUR PROJECTS?

Well, the main focus for Brian Dixon and me right now is See Spot. We are working on a new See Spot album right now that is going to blow people away!!! But I am also writing songs for a new After Hours album. Brian is very busy as an engineer! He is always helping local bands mix and produce their albums. He is also busy putting together his own dub project, King Terror. Along with instrumental reggae band, the Aggrolites. They are VERY good, by the way. So things are pretty busy, but we are loving every minute of it.
Thank you once again for your interest in After Hours! This was fun... good luck!
Brad Pate